Meet the Team

At Storytellers Child and Family Therapy, we believe that every individual—from the smallest child to the growing adolescent and parent—is a storyteller. People share their lives in culturally rich and unique ways through language, play, art, music, and relationships.

Healing begins when challenging stories are held with compassion, curiosity, and deep acceptance. As a team, we are committed to extending empathy and collaborative care to every family we serve. Our practice operates with high standards of ongoing clinical training, dedicated supervision, and reflective care, ensuring that every associate clinician receives close, expert guidance from our founder so your family receives the highest level of thoughtful support.

Elizabeth Orthmann, LMFT

Founder, Clinical Supervisor & Therapist

Elizabeth is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Supervisor with over a decade of experience supporting children, youth, and families. Born and raised in Australia before moving to the United States as a teenager, Elizabeth’s own journey across cultures deeply informs her practice. She understands firsthand how family values, cultural backgrounds, and life transitions shape who we are, and she approaches every client with profound respect for their unique heritage and lived experience.

As the founder and clinical supervisor at Storytellers, Elizabeth leads our practice with a commitment to compassionate, evidence-based care and ongoing clinical excellence. She actively mentors and supervises associate clinicians, fostering a collaborative team culture rooted in humility, continuous learning, and heart-centered therapeutic work.

Formal Training & Qualifications

Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy – Arizona State University (2010)
Post-Graduate Certificate in Infant/Family Clinical Practice – Harris Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Training Institute
Therapeutic Life Story Work Certificate – Trained under Richard Rose
Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) – Learning Collaborative Graduate
Sandtray Therapy – 4 Levels of Clinical Training from the Center for Sand Tray Play

Professional Background

Elizabeth’s clinical career spans suicide prevention work, adjunct university teaching in undergraduate psychology, private group practice, and a decade in non-profit settings serving foster and adoptive youth in both home and clinical environments.

Therapeutic Approach

Elizabeth provides a warm, consistent, and structured space where children and families feel safe to explore, heal, and grow. She integrates a variety of specialized modalities tailored to each client:

Family Systems Therapy (Bowenian, Structural, and Strategic)
Solution-Focused & Narrative Therapy
Experiential & Play-Based Work (Sandtray, Art, Books, and Play-Based CBT)
Child-Parent Psychotherapy & Therapeutic Life Story Work
Polyvagal Theory, Watch, Wait & Wonder, and Collaborative Problem Solving

Elizabeth's areas of expertise and knowledge can help with the following:

trauma treatment for infants, toddlers, children, and adolescents (including abuse/neglect, natural disasters, exposure to violence, accidents, developmental trauma)
attachment needs
adoption
major life transitions (relocation adjustment, new school adjustment, launching into adulthood)
diagnosis and treatment of children between the ages birth through 5
vicarious trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout

Areas that are outside of Elizabeth's expertise:

co-parenting plans
active court cases (family or dependency)
separation or divorce where this is the primary goal

Elizabeth reserves the right to refer clients to another therapist or appropriate resource at any time if their needs in therapy are not a good match for her skills or experience.

Josie Buchta, MA

Professional Counselor Associate

Supervised by Elizabeth Orthmann, LMFT

Josie is a Registered Associate in the state of Oregon who brings a warm, safe, and compassionate presence to children, adolescents, and families. Guided by the belief that every individual possesses inherent strengths, resilience, and a unique story, Josie strives to create a space where her clients feel genuinely heard, understood, and empowered to take an active role in their healing journey.

Her background as a school counselor across elementary, middle, and high school settings shapes her holistic approach to therapy. She excels at partnering not only with young people, but also with their families and support systems, ensuring that growth and encouragement extend far beyond the therapy room.

Under the ongoing clinical supervision of Practice Director Elizabeth Orthmann, Josie blends dedicated, post-graduate specialized training with personalized, heart-centered care.

Formal Training & Qualifications

Master of Arts in School Counseling – George Fox University (May 2025)
Post-Graduate Certificate in Trauma Response Services – George Fox University (August 2025)
Registered Professional Counselor Associate – State of Oregon

Areas of Focus & Expertise

Josie works with children and adolescents ages 5–18, with a special passion for guiding teens through the complex dynamics of growing up. Her areas of focus include:

Academic & school-related challenges
Friendship & relationship dynamics
Emotional regulation & anxiety
Depression & self-harm recovery
Identity development & major life transitions
Supporting adolescent males navigating emotional expression, perfectionism, shame, and mental health stigma

Therapeutic Approach

Josie takes a highly personalized approach to every client, tailoring sessions to fit each person’s individual goals and comfort level. Her clinical work draws thoughtfully from:

Narrative Therapy
Solution-Focused Therapy
Person-Centered Therapy
Attachment Theory

Beyond the Therapy Room

Outside of her clinical work, Josie works as a high school counselor and loves spending quality time with family and friends. You can often find her hanging out with her cat, Mickey, browsing local coffee shops, collecting Disney memorabilia, crafting, watching movies, or cheering on her brother at his lacrosse games!