I’m Stephen C. Arnold, a psychotherapist in private practice in Portland, Oregon, providing secure telehealth therapy for adults across Oregon. Before social work, I spent 26 years in computer science as a senior software engineer, educator, and university instructor.

Social Work and Community Experience

To obtain my clinical license, I completed most of my pre-licensure hours working with incarcerated youth across Oregon. I began my private practice in 2017. I proposed and collaborated with Janus Youth Programs to help create the Rivera Project (a transition house for LGBTQ youth leaving incarceration).

I’ve also done extensive community volunteer work, including roles with the Cascade AIDS Project (Oregon AIDS hotline, Positive Talk group support, and technical work supporting a migration to Salesforce). I was a member of Multnomah County’s Adult Mental Health and Substance Abuse Advisory Council for three years, with two of those years as co-chair.

Computer science background (and why it matters in therapy)

In the computer world I worked in areas like compiler design, databases, and interface design. What carried over into therapy is not the code — it’s the habit of careful systems thinking: how patterns form, how feedback loops reinforce them, and what changes actually stick in real-world conditions.

A Note on Identity and Lived Experience

I’m a gay man. I also bring a personal understanding of complex trauma and neurodivergence — enough lived experience to recognize the terrain, and enough clinical training to help people move through it safely, without turning therapy into a performance or a crisis reenactment.

Outside of therapy, two steady parts of my life are playing traditional Irish music in the Portland metro area and taking care of my wonderful elderly dog.

Next step

If you want to work with a therapist with experience, request a free 30-minute phone consultation (see the Contact Page for what to include).