About Dr. Justin Bush, PhD — Licensed Psychologist in Oregon and Washington
Dr. Justin Bush, PhD
Dr. Justin Bush is a licensed child and adolescent psychologist serving residents of both Oregon and Washington states. He specializes in evidence-based therapy for children, teens, young adults, and parents, with expertise in ADHD, anxiety, depression, emotional regulation, adjustment and behavioral challenges, and youth mental performance mindset development. Dr. Bush earned his master’s (3+ years, specialist degree) and doctoral degrees in School Psychology (a scientist-practitioner training model) at the University of Washington (American Psychological Association accredited and National Association of School Psychologists approved) and completed his bachelor’s degree in psychology at Gonzaga University.
With professional experience across hospitals, school districts, community mental health agencies, and pediatric primary care clinics, Dr. Bush has developed a deep understanding of youth mental health across diverse environments. His clinical background includes roles at Seattle Children’s Hospital, the Momentous Institute in Dallas, and Pediatric Associates of the Northwest in the Portland, Oregon, metro area.
Dr. Bush works with children, adolescents, and parents using Mindfulness-Based Strengths Practices (MBSP), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and positive parenting approaches. He helps families understand how ADHD, executive functioning skills problems, anxiety, specific earning disorders (differences), mood, stress, and behavioral conduct that impact a person’s daily functioning—and teaches practical tools to improve focus, confidence, coping skills, communication, habits, and follow-through.
In addition to his therapy work, Dr. Bush helps youth athletes strengthen their mental performance in sport by developing confidence, resilience, emotional regulation, motivation, and focus. He integrates performance-mindset skills into his work with young people who want to improve both their well-being and their competitive mindset.
Parents often seek out Dr. Bush when they want a psychologist who is warm, collaborative, and skilled at supporting healthy development, resilience, and long-term well-being. His practice helps children and teens build on their unique character strengths so they can navigate challenges and thrive at home, at school, and in their chosen activities.
Credentials and licensure
- Licensed Psychologist, Oregon — License No. 2154
- Licensed Psychologist, Washington — License No. PY61540899
- PhD, Educational and School Psychology — University of Washington (APA-accredited, NASP-approved, scientist-practitioner model)
- Educational Specialist / Master’s degree, School Psychology — University of Washington
- BA, Psychology — Gonzaga University
- Founder — Positive Development, Inc., established 2010
Clinical experience
Dr. Bush has practiced across the full range of settings where children’s mental health actually shows up: public school districts, community mental health agencies, hospitals, and integrated pediatric primary care clinics, where he provided open-access, same-day, and same-week evaluation and treatment alongside pediatricians and nursing staff. That range is unusual, and it shapes the work — a school problem is understood as a school problem, a medical question is recognized as one, and the recommendations that come out of an evaluation are written to be implemented by the people who actually have to run them.
Areas of specialization
ADHD and executive functioning; anxiety, panic, and OCD-related symptoms; depression and mood concerns; emotional dysregulation and anger; oppositional and behavioral difficulties; learning differences including dyslexia; school stress, avoidance, and perfectionism; family conflict and parent–child communication; sports performance and mindset for youth athletes; and psychological and psychoeducational assessment.
Approach to care
Treatment integrates cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, dialectical behavior therapy skills, and behavioral parent training, framed by positive psychology — the focus of Dr. Bush’s graduate and doctoral research on prevention and resilience in youth. In practice that means directly addressing symptoms and real-world problems while deliberately building the strengths, skills, and confidence a young person will carry forward.
Serving families across Oregon and Washington
All care is delivered by secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth, so families anywhere in Oregon or Washington have access — including communities where a child psychologist may not be available locally. Services include child and teen therapy, family therapy, parent consultation, psychological testing and evaluation, and school support.
Get in touch
Request a free 15-minute consultation, review rates and insurance, or read the FAQ.
WHY?
Research shows good mental health is the cornerstone of overall health and wellness. Physical and emotional changes and social challenges during the developmental years of life sometimes lead to stress, mood problems, unhealthy choices, and coping, mental, and behavioral health concerns unique to youth. Early, middle, and late adolescence are ideal for building coping skills and character strengths to optimize brain growth and healthy psychological development.
Getting clearer insight into youth’s unique issues is an essential first step to helping them stay or get back on track for positive youth development. As youth gain clarity about their unique character strengths and learn how to use them, they apply their new knowledge to solve their problems. They also begin to make new goals, head into new life directions with their character strengths in mind, and develop them into adulthood.
Research has discovered across cultures worldwide that there are 24 central character strengths* in human beings that are stable over time (e.g., hope, grit, kindness, curiosity, perspective, creativity, perseverance), each falling under large categories called virtues. Like diseases and psychopathology, a scientific classification system exists for people’s character strengths. Each of us has character strengths in varying degrees, and we used them in diverse combinations.
Over a hundred new studies on the science of character strengths are published every year. Research also shows that a mindfulness-based strengths approach to parenting improves teens’ academics, predicts their school engagement and perseverance, and improves their mood and mental health. Building character strengths in youth is essential to the 21st-century competencies they need to succeed and flourish.
*The 24 Character Strengths are the VIA Classification of Character Strengths. For more information, visit: viacharacter.org VIA Classification © Copyright 2014-2020, VIA Institute of Character. All rights reserved.
How?
Child, adolescent, parent, and family-focused psychologists provide scientifically researched and supported psychological services rooted in psychology and character strength science. They emphasize “what’s strong rather than what’s wrong” psychotherapeutic approach when providing individual adolescent and young adult therapy, positive parenting skills training, family therapy, and psychological testing and diagnostic evaluation.
What?
Evidence-based psychotherapies with mindfulness-based strengths practice (MBSP) and character strengths interventions (CSI) help people manage a variety of problems and build coping skills, resources, and promote greater balance. Positive psychological interventions like MBSP and CSI are scientific tools and strategies focusing on increasing well-being, positive cognition, and positive emotions and healthy habits and lifestyle. Clients regularly schedule online telehealth video appointments to meet their individual and family goals. Supportive consultation is routinely provided to school personnel, medical, healthcare professionals and local businesses to strengthen our communities at large.