Jack Marvin, CSWA (They/Them/She/Her)
Greetings! My name is Jack Marvin, MSW, CSWA (she/they) and I'm glad you've made it this far. I identify as white, queer, trans femme/fluid, poly, fat, and neurodivergent. These and several other intersections of identity inform my practice. In 2014 I moved to Portland from the Chicagoland area – shout out to my cornfield folks! In my time here, I've worked in and around mental health systems including sex education, public and private education, as well as youth and policy advocacy realms. Motivated by a deep desire to collaborate with queer and trans folks to create safer, more trustworthy, and reparative relationships, in 2021, I obtained my Master of Social Work from Portland State University. It is my great privilege to hold hope that no matter how loud, painful, or uncertain you're feeling now, together, we can work to reduce the distress you're experiencing.
As a queer and trans person, I have a special interest and passion in serving the community, in addition to families and caregivers navigating their young person's coming out experience. Additionally, my interest, education, and experience include working with adolescents, adults, groups, and families navigating relationship conflict, anxiety, depression, ADHD, grief and loss, gender dysphoria, body dysmorphia, DID, and traumatic experiences, among others.
My approach is centered in a radical feminist framework that understands each of us has been harmed by systems (family, societal, political, among others) and that, depending on our intersectional identities, harm can have varying impacts on our bodies, hearts, minds, and stories. I am particularly interested in the stories that we tell ourselves. Too frequently, these stories come from our external worlds and are integrated as fundamental truths. I believe therapy is a collaborative process of disentangling unuseful, harmful, and deeply integrated falsehoods. In this process of unraveling, we learn new tools and skills that enable us to know ourselves deeper and integrate truths congruent with that deeper knowing. My practice relies on a humanist narrative approach that integrates IFS, CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and motivational interviewing techniques as well as attachment, trauma, and polyvagal theories, all in support of the reclamation of autonomy in your identities and story.
