Karen St. Clair

I am a tribally enrolled member of the Mdewankanton Dakota of Minnesota.  My family reservation is the Lower Sioux Indian Community located on the south side of the Minnesota River at the site of the U.S. Indian Agency and the Bishop Whipple Mission, a part of the original reservation established in the 1851 Treaty.  My reservation was my second home as a child and adolescent, which was three hours outside of the Minneapolis metropolitan area where we lived.  I received a B.A. at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota with majors in French and Sociology as well as a Philosophy minor.  I have been married for 25 years and have two sons.

I am a licensed clinical social worker (L2197) in the State of Oregon since 1994, and have worked as a therapist since 1987, when I graduated from Simmons College School of Social Work in Boston, Massachusetts.  There, I practiced as a candidate and then licensed independent clinical social worker (LICSW) for seven years before moving to Portland.  Additionally, my work experience includes staff administration and clinical supervision in various settings which has enhanced my knowledge of systems. My therapeutic orientation is psychodynamic, influenced by psychoanalytic thinking, cognitive behavioral therapy, family systems, and existential therapy.  My work is strongly influenced by cultural and spiritual aspects of Indian thinking influenced by my own traditions, and west coast tribal influences as well.  Finally, I have a good deal of experience and love for working with clients who suffer both mental health and chemical addictions.

My vision for a future professional occupation began after having worked at the Native American Rehabilitation Association, where my employment moved from full-time therapeutic work to supervision and management over an almost seven year period.  While I worked there as the treatment director, I learned that many Indian employees, and families of clients reported that they were not able to find Indian therapists on their insurance panels in private practice. From that time, I planned on moving into a private practice as some time in the future.  In 2007, I started a position at Samaritan Counseling Centers, as the agency clinical director and grant project manager.  SCC was a small hybrid agency: it had the financial traits of a mental health non-profit and a private group practice where I learned a great deal about serving the working and middle class in Portland.  In February of 2009, the agency closed its doors due to the financial crisis, which gave me the opportunity to build the private practice serving Indians that I had envisioned for myself.