Carson Keene

Carson Keene is a long time counselor educator and learner who has been living in Portland, OR for the last 15 years.  As a camp counselor, wilderness educator, NOLS faculty, public school teacher, and now therapist they have solidified and strengthened their desire to be in community with folks and formed a deep connection to many places. They grew up in Texas, Michigan, and Ohio, went to college in Vermont, lived and worked in the Utah wilderness,and have taught at three public schools in Portland, including an environmental school. Moving frequently as a child taught Carson how to make new friends, and also, how to experience identity and place dissonance, creating significant anxiety and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Dogs, good books, natural bodies of water, sun, laughter, and learning feed their soul. Last year Carson finished graduate school at Lewis and Clark College studying addictions counseling, another passion of theirs, believing in the innate goodness and resiliency of humans, and the transformative power of supportive community.