Gabriele M. Smith

I am married with two children, one in middle school and the youngest in elementary school. I have worked in many different professions before finding my calling; receptionist, clerical, waitress, bar maid, painter, carpenter, personal trainer, veterinary technician, art teacher, lithographer and photographer. I have worked as a Child and Family Therapist for Columbia River Mental Health with a case load that included children and famililes struggling to overcome the multi-stress's in their lives- ADHD, Adjustment Disorder, PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD, ODD and Conduct Disorder to name a few. I have worked for CASA- Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the foster care system and in the private practice of a licensed psychologist whose speciality was serving the needs of children and families with Autism, Sensory Disorders, and Aspergers.

I am a woman who has experienced many life transformations, struggles and obstacles; surviving cancer, dealing with the grief and loss of a loved one, a brief stint in the Armed Forces, conquering weight and fitness issues, hitchhiking across part of the U.S., propelling out of poverty and homelessness to starting and finishing undergraduate work at San Jose State, California with B.A. in Psychology and earning a Master's in Counseling Psychology Degree from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon.