Nathan LeRud
M.Div., Counseling Intern, MS Couples & Family Therapy (in progress)
I believe that everyone deserves to be fully known — not as a curated version of the self, but as a complicated and contradictory whole. My commitment is to help you inhabit that space: one grounded in genuine curiosity, a deep respect for your story, and the conviction that healing is possible at any stage of life.
I grew up in the suburbs of Portland, the son of a pastor and a teacher. Growing up queer in a conservative home gave me early fluency in code-switching, reading a room, and finding belonging in unexpected places. Theatre was where I first experienced a world that was wider, richer, and more complicated than my upbringing had prepared me for. My journey as a person of faith —including marriage, divorce, and the ongoing work of creating family that honors queer experience rather than imitating straight norms — informs my clinical work and relational stance. After twenty years in pastoral counseling, walking with people through some of the hardest and most luminous moments of their lives, I knew it was time for a change. My experience in multi-generational settings gives me an instinctual comfort with complexity, “not-knowing”, and the many different ways people create and cultivate intimacy.
Outside the therapy room, you're most likely to find me at Eugene’s Art Cinemas, where vintage films are my version of church. I'm an opera devotee, a lover of classical music, and a committed hiker working my way through as much of Oregon as I can manage. As a fifth-generation Oregonian, I continue to reckon with the Pacific Northwest’s violent history even as find solace in mountains, ocean and trees. Mt. Hood and Neskowin’s Proposal Rock are sacred places in my life, and spending time with my family continues to be how I experience homecoming and belonging.
I assist clients who are experiencing a range of concerns including anxiety and depression, grief and loss, life transitions, relationship and family conflict, spiritual/religious identity, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as those navigating trauma and recovery. I have experience working with adults navigating major vocational and relational transitions as well as individuals with serious mental illness, and I’m particularly drawn to clients whose inner life doesn't fit neatly into the frameworks they’ve been handed.
Areas of Focus
Who I Work With: Adults, TEENS ages 16+, couples And families
While I work with a wide range of people and presenting problems, some of my most common topics of focus include:
Depression
Anxiety
Grief & Loss
Life Transitions
LGBTQIA+
Gender Transitions
Spirituality / Faith Issues
Counseling Technique
I’m particularly drawn to methodologies and models – ACT, EFT, and Narrative Therapy in particular – that integrate spiritual, emotional, physical and psychological dimensions. I welcome individuals, couples, and families, people navigating transition and identity, and anyone in the middle of a life that doesn't look the way they expected.
Professional Background
I spent twenty years in congregational settings before transitioning to the mental health space, and my approach to counseling is grounded in a multigenerational and systemic approach: people are best understood in the fullness of their context. I’ve worked with individuals navigating homelessness and poverty, serious mental illness and intellectual and developmental disabilities as well as couples and families experiencing stress and violence.
Education Credentials
Master of Divinity, General Theological Seminary
Master of Science in Couples and Family Therapy (in progress), University of Oregon