My Background
I received my doctorate at the University of Notre Dame. During those years, I provided therapy and assessment services both on and off-campus. I also did a 1-year internship in Montana, where I worked at Montana State University and on the Crow Indian Reservation.
My graduate research focused on the psychological aspects of conservation and environmental issues, and my dissertation explored environmental values and how they develop. These experiences influenced my clinical work by making me more sensitive to the unique cultural and personal values that each person brings to the therapeutic process. To this day, I place great importance on understanding, respecting, and working with the core values and beliefs of each client.
After receiving my doctorate, I spent a few years away from Psychology, working in conservation activism, advocacy, and environmental education. I also continued to develop my ideas about value systems and values change. I eventually decided to return to clinical work and accepted a resident position at the University of Wyoming, where I worked at the University Counseling Center, Student Health Services, and the free Downtown Clinic in Laramie.
Once my residency was complete, I decided to build a more permanent life for myself in the Pacific Northwest. I relocated to Portland, got licensed as a Psychologist, and set up an independent private practice. In those early years, I made ends meet by contracting with the Oregon Department of Corrections. I provided therapy and educational services at the Oregon State Penitentiary in Salem and at the Columbia River Correctional Institution in Portland.
Throughout these experiences, I made frequent side-trips to explore the people and places of the United States and the world at large. As a result, I have been fortunate to see much of our beautiful nation, to live overseas for extended periods of time, and to immerse myself in cultures very different from my own. I mention these travels, because they have greatly impacted my therapy style and my ability to work with diverse clients.
At this point in my career, I have been in private practice for over 13 years, and my approach to therapy continues to evolve in response to my life experiences, both inside and outside the office. Some of the most impactful of these experiences have been marriage, parenting, and the loss of my wife to cancer. Each experience deepens my understanding of humans and how we suffer, as well as how we can heal in the face of suffering.
Contact Me...
+1 503-730-1594
2100 NE Broadway St, Ste 329
Portland, OR 97232
Articles & Interviews
Since opening my private practice in 2006, I have not prioritized research or professional publications. What follows is a list of my formal writings and publications, as well as other articles and interviews with which I have been involved.
Noethe, J.B. (Winter 2009/10). Reconnecting with the ecological self. Earth Matters, 16(2), 1-3.
Noethe, J. B. (June 2009). The power of sustainable thinking by Bob Doppelt. Ecopsychology, 1(2), 98-99.
Spayde, J. (April 2009). Eco-Stress. Experience Life, 11(3), 78-80.
Weiss, A. (Senior Producer). (2008, November 6). Decision 2008: Hot Box [Television broadcast]. Portland: KGW.
Summers, M. (2008, November 5). The morning after: Our guide to surviving post-election blues. Willamette Week, 34(52), 15.
Novotney, A. (March 2008). Curbing climate change: Every little bit helps. Monitor On Psychology, 39(3), 58.
Glaser, G. (2008, February 16). Well, doctor, I have this recycling problem. New York Times.
Noethe, J. B. (2007, September/October). Creating the (Almost) Paperless Office. The Oregon Psychologist, 26(5), 24-25.
Noethe, J. B. (2000). Bridging the gap: An empirically-supported phenomenological study of environmental living (Doctoral dissertation, University of Notre Dame, 2000). ProQuest Digital Dissertations, AAT 9981454.
Noethe, J. B. (March 1999). Training to Relax. Graduate and family housing newsletter. Montana State University.
Noethe, J. B. (December 1998). Productivity Through Self-Care. Graduate and family housing newsletter. Montana State University.
Noethe, J. B. (1996). A psychological approach to avoidance behavior in the use of high-efficiency lighting. Unpublished master’s thesis, University of Notre Dame, Indiana.
Noethe, J. B. (Ed.). (1995). Challenge 2000: Shared Visions. (Available from the Office of Alcohol and Drug Education, M001 LaFortune Center, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556)
Influential Authors & Books
Below is a list of authors and books that have influenced my perspectives over the past 30 years or more. These books cover a wide range of ideas and styles. I hope you find something here that challenges your understanding and gets you thinking in new ways! (For even more book recommendation, see my Therapy page.)
Edward Abbey – Desert Solitaire / The Fool’s Progress
Mitch Albom – Tuesdays with Morrie
Naomi Alderman – The Power
Richard Bach – Jonathan Livingston Seagull / Illusions
Ernest Becker – The Denial of Death
Dee Brown – Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Paulo Coelho – The Alchemist / Warrior of the Light
Bryce Courtenay – The Power of One / Tandia
Deng Ming-Dao – Chronicles of Tao
Taisen Deshimaru – Questions to a Zen Master / The Zen Way To Martial Arts
Neil Gaiman – American Gods / The Graveyard Book / The Ocean at the End of the Lane
Kahlil Gibran – The Prophet
Yuval Noah Harari – Sapiens / Homo Deus
William Least Heat-Moon – Blue Highways
Robert A. Heinlein – The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress / Starship Troopers / Stranger in a Strange Land
Benjamin Hoff – The Tao of Pooh / The Te of Piglet
Jack Kerouac – The Dharma Bums / On the Road
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson & Susan McCarthy – When Elephants Weep
Dan Millman – Way of the Peaceful Warrior / Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior / The Journey of Socrates
Farley Mowat – A Whale for the Killing / Never Cry Wolf
John G. Neihardt – Black Elk Speaks
Wes Nisker – The Essential Crazy Wisdom
Malka Older – Infomocracy / Null States / State Tectonics
Daniel Quinn – Ishmael / My Ishmael / The Story of B / Beyond Civilization
Wallace Stegner – Angle of Repose / The Spectator Bird / Crossing to Safety
Neal Stephenson – Snow Crash / Cryptonomicon
Chogyam Trungpa – Shambhala
Laurens Van Der Post – A Story Like the Wind / A Far-Off Place / The Lost World of the Kalahari
Neale Donald Walsch – Conversations with God
Lyall Watson – Lightning Bird
Paul Watson – Ocean Warrior
Alan Watts – Tao: The Watercourse Way / What is Tao? / Does it Matter? / Still the Mind
Isabel Wilkerson – Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
Howard Zinn – A People’s History of the United States