The Nugget Newspaper - News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon

Nick Sundstrom's favorite client to work with is someone willing to explore and be curious about their thoughts, emotions, and history. He has worked with adults, teens, couples, and families in a number of different settings.

A licensed clinical social worker (LCSW), who has been in practice for 31 years, Sundstrom is now seeing clients in Sisters at 220 South Pine Street, Suite 102. He spends one-to-two days a week in an office in Redmond as well.

Sundstrom says he is wired for "working with people and finding opportunities to foster growth and healing." He has worked in Portland and Central Oregon in both inpatient and outpatient mental health settings, as well as in private group practice offices. After recently being engaged administratively helping grow a group practice, he is happy to return full-time to his first love - helping facilitate changes with individuals and couples. He has also been consulting with the Redmond Fire Department concerning mental health services offered to first responders.

He employs a variety of modalities in his practice including, but not limited to, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and eye movement desensitization and re-processing therapy (EMDR).

Sundstrom is a native Oregonian, growing up in the east Portland area and attending Sam Barlow High School. He received his LCSW degree from Portland State University. While in Portland, he worked for the child welfare department with families involved in the court system as well as in an inpatient mental health facility.

Sundstrom and his family moved to Sisters in 2006. All three of their children attended Sisters schools, with their youngest set to graduate this year from Sisters High School. Their two older children are pursuing post-graduate degrees. He and his wife have been together for 39 years.

In his free time, Sundstrom enjoys bird hunting with his two dogs, a Braque Francais Pyrenean (French pointing dog) and a Vizsla. He and his wife enjoy kayaking, being out in nature, and experiencing all that Sisters Country has to offer.

Sundstrom explained his role in counseling sessions is not to tell people what he thinks they should do. Rather, he provides considerations and thoughts for the client to examine and reach their own conclusions regarding healthy choices. He is a strong believer in the importance of collaboration, both between therapist and client, and therapist and the client's other care providers.

"While working in Portland and Bend psychiatric units, the importance of collaboration of care became very clear. Working as a part of a multidisciplinary team of nurses, psychiatrists, and mental health technicians, they all had pieces of information surrounding the people we were serving. This experience, along with working in a mental health group practice, where I was responsible for communicating with community partners, has shaped the importance of working collaboratively. Often the mental health and primary care have been siloed and it doesn't need to be that way. The importance of the primary care provider (PCP) or behavioral health consultant (BHC) in clinics that have them, often leads to improved health outcomes for the client. By coordinating with the PCP and BHC, especially if there is a new concern or something raised in counseling that could impact their overall medical health, their issue may be addressed quicker and have options or solutions to remediate the issue," Sundstrom explained.

Sundstrom can be reached at (541) 903-5822 or by email at [email protected] for a free 15-minute consultation. He is available for appointments both in-person and online.