ABOUT TAHLIA
“Interested in everything, and nothing else.” —Umberto Eco
Things that make me, me.
Experience, academic, and clinical training, and a small streak of rebellion against “business as usual” all shape the way I support others.
Learn More
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Personally, I come from a family of creatives and public figures who taught me two things early: take your craft seriously, and remember that your work is never just about you. Before I ever sat in a therapist’s chair or entered academia, I was in the arts as an audio engineer. Even then, I was the person people pulled aside after a session to talk about their life in the background. Long before I had clinical letters after my name, I was already practicing the art of listening to what wasn’t being said out loud, and witnessing how power and relational dynamics shaped human experiences.
People who know me well describe me as insatiably curious and stubbornly unwilling to accept “that’s just how it is” as a satisfying answer. I draw heavily on my own experience navigating complex relationships and asking uncomfortable questions about what it actually means to live in alignment with your values when the system makes that hard. Whether I’m in session, consulting with a team, writing, or conducting research, I care about two things: reducing avoidable harm and making it easier for people to act like the kind of human they want to be.
I’ve worked in healthcare in one form or another since 2006. The through‑line has always been the same: people brought me their pain points, their questions, and their very human attempts to keep going in systems that often weren’t designed with them in mind. Moving into psychology and ethics wasn’t a sharp left turn; it was the obvious next step everyone around me saw coming.
My background means I understand both sides of the room: the pressures on people seeking care, and the pressures on people trying to provide it, especially in medical settings and public‑facing roles where everyone is watching and very little is simple. I’m interested in the places where ethics, technology, culture, and lived experience intersect, not in pretending any one of those can be separated from the rest.
All has led me where I am now professionally: a licensed marriage and family therapist, educator, and doctoral researcher in experimental psychology whose work lives where ethics, care, and messy real life collide. I’m currently based in Portland, Oregon, where I was (mostly) born and raised, and I split my time between clinical work, research, and ethics projects with the University of Ottawa and Harvard Law School’s Petrie‑Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.
Outside of work, I’m usually cooking for people I love, out in the air moving around, planning my next trip, nerding out over sci‑fi, or working on being a slightly less insufferable music snob.
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I trained first as a systems therapist, earning my Master’s in Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy from Lewis & Clark’s Graduate School of Counseling. That program is unapologetically systemic and culturally responsive, seeing people as embedded in families, communities, cultures, and histories, not as isolated brains on a couch. That lens still grounds everything I do clinically and ethically.
Because I kept running into questions that the therapy room alone couldn’t answer, I went on to complete a second Master’s in Bioethics and Science Policy at Duke University. There, I focused on how law, policy, clinical practice, and emerging technologies shape what counts as “ethical” long before an individual clinician ever meets a patient.
I’m currently a PhD candidate in experimental psychology at the University of Ottawa, where I continue my research on psychedelic therapies with Dr. Monnica Williams in the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities, and I serve as an associate researcher with Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics through the POPLAR project. My work sits at the intersection of bioethics, experimental psychology research, technology, and culturally responsive, trauma-informed clinical practice.
Alongside seeing clients, I care a lot about the bigger levers: advocating for policy reform, offering direct and thoughtful ethics education, and creating psychoeducational materials that help clinicians and healthcare partners navigate real-world ethical questions with more clarity.
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Academic Journals
Williams, M. T., Harrison, T., & La Torre, J. T. (2026). Cultural formulation and culturally adapted treatments for depression. In T. M. Olino, J. W. Pettit, R. C. Boyd, B. C. Chu, E. P. Hayden, & D. A. Pizzagalli (Eds.), APA handbook ofdepression: Minoritized populations, lifespan development, assessment, and treatment (pp. 391–412). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000438-021
Williams, M., & Harrison, T. (2025). When clients say they have tried psychedelics: What mental health care providers need to know. the Behavior Therapist, 48(4), 567–577.
Harrison TR, Faber SC, Zare M, Fontaine M, Williams MT. (2025) Wolves Among Sheep: Sexual Violations in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. Am J Bioeth. 2025 Jan;25(1):40-55. https://doi: 10.1080/15265161.2024.2433423. Epub 2025 Jan 13. PMID: 39804304.
Harrison, T. R. (2023). Commentary: Arc: A framework for access, reciprocity and conduct in psychedelic therapies. Frontiers in Psychology, 14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1248967
Harrison, T. R. (2023). Altered stakes: Identifying gaps in the informed consent process for psychedelic-assisted therapy trials. Journal of Psychedelic Studies, 7(S1), 48–60. https://doi.org/10.1556/2054.2023.00267
Harrison, T.R. (2022). Altered Stakes: identifying gaps in the psychedelic-assisted therapy research informed consent process. Master's thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/25858
Morrison, T., Ferris Wayne, M., Harrison, T.R. Learning to Embody a Social Justice Perspective in Couple and Family Therapy: A Grounded Theory Analysis of MFTs in Training. Contemporary Family Therapy (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-022-09635-8
Harrison, T. R., Ferris-Wayne, M., & Maragos, M. (2021). Ethics Issues Today: 2021 Student Ethics Competition Winning Essay. Family Therapy Magazine, 20(6), 7–10.
Online Media
Harrison, T. R. (2024). When the Promises of a Policy Do Not Meet the Reality of Its Practice: Ethical Issues Within Oregon’s Measure 109. Bill of Health - The blog of the Petrie-Flom Center at Harvard Law School. https://blog.petrieflom.law.harvard.edu/2024/02/12/when-the-promises-of-a-policy-do-not-meet-the-reality-of-its-practice-ethical-issues-within-oregons-measure-109/
Print Media
Harrison, T., Ferris-Wayne, M., & Maragos, M. (2021, November 1). 2021 Student Ethics Competition First Place Essay. Family Therapy Magazine.
