Helping you to root in your unique strengths
I utilize a holistic and relationship-based therapeutic model to assess the needs of my clients and collaboratively identify ways to support them in doing all that they want, need, and love to do. I am committed to a client-led process that includes trauma informed care, body and nervous-system based supports, practicing overcoming challenges together, and adapting activities, tasks, and the environment as needed.
Neurodiversity Affirming Therapy
Neurodiversity is natural and beautiful! As a neuro-affirming therapist, I believe in the unique and profound strengths of my neurodivergent clients. My goal is always to empower and guide my clients to utilize their strengths and skills to navigate the many rigid neurotypical spaces and systems they encounter throughout daily life in a way that is authentic to them.
Services and Appraoch
Meet Your Therapist
Amanda Kleist, OTD, OTR/L
Hello! I’m Amanda Kleist and I’m a licensed, registered occupational therapist serving individuals and families in the greater Portland metro area.
Originally from New Mexico, I completed my undergraduate education in Boise, Idaho and graduated from Pacific University here in Oregon in 2020 with my Clinical Doctorate in Occupational Therapy. After graduating I spent time working in program development to support health equity and access within the context of a non-profit working with resettled refugees. I went on to serve families and adults with a play and relationship based sensory integration lens. I have completed the STAR Institute Level 1 Advanced Mentorship in Sensory Integration and have found immense joy in collaborating with families and individuals to meet a myriad of needs through play. As an adult with ADHD myself, I found a hidden passion for supporting neurodivergent adults in understanding the various strengths, needs, and skills unique to them and collaborating to find strategies and tools to help them thrive.
I am driven by empowering adults in engaging in all of the things they love and need to do and by advocating for occupational justice in our community and larger health systems. Neuro affirming practices are the cornerstone of my practice approach, and I find it vital to meet each and every person where they are to harness their unique strengths for healing, growth, and meaningful engagement.
When I’m not working as an OT, I enjoy going on hikes, singing, dancing, playing sports, cooking, playing video games, reading, and exploring with my family and my dog.
My commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion:
I am committed to creating a safe environment and therapeutic practices for everyone. I believe that every single person deserves equitable access to wellness, healing, and meaningful support and seek to reflect this core belief in tangible ways by engaging in dismantling systemic racism, acting to amplify marginalized and underrepresented voices, providing genuine allyship, and contributing to actively shifting the culture of my profession and community to be more inclusive and accessible. I acknowledge that being an anti-racist practitioner and ally requires intentional reflection, education, and evolution and I am committed to the constant pursuit of these practices.
I respectfully acknowledge that I occupy the unceceded ancestral land of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River.
