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PORTLAND OUTPATIENT EATING DISORDER PROGRAM

Portland, OR

HOME / LOCATIONS / PORTLAND, OR (OUTPATIENT)

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Center for Discovery Portland is an outpatient eating disorder treatment center providing care to adult patients of all genders. This outpatient eating disorder treatment center opened in September 2016 with a specially-trained staff of experts, including extensive experience in trauma-informed treatment as well as dialectal behavior therapy (DBT), exposure & response prevention (ERP) and mindfulness.

Insurances we accept include but are not limited to Cigna / Great West, Humana (Life Sync), Kaiser (Portland), MODA and Optum BH (Including PBH and UBH). Please remember that the insurances we accept change frequently. Our insurance team will verify your coverage.

This facility is unique in that it offers a specialized group, Path to Peace, for patients experiencing binge eating disorder. The center is located in a beautiful, wooded area in Tigard, Oregon, close to George Fox University, Sumner College and Portland Community College.

CENTER FOR DISCOVERY

16520 SW Upper Boones Ferry Rd.
Ste 240
Portland, OR 97224
PH 866.482.3876
M-F 9:00am to 5:00pm

PROGRAM FEATURES

Intensive Outpatient
Partial Hospitalization
All Genders
Ages 10+

FIND HELP TODAY CALL 866.482.3876
OR SCHEDULE A FREE CONSULTATION

MEET THE TEAM

REGIONAL CLINICAL DIRECTOR

Maureen Peterson, MA, LMHC, CEDS-S
MILIEU MANAGER

Samantha Abukhater, MA
PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Paige Handler, MS, RDN
REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Paige Becker, RDN, LD
REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Emily Velasquez
REGIONAL CLINICAL DIRECTOR

Maureen Peterson, MA, LMHC, CEDS-S

Maureen Peterson is the Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest & Northern California at Center For Discovery treating adolescents, adults, and families impacted by eating disorders. Maureen is a licensed mental health counselor and earned her BA  in Psychology from Pacific Lutheran University and her MA in Counseling Psychology from Saint Martin’s University. She also completed a certificate program in The Long Term Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders through the University of Washington School of Social Work. Maureen has been working in the mental health field since 1991 and has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders since 1996. She is a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Supervisor through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals. In 2011, Maureen received the “Spirit of the Alliance” award through the Alliance for Families, a national organization. She is passionate about community service, and enjoys reading, traveling, and spending time with friends and family.

MILIEU MANAGER

Samantha Abukhater, MA

Samantha is the Milieu Manager at Center for Discovery. She completed her undergraduate studies at Portland State University in 2013 and received a Dual-Master’s degree from Pacific University in Healthcare Administration and Counseling Psychology in 2015. She completed her graduate internship at Clackamas Community College as a Counseling Intern working with students and doing various outreach projects and training activities. During her graduate education, Samantha found that she enjoyed the legal and administrative aspects of healthcare and completed a Graduate Certificate for Healthcare Compliance in 2016. After graduation, Samantha worked for a medical center in their partial hospitalization program for eating disorders. She is passionate about working with eating disorders and helping people overcome their barriers to treatment, as well as helping organizations run effectively and maintaining compliance. In her free time, Samantha enjoys going to the beach and spending time with her dog.

PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Paige Handler, MS, RDN

Paige Handler is a Registered Dietitian and Certificated Lactation Educator. She received a Bachelor of Arts in both Drama and Psychology from Vassar College and completed her Didactic Program in Dietetics at California State University, Northridge (CSUN) where she also completed her Dietetic Internship as well as her Masters of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences. During her graduate studies, Paige created a thesis project based on increasing eating disorder knowledge among adolescents through theater and education. Prior to joining the team at Center for Discovery in 2016, Paige gained her clinical experience as an intern at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Paige adheres to the All Foods Fit Philosophy and enjoys helping clients find their own path to recovery be creating a healthy relationship with food. She enjoys working with adolescent and adult clients on setting and achieving their individual goals while focusing on the principles of intuitive eating.

REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Paige Becker, RDN, LD

Paige Becker received her Bachelors of Nutritional Sciences at Penn State University, and she completed her dietetic internship at Oregon State University. She’s been in the beautiful Pacific Northwest ever since. Paige has worked in outpatient nutrition for over 4 years — first as the dietitian at a community health center in Tacoma, WA and then as an outpatient dietitian at a hospital in Portland, OR. Working with a general population showed Paige how prevalent, yet underdiagnosed, eating disorders and disordered eating are in our society. She quickly began focusing her continuing education hours on intuitive eating, Health At Every Size, and eating disorder care. She is excited to now be working primarily with eating disorder clients at Center for Discovery. Paige believes healthy eating supports not only physical health, but also mental, social, and emotional health.

REGISTERED DIETITIAN

Emily Velasquez

Emily, a registered dietitian, has been with Center for Discovery since 2021. Emily provides one-on-one nutrition counseling and leads nutrition group sessions for adolescents and adults, rooted in the Intuitive Eating and Health at Every Size ® philosophy. She received a dual bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dance from Buffalo State College, where she also completed her 1,200-hour supervised practice experience within the coordinated dietetics program. Her interest in eating disorder began as a dancer, and while in college she researched perceived energy needs of dancers compared to their actual needs. This interest carried on into the general population, seeing the ubiquitous damage of diet culture and the growing prevalence of eating disorders. Prior to Center for Discovery, Emily worked at Nike World Headquarters where she provided one-on-one nutrition counseling, taught group nutrition classes and gave nutritional oversight for available food offerings. Emily is passionate about helping individuals fuel their bodies while developing a healthy relationship with food. Emily’s interest in dance nutrition continues, with a passion to prevent and treat eating disorders in dancers, as well as improve overall performance and reduce injury risk. Emily dances for fun when she can in styles of ballet, contemporary, salsa and bachata.

Support Group

We have a handful of free online support groups. Find out more about how to join our free support groups.

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COVID-19 Update: Online telehealth is offered for intensive outpatient treatment as an option to patients living in California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas.

In-person intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization is also offered at this location. Residential treatment continues to be offered at our residential facilities for individuals in need of a higher level of care. Learn about all that we are doing to protect the safety and wellbeing of our patients and staff.

Preferred In-Network Provider for All Major Health Insurance

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