My name is Justin Farrell. To contact me, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page. I am a licensed independent clinical social worker. I have been working with children, adults, and families since 2003 in residential treatment centers, shelters, family preservation, and outpatient community mental health.
In addition to being a therapist, I also provide supervision to Master’s level interns and pre-licensed clinicians. I believe in the power of the therapeutic relationship in counseling and have found that people are able to experience change when they are in a supportive environment, whether that be at home, school, work, in the therapy office, or anywhere else. I also believe that our ability to change is directly related to our ability to tolerate discomfort and that the therapy office can be a wonderful place to help someone navigate their discomfort so as to welcome the changes in their life they are seeking. I take great pride in developing successful therapeutic relationships built on trust, consistency, and respect.
I have been drawn to working with children from the time I was very young and spent a lot of time learning about working with children at my aunt’s daycare while I was in high school. I am known to be a kid magnet and have always been able to connect well with children of all ages. During my 6 years in community mental health, I was able to expand my work to adults and have worked with men and women of all ages with a variety of concerns, including depression, anxiety, self-esteem, and family challenges. I have been married since 2002 and have two children. I was born and raised in Keizer, Oregon and moved to Vancouver in 2007. As an adult child of an alcoholic, I have experienced firsthand the damaging effect of substance abuse on a family and believe that we can learn so much from our past and how the family we grew up in impacts the family we create.
I enjoy writing and am a frequent contributor to Vancouver Family Magazine and Idaho Family Magazine, writing articles on parenting and family issues. I also self-published my first book in June 2014 entitled, God and Grandpa: Lessons Learned on the Road Trip of a Lifetime. I am an adjunct instructor in the Psychology and Social Work departments at Concordia University in Portland, Oregon where I have taught courses on the Psychology of Fatherhood and Community Mental Health. I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies with a minor in Sociology from the University of Utah. I completed my Master’s degree in Social Work at Portland State University.
As a speaker, I have enjoyed speaking at workshops for teen fathers in Portland and two years ago, I co-created and have been a speaker at a father/daughter conference entitled: She’s My Girl, He’s My Dad: Building a Relationship to Last. I believe that the father/daughter relationship is one of the most crucial in a young woman’s life and have greatly appreciated the opportunity to talk to fathers and daughters about ways they can strengthen their relationship. As a male in a female-dominated field, I have learned to embrace the differences in male and female brains and how the way we are wired can serve as a compliment to each other rather than a divisive force that pulls us apart. Knowing these differences can help men and women learn to communicate using their strengths while recognizing their limitations.
