Meet Caryn Zaner, PsyD
[they | them | theirs]
Clinical Psychologist in Oregon offering virtual Group Therapy and Therapy Intensives for adults across Oregon navigating identity, disconnection, and meaning-making.
About My Work
I work with adults across Oregon who feel out of sync—with themselves, others, or the world around them. For many, traditional therapy has felt too isolating, too slow, or too focused on fixing rather than connecting.
That’s why I focus on virtual group therapy and therapy intensives: spaces that support real-time processing, relational healing, and deep exploration beyond the limitations of solo talk therapy.
Clients often come to me wanting:
To feel more aligned with their values
To build deeper, more honest relationships
To move through numbness, disconnection, or shame
To be seen for who they are, not just what they’ve been through
This is a space where you can drop the performance, let go of “having it all figured out,” and show up as your full, imperfect self.
My Approach to Therapy
At the core of my work is a values-based approach: I help you get clear on what matters most and support you in building a life that reflects those values—even in the midst of grief, fear, and complexity.
I bring together:
Existential-Humanistic and Relational Therapy — deep work grounded in presence, meaning, and connection
Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) — especially useful in exploring attachment and relational dynamics
DBT Foundations — practical tools for distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and boundary-setting
The work here is relational and present-focused. Whether we're in a group where you're experiencing your patterns in real time, or in an intensive where we have space to stay with what's difficult without rushing, therapy is about learning to stop abandoning yourself in order to survive. It's about being present to what's actually happening — in you, in your relationships, in the world — and making choices from there rather than from performance or fear.
I am considered an out-of-pocket clinician, and can provide superbills for clients whose insurance covers out-of-network providers. I also offer groups, workshops, and sliding scale fees to increase accessibility.
Clients have described me as compassionate, straightforward, playful, and real. I’m not afraid to name the patterns that might be holding you back, and I won’t ask you to perform okay-ness. We’ll do this work honestly, together.
Who I Work With
I'm a licensed clinical psychologist in Oregon (#3466), which means I can work with anybody who is in Oregon during the time of service — that includes Portland, Eugene, Salem, Corvallis, Ashland, and Bend. My practice centers queer, trans, disabled, and neurodivergent adults navigating identity, relationships, and the weight of surviving in systems that demand compliance.
I work with people experiencing:
Attachment and relational patterns rooted in survival — People-pleasing, fawning, difficulty with boundaries or authentic connection. You've learned to perform your way through relationships and you're tired of abandoning yourself to stay safe or acceptable.
Complex trauma (C-PTSD) — The ways trauma shapes how you show up in relationships and with yourself. Not just symptom management, but attachment-based work that addresses relational wounds.
Anxiety and depression that aren't just chemical imbalances but responses to genuinely difficult circumstances — You're awake to systemic harm, carrying political grief, or navigating life under systems that weren't built for you.
Identity exploration — Queer identity, gender, neurodivergence, and what it means to exist authentically when the world asks you to perform. Coming out, transition, or just trying to figure out who you are when you're not performing.
Moral injury — You're exhausted from work that pays well but doesn’t feel fulfilling, or you're realizing your career requires you to abandon your values to succeed. Your distress isn't about needing better self-care, it's about fundamental misalignment between what you do and what you believe.
Burnout and existential overwhelm — especially for high-achieving people realizing that performing their way through life isn't sustainable.
Grief and loss — personal, collective, political — that needs more room than most therapy makes space for
My clients are often people who've tried therapy before and found it too surface-level, too focused on symptom management, or too unwilling to acknowledge systemic harm. They're looking for depth, for relational honesty, and for a therapist who won't pathologize their responses to systems that are genuinely harmful.
Outside of Therapy
Therapists are often trained to stay neutral or anonymous, but I think that can feel alienating. You don’t need me to be a blank slate. You need me to be real, grounded, and someone who shows up with you. So here’s a bit about who I am:
I’m a white, Jewish, queer, agender, disabled Millennial and child of Boomer parents. A former East Coaster, I’m now based in Eugene, Oregon after over a decade in Portland.
Outside of sessions, you’ll find me rewatching LOST, lifting weights, photographing wildflowers I’ll forget to look at again, and enjoying horror movies. I’m committed to mutual aid, community care, and a future without prisons or borders.
My own story includes the tension of navigating both privileged and less-privileged identities,rejecting roles that no longer fit, and learning how to live with meaning even while the world feels like it’s burning.
If you’re overwhelmed by your to-do list and the weight of the world, I get it. We can hold both.
Let’s talk. I offer a free 20–30 minute consultation to answer questions and explore whether we’re a good fit.
Clinical Experience
Licensure
Licensed Psychologist (Oregon #3466)
PsyD in Clinical Psychology from Pacific University (2020)
ICEEFT-approved Trainings
Externship in Emotionally Focused Therapy
Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy Core Skills Training (Modules 1-4)
Emotionally Focused Individual Therapy Essentials (Levels 1 & 2)
Other Relevant Trainings
Ongoing Weekly Virtual Group Psychotherapy Training Group: Katie Griffin (MA, LPC, CGP, AGPA-F) & Joseph Acosta (LPC, CGP, AGPA-F); joined December 2022
Working with Trans Clients in the Gender Affirmative Clinical Model: An Advanced Clinical Training (2020)
Welcoming Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Workshop - National Coalition Building Institute (NCBI) (2019).
Facilitator of Training: “10 Principles of Welcoming Diversity.”
Workshops, Appearances, & Research
Co-Presenter, Experiences from Connect 2020 and the COVID-19 Pandemic Among Group Therapists, AGPA Connect 2026: Group Life: Holding Space for Deeper Connection
Podcast Guest, All Things Private Practice (December 2025/January 2026)
Co-Facilitator, 2SLGBTQIA+ Providers’ Affinity Group, AGPA Connect 2025: The Many Faces of Group
Podcast Guest, A Friend for the Long Haul Podcast: “Too Flared to Funk,” “Seasons Grievings and Chronic Feelings,” (2024)
Doctoral Research: The intersections of sexual identity, community, and age: Exploring how queer women navigate physical and online spaces.