Jamie Van Auken, MA, E-RYT 500

Registered Marriage and Family Therapy Associate

I’m so happy to meet you.

My therapeutic philosophy is grounded in the belief that we are whole - even in our deepest struggles, our essential wholeness and goodness remains intact. I practice from a nervous system-forward approach, understanding that we often feel before we think and that lasting healing happens when we create safety in the body first. I specialize in mindfulness and somatic therapy interventions and I am neurodiversity affirming. My work seeks to bridge the cognitive and intuitive knowing we possess, with regulation and embodiment experience, so that we can live a connected, compassionate life.

I am registered marriage and family therapist associate registered in Oregon (R11588) and Washington (MFTA.MG.70029753). I am supervised by Dr. Lana Kim (T1237) and Lori Henry (T2067).

My Education and Training

Living room with a large indoor fig tree, a mustard-colored sofa with decorative pillows, a gray sofa, and an open MacBook laptop on the sofa.

  • I received my master's degree in marriage and family therapy from Lewis & Clark College and my undergraduate degree from Cornell University where I majored in Catharsis, studying the intersection of psychology, movement, identity studies and performance studies

  • My specialized areas of training include:

    • couples counseling

    • child development and family therapy

    • somatic interventions

    • attachment theory

    • Internal Family Systems (IFS)

    • neurodiversity and neuro-affirming care

    • nature-based therapy

    • somatic EMDR

    • intimate partner violence

  • I have worked as a program coordinator, yoga therapist and milieu therapist at eating disorder treatment centers in NY, WA and OR where I centered a Healthy at Every Size approach and yoga / mindfulness based interventions. I have shared mindfulness skills with semi-professional and professional athletes, including Olympians. I have spoken at conferences and colleges across the US and my work on the intersection between athletics, body denial and eating disorders is published in Carolyn Costin’s book: Yoga and Eating Disorders. I am also an E-RYT 500 certified yoga instructor, CE provider, and have lead healing retreats for over a decade. I have owned and operated a yoga studio in WA since 2012.

  • I am a US Olympian and have been a presenter and keynote speaker at events nationwide sharing about mindfulness, eating disorder recovery, and the intersection of athleticism and embodiment. I also write and my work has been published in Yoga Journal, Mindbody Green and Do You Yoga. I wrote a chapter in Yoga and Eating Disorders.

I practice exclusively at
The Buddha’s Medicine

I provide all clinical services at The Buddha's Medicine, an integrative medicine clinic in SE Portland. This collaborative relationship allows me to offer the specialized therapy approaches you'll find here while benefiting from The Buddha's Medicine's comprehensive practice infrastructure.

The Buddha’s Medicine aims to restore health and quality of living to people from all walks of life. By blending Eastern healing approaches with modern Western scientific foundations, we treat both present health conditions and the subtle imbalances underneath them.

  • Path With Heart Therapy is my professional brand and represents my therapeutic philosophy, specializations, and approach to mental health care. It reflects my commitment to nervous system-informed, neurodiversity-affirming therapy that meets you exactly where you are.

  • I provide all clinical therapy services as an independent contractor at The Buddha's Medicine, a well-established integrative medicine clinic located at 3310 SE Oak St in SE Portland, Oregon.

  • This collaborative relationship offers the best of both worlds:

    • For you: Access to my specialized therapeutic approaches within a comprehensive healthcare environment

    • For our work together: Professional infrastructure, secure systems, and collaborative care opportunities when beneficial

    • For me: The ability to focus on providing therapy services while The Buddha's Medicine handles practice operations

  • All appointments are scheduled through The Buddha's Medicine's secure Practice Better EHR system. This ensures HIPAA compliance, seamless record-keeping, and professional practice management.

  • Billing, insurance superbills, and payment processing are handled by The Buddha's Medicine. Please contact The Buddha's Medicine directly for questions about rates & fees, insurance superbills, or other billing matters.

  • No! The therapy approaches, specializations, and my professional commitment to your care remain exactly as described on this website. The Path With Heart philosophy guides all of my clinical work, regardless of where the business infrastructure exists.

Get Started

Continuing Education and Commitment to Growth

I am committed to ongoing learning that serves my clients' well-being.

I was trained to think relationally and systemically, recognizing that we are all deeply impacted by the larger cultural systems that we interact with. My training was based on systemic, structural, and relational theories and these lenses inform how I engage with all my clients. In addition to my Masters degree and graduate level training, I have pursued and completed continuing education training and studies in Internal Family Systems through the IFS Institute, nature-based therapy through Grow with Nature, and sensory-somatic strategies with MereAnn Reid and Jamie Watson. I completed my internship training at Neuortherapeutic Pedatric Therapies, a nonprofit that offers outpatient collaborative therapies and services for children, teens, families, and adults, with a focus on neurodivergence and disability-informed care. I continue to offer on-going relational work and men’s group facilitation with Allies in Change - an organization dedicated to disrupting intimate partner violence and facilitating trauma-informed anger management. I'm currently completing a somatic EMDR certification through the Embody Lab with the intention to use this evidenced-based intervention as another trauma-informed modality that supports in the body's innate capacity for nervous system-forward healing. I am also studying with Rosario Sammartino in her mentorship program through Somatic Expressive Arts.