Gillian Boudreau, PH.D. Psychologist Consultant Speaker Author Comedian

Wherever You Are, We Can Figure This Out Together

There Is Nothing Inherently Wrong With You

Freedom, authenticity, and connection make life worth living for me. I firmly believe that where symptoms are present, or in those areas of life where we may feel broken or stuck, looking to and fostering those three things can help. I also believe that humans are by nature basically good and basically whole. My job is to help you clear the path so that your own internal compass can lead the way.

Increased meaning, satisfaction and effectiveness for ourselves, our teams, and our organizations awaits! We can identify and shift the disruptive patterns that prevent us from being our best.

About Me

I am a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed school psychologist. I hold a PhD. in clinical psychology from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY. I am based in Portland, Oregon with virtual options in NY and VT.

I am fascinated with the richness of the shared human experience, and my aim is to approach my work with the kind of authenticity and calm that I seek to create in the environments we live and work in. I am a licensed clinical psychologist and licensed school psychologist. I hold a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Long Island University in Brooklyn, NY.

I have worked with children and families across the Northeast for many years, with the mission of understanding and addressing our human need for attachment, connection, and effective communication in such a way that can help individuals, family systems, school systems, and larger organizations reach their full potential.

I specialize in identifying the sneaky ways that fear and pain can interrupt your development, and block access to your fullest expression and deepest connections. You can read more about who I am and how I work here.

My career began as a full-time school psychologist directing a school-based initiative in Vermont, providing intensive social and emotional programming to address inclusion in public elementary schools.

Counseling Services Offered

I Work With Schools, Companies and Large Organizations To Examine

Individuals

When working with individual adults, I often see neurodivergent clients, queer clients, and folks working on depression,

Couples

My philosophy is that relationships need to be in a calm, connected place for the rest of life to work well.

Families & Parents

When working with individual adults, I often see neurodivergent clients, queer clients.

Kids & Teens

Many kids and teens have struggled mightily with mental health, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. In my work with young people I look to provide a safe place for self-expression and identity exploration, while also partnering with kids and their families to help them grow into positive and proactive members of their communities.

School

I am a national speaker and frequent consultant and trainer for school districts seeking to improve student engagement and behavior, reduce staff burnout and turnover, and foster equity and justice in the school setting. If you are looking for consultation for an individual student, a team, or an entire district I can help!

Recent Blogs

Night sky in an article about anxiety counseling by Dr. Gillian Bourdreau.

Anxiety Counseling For Adults, Teens & Kids in Portland OR

Fear is absolutely a professional obsession for me, for personal reasons. I grew up a

Healing From Trauma & Trauma Recovery For Adults, Teens & Kids in Portland OR

Trauma can take many forms, but the common thread seems to be a negative experience

Help! Do I Have ADHD or Am I Just Lazy?

I work with so many adults, teens and children in my clinical practice who are

Testimonials

Gillian is wise, kind, and approachable. Her vast experience working with trauma, coupled with her warmth and effervescent nature, allow for busy minds to open and shift perspective.

Gillian is consistently calm, confident, and humble. Her expertise and genuine personal style quickly and easily elicits trust and engagement from youth, parents, and colleagues.

Gillian has a way of putting people at ease while inspiring them into action that is impressive to observe. I admire how she can attune to people quickly and blend her knowledge and expertise with their needs.

Training And Consulting That Stick!

I use research-based experiential activities to help you and your participants learn strategies they can use every day.

Unconscious Bias

Is your organization committed to an antiracist approach? If so, addressing unconscious bias can help.

What would it look like to improve the equity, connection and performance within your organization? We all have unconscious or implicit bias and its only when we become aware and turn our attention to it that we can course-correct.

Psychological Safety

We want to believe our people feel safe at work and school, however, fear is often at the root of poor decision making,

communication break downs, and reactive behavior in group settings. Systemic and cultural anxiety has a profound impact on effectiveness. Participants will learn strategies to reduce automatic fearful responding and how to increase the psychological safety of their teams and/or system by:

Emotional Intelligence

We’ve all heard of EQ, but what does it look like to actually understand and address our emotions, especially when we’re under stress?

I have helped countless individuals and organizations build emotional knowledge and effective emotional language. Together, we can develop the tools to optimize emotional wellbeing, especially under pressure.

Trauma and Resiliency

Is your school or organization seeking specific training on buffering the impact of trauma?

I have extensive expertise and experience in the nature and impact of trauma, and in the specific contextual and relational factors as well as action-oriented approaches that can buffer trauma’s impact.