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CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
Harrison, T.R. (2025, June). Clinical uses and ethical challenges in psychedelic-assisted therapy. Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Bioetechnology, and Bioethics Lecture Series. Harvard University, Harvard Law School. Cambridge, Massachusetts
Harrison, T.R. (2025, June). When your patient has tried psychedelics, integration and harm reduction tips for therapists. Canadian Psychological Association 86th Annual Convention. St. John’s Convention Center, St. John’s NL, Canada.
Harrison, T.R. (2025, June). Wolves Among Sheep: Sexual Violations in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. Canadian Psychological Association 86th Annual Convention. St. John’s Convention Center, St. John’s NL, Canada.
Harrison, T.R. (2025, May). When your patient has tried psychedelics, integration and harm reduction tips for therapists. Advanced Behavioral Health Seminar. Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance, Virtual.
Harrison, T.R. (2025, March). Wolves Among Sheep: Sexual Violations in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy. The Hopkins-Oxford Psychedelics Ethics (HOPE) Monthly Seminar, Johns Hopkins University, Virtual.
Harrison, T.R. (2024, January). Ethical issues and harm reduction practices: what clinicians should know about psychedelic-assisted therapy. The Champlain Centre for Health Care Ethics Virtual Ethics Rounds Series. The Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus
Harrison, T.R. (2023, June). Intergenerational Trauma and Psychedelics. Judaism and the Psychedelic Renaissance 2023: A Portland Gathering. Co/Lab. Portland, Oregon.
Harrison, T.R. (2022, November). Informed Consent in Psychedelic Therapy and Research: Why is it Complicated? Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Bioetechnology, and Bioethics Lecture Series. Harvard University, Harvard Law School, Virtual.
Harrison, T. R. (2022, August). Altered Stakes: Identifying Gaps in the Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Research Informed Consent Process. Psychedemia 2022. Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio.
Morrison, T., Harrison, T., Palmgren, E., & Ferris-Wayne, M., Knudson-Martin, C. (2021, June). Learning to Embody a Social Justice Perspective in Couple and Family Therapy: A Grounded Theory Analysis of MFTs in Training. American Family Therapy Association's Annual Conference 2021, Virtual.
TEACHING & LECTURES
2023 | Guest Lecturer, Duke University; Course: PUBPOL 196FS: Patient and Research Participant Activism and Advocacy.
2023 | Guest Lecturer, Ohio State University; Course: PLNTPTH 830: Psychedelic Bioethics
2022 | Guest Lecturer, University of Ottawa; Course: PSY 6137: Psychedelic Psychotherapies for Mental Health.
2022 | Faculty, Synaptic Institute; Courses: All ethics curriculum for the psilocybin-assisted facilitator training program in compliance with Oregon Health Authority's Measure 109.
2021 | Guest Lecturer, Portland Community College; Course: SJ210 Social Justice Through Song.
2019 - 2020 | Teaching Assistant, Lewis & Clark Graduate School; Course: MCFT 526: Practical Skills in Marriage, Couple, and Family Therapy.
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CLINICAL SERVICES
Visit retune.space for therapy services.
For media or speaking requests please use the contact form on this website.
LICENSURE
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, #T2807. Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists
Licensed Massage Therapist (inactive), #13861. Oregon Board of Massage Therapy
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EMDR Foundational/Basic Training (Parts I & II)
First module for certification to provide EMDR therapy given by EMDRIA-Approved New Leaf Trauma Center. Preparing therapists to provide excellent and attuned EMDR therapy to guide clients towards healing and growth.
Certificate in Traumatic Stress Studies | Trauma Research Foundation
Comprehensive Certificate Program in Traumatic Stress Studies offered by Bessel van der kolk, M.D., Richard Schwartz, Ph.D., Stephen Porges, Ph.D., Elizabeth Warner, Psy.D., Margaret Blaustein, Ph.D. Deborah Korn, PsyD, Frank Anderson, M.D., Jana Pressley, Psy.D, Ruth Lanius M.D. Ph.D., Alexandra Cook, Ph.D
Modules: Neurobiology of PTSD and Developmental Trauma; Attachment Theory and Relationships; Treatment Foundations and Assessments; Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) and Supporting Regulation in Childhood; Adult Treatment and Component-Based Psychotherapy (CBP); Dissociation and Internal Family Systems (IFS); Trauma Processing and EMDR; Sensorimotor Treatment and Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment (SMART); Sand Tray Therapy, Play and Activity, Theater and Trauma-Drama, and Trauma Sensitive Yoga; Trauma-Focused Neurofeedback; Vicarious Trauma and Self-Care; Special Issues including Sexual Exploitation, Community Trauma, and Sexual Behavior Problems.
Problem Gambling Pre-Certification I
Rick Berman, MA, LPC, Mark Douglass, LPC, CADC III, CGAC II. Lewis and Clark Graduate Center for Community Engagement. [Portland, OR; 2018]
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AWARDS
2022 | Doctoral International Scholarship. University of Ottawa.
2022 | International Admission Scholarship. University of Ottawa.
2022 | Certificate of Leadership Scholarship. American Association of Family Therapy (AAMFT).
2021 |1st Place Winner, Team Leader | American Association of Family Therapy (AAMFT) Student Ethics Competition.
2021 | Merit Scholarship | Duke University Center for Science and Society.
LEADERSHIP
2021 - 2023 | Co-Chair: Student & Early-Career Member Committee. American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA)
2018 - 2021 | Student Advisory Board, Lead Cohort Representative. Lewis and Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling.
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American Psychological Association (APA). Professional Member.
Canadian Psychological Association (CPA). Professional Member.
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT). Professional Member.
American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH)