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A4 • Friday, August 7, 2020 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com SignalViewpoints Gearhart therapist buoys clients amid pandemic SEEN FROM SEASIDE R.J. MARX Slip into By the Way and visitors will fi nd cards, coffee and gifts. But in an area carved out in the rear of the building, Delores Sullivan has redesigned the space to accommodate patients at her new therapy offi ce. She moved to Gearhart two years ago with her husband and said she saw a need for therapy options. “A lot of the other thera- pists told me, ‘Boy, we could really use some good therapists,’” she said. “But I kept think- ing there has to be a good space if I’m going to come back. It has to feel right. I wanted to fi nd the right place.” The Gearhart location offers the kind of low-key space Sullivan desired. “Coffee, therapy and the beach — it’s per- fect. I just love it, and the good energy here,” she said. Sullivan grew up in rural Missouri and moved to Portland when she was 21 with her boyfriend. “I’ve had three distinct careers in 50 years, all overlapping,” she said. “One in nursing, next in fashion business as a model, then model scout, and model agent and fi nally therapist and teaching.” She was president of the Oregon Adoptive Rights Association when Rolling Stone pub- lisher Jann Wenner assigned feature writer Randall Sullivan to profi le her in 2000. She was involved in Oregon adoption law, working to give adult adoptees the right to their original sealed birth certifi cates through Measure 58. The writer was struck by her, describing her in the article as “not only beautiful but articulate, passionate and charming as well.” “It was a random meeting at 1:30 in the afternoon at the Brasserie Montmartre and there was nobody there but me and him,” she recalled. “He recorded me for four hours and then he met me again and recorded me four more.” While their lives were complicated at the time, they began a long relationship and mar- ried in October 2018. She practiced therapy and taught in the psychiatry departments at Portland State University, Oregon Health & Science University and at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte Counseling Cen- ter for three years before retiring. With 23 years in practice, Sullivan said she wants to create a place where people feel safe. “When someone comes to therapy they want to feel heard,” she said. “They want to know someone cares and can help them. They want to talk to someone who has the expe- rience and skills to be pres- ent to their diffi culties and who can bring about healing and resolution.” She said therapy is a unique human relationship based on compassion, empathy and mutual collaboration. Sullivan works with those seeking help with depression, anxiety, stress, family con- fl ict and trauma. Therapy can be short term or long term. “There’s nothing they can’t talk about with me here,” she said. Particularly during the coro- navirus pandemic, she said peo- ple are feeling a lot of stress in their relationships. “People are very scared, not R.J. Marx knowing what’s going on,” she said. “The fragmentation of how Delores Sullivan in her Gearhart offi ce. Sullivan works with those seeking help with depression, anxiety, things have been managed has stress, family confl ict and trauma. been very scary to people.” While telephone or video therapy is an option, she said people have preferred to come in. “I think as long as it’s safe and people are monitored, it’s better in person. People need the human connec- tion and they particularly need it right now because they’re feeling isolated.” “The goal is to give them an anchor, to stabilize them,” she said. “You can’t work through any kind of traumatic feelings until you stabilize them, so I try to look at them holistically. What is their health? Are they sleeping? Eating? Are they walking on the beach? Are they getting some connection, FaceTime or telephone with people they care about?” When not working at her practice, Sul- livan spends time with her grown children, stepchildren and seven grandchildren. Delores Sullivan “I love to go to the beach,” she said. “I love seafood, fi sh and chips. I love the food Inside Delores Sullivan’s Gearhart therapy offi ce. here. I love the people in Gearhart, they’re very interesting. It’s a very eclectic mix of ing in a small community is chance encoun- therapy the other day?’” “We’re in such a unique shift,” she said. people, that’s why it’s fun to have a practice ters with clients are inevitable. “But I man- here. Here I can fl ex, if people want to see age confi dentiality the same way I would in “I believe between the way the world was me on a Friday morning, I can work that.” Portland or Charlotte. Outside of here I’m prior to COVID and the way we’re going to One of the unique challenges of practic- not going to say, ‘Hey, what did you think of be now, it will never be the way it was.” BRIEFS 500 professionals in 14 offi ces. O’Reilly grew up in the Pacifi c Northwest. She married into a U.S. Coast Guard family over 10 years ago and has spent that time between Alaska and the Oregon Coast. She and her fam- ily live in Gearhart. Census outreach Workers from the U.S. Census Bureau will be in Seaside and Gearhart next week to help peo- ple respond to the census. A Mobile Questionnaire Assistance booth will be at the Seaside Farmer’s Market from 2 to 6 p.m. on Aug. 12 and at the Sweet Shop Gearhart from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 13. People can also respond online at my2020census.gov and click “respond” or call 844-330-2020. NW Connector trip planner available online Cyndy O’Reilly Gearhart Windermere adds new agent joined Windermere Realty in Gearhart as a real estate broker. She joins a network of more than Cynthia “Cyndy” O’Reilly NW Connector offers an enhanced online trip planner for riders to and around the north- western part of the state. By typing in a starting address and destination with the NW Connector area, the planner determines the best trip routes and optionsthrough an interac- tive map. Riders may reserve a pickup or drop-off within three-quar- ters of a mile of normal schedule routes. Riders with special needs may also make advance reserva- tions. Three- and five-day travel passes are available for unlim- ited travel. Visit nworegontran- sit.org for more information. Transit forum ahead Sunset Empire Transporta- tion District will hold a meet- ing Aug. 18 to focus on transpor- tation needs in Clatsop County for older adults, individuals with disabilities and the public. The meeting will provide information and updates to the county’s coordinated human ser- vices transportation plan. The update will build on the existing arrangements in the county and nearby areas, includ- ing the NW Connector transit agency alliance and the district’s partnerships with human service agencies serving clients with disabilities. Participants may join the meeting at https://global.goto- meeting.com/join/811936141. The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at noon. Participants are encouraged to RSVP by emailing ccampoll@ rlsandassoc.com or calling 937-299-5007. LETTER TO THE EDITOR Please observe ‘no camping’ rules on the beach I noticed people camping on the north end of the beach towards the estuary for sev- eral days this past week. I called the Seaside police nonemergency phone to report this and they made them move along. I went to where they were camping and tried to clean up the used toilet paper, grill, etc. This is why we do not want camping on the beach. If you see someone camping on the beach, please report it. Thank you Seaside police for helping. Reid Johnson Seaside PUBLIC MEETINGS Contact local agencies for lat- est meeting information and attendance guidelines. Recreation District Board of Directors, 5:15 p.m., 1225 Avenue A. Seaside City Council, 7 p.m., 989 Broadway. TUESDAY, AUG. 11 Seaside Planning Commis- sion, work session, 6 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way. Seaside City Council, 6 p.m., joint vacation rental work- shop with Planning Commis- sion, 989 Broadway. Seaside School District, 6 p.m., electronic meeting, www.seaside.k12.or.us/meet- ings. THURSDAY, AUG. 13 Convention Center Com- mission, 5 p.m., Seaside Civic and Convention Center, 415 First Ave. Gearhart Planning Com- mission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 698 Pacifi c Way. WEDNESDAY, AUG. 19 Seaside Tourism Advisory Committee, 3 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. THURSDAY, AUG. 20 Seaside Prom Centennial Planning Committee, 4 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. TUESDAY, AUG. 18 Seaside Transportation Ad- visory Commission, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. Sunset Empire Park and MONDAY, AUG. 24 MONDAY, AUG. 31 TUESDAY, SEPT. 1 Community Center Commission, 10 a.m., Bob Chisholm Community Center, 1225 Avenue A. Seaside Library Board, w4:30 p.m., Seaside Public Library, 1131 Broadway. Seaside Planning Commis- sion, 6 p.m., City Hall, 989 Broadway. CIRCULATION MANAGER Jeremy Feldman ADVERTISING SALES MANAGER Sarah Silver- Tecza PUBLISHER EDITOR Kari Borgen R.J. Marx PRODUCTION MANAGER CONTRIBUTING WRITERS John D. Bruijn Skyler Archibald Darren Gooch Joshua Heineman Rain Jordan Katherine Lacaze Esther Moberg SYSTEMS MANAGER Carl Earl Lewis and Clark living historians display their product at last year’s Salt Makers event in Seaside. Tourism grants go to six Seaside events Seaside Signal Some of Seaside’s beloved signature events got a boost in July as the annual Tourism Grant Program in Seaside awarded more than $28,000 in funding to six different organizations for the 2020- 2021 fi scal cycle. While total awards from previous years have equaled up to $50,000, this current round of $28,025 in award funding represents a $3,025 increase in funding awarded to community events outside the fi reworks show, accord- ing to Joshua Heineman, the city’s director of tourism marketing. Events include Art in the Park, Sept. 19; Oktoberfest, Sept. 26; Lewis and Clark Salt Makers Return, Sept. 12 and Sept. 13; Halloween Hap- penin’s, Oct. 30-Nov. 1; Pour- ing at the Coast brew festi- val, March 13 and March 14, 2021; Prom centennial photo exhibit in June; and Coast- Walk Oregon in September. Seaside Signal Letter policy Subscriptions The Seaside Signal is published every other week by EO Media Group, 1555 N. Roosevelt, Seaside, OR 97138. 503-738-5561 seasidesignal.com Copyright © 2020 Seaside Signal. Nothing can be reprinted or copied without consent of the owners. The Seaside Signal welcomes letters to the editor. The deadline is noon Monday prior to publication. Letters must be 400 words or less and must be signed by the author and include a phone number for verifi cation. We also request that submissions be limited to one letter per month. Send to 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive, Seaside, OR 97138, drop them off at 1555 N. Roosevelt Drive or fax to 503-738-9285, or email rmarx@seasidesignal.com Annually: $40.50 in county • $58.00 in and out of county • e-Edition: only $30.00 POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Seaside Signal, P.O. Box 210, Astoria, OR 97103. Postage Paid at Seaside, OR, 97138 and at additional mailing offi ces. Copyright © 2020 by the Seaside Signal. No portion of this newspaper may be reproduced without written permission. All rights reserved.
