75-minute sessions for families with teens, adult children and parents, chosen family, etc., offered in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle, or via telehealth.
Family life has been a challenge lately — maybe the tenuous relationship between parents and teen(s) is straining further with someone going off to college, or someone pushing boundaries. Or maybe you’re the teen (15+), hoping to find someone who can get it, and maybe then the everyone else might understand, too.
Or, maybe you’re like millions of families across the country, struggling to relate as adult family members; there always seems to be some tension in the air, even though you want to be close. Maybe it’s always been that way — or maybe something’s changed in recent (or not so recent) years.
Adult siblings, parents and adult children, or chosen family can be an overlooked, but deeply meaningful, sources of relationship and love. And, those relationships are equally as worthy of receiving counseling as other forms of relationships that are traditionally seen, like couples, or families with young children.
Families can come in all shapes and sizes, but they all have something in common: a group of people trying to do something together. Whether that’s co-existing peacefully, sharing life or experiences, raising kids or caring for aging parents, or navigating the kaleidoscope that is chosen family, there’s always room for love and joy, as well as hurt and misunderstanding. And the lens through which I view family counseling (Emotionally Focused Therapy) says hurt and misunderstanding comes when attachment needs are overlooked or dropped.
What’s it like in session?
Through a) discovering those attachment needs in session together, then b) experiencing sharing those needs with an attuned other, then c) having the attuned other respond to those needs, we create what’s called a corrective experience. The therapist helps the family identify negative cycles, or common patterns of interaction that lead to hurt and pain, then creates a new, corrective experience in session in which the attachment needs are attended to. This corrective experience creates a new pattern of interaction in the relationship which continues outside of session, creating new ways of being in the world together, and creates healing.
I am an integrative Relational-Cultural (RCT) therapist, which is the fancy way of saying that I believe that human beings grow through relationships with others, and that I draw from other therapy modalities based on your needs and goals.
- Emotionally Focused Individual (EFIT), Couple (EFCT), or Family (EFFT) Therapy (I am trained and recognized by ICEEFT as an EFIT and EFCT Therapist)
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) or Radically-Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy (RO-DBT)
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)
- Parts work (similar to internal family systems, or IFS)
- Somatic-based practices
- Existential Therapy
- Strengths-Based Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
I show up authentically in session, meaning you’re getting me, Cait, the full person. I, of course, have filters and boundaries, and adhere to professional ethics, but you’re also going to get the full human. Sometimes I swear. I make mistakes, and will do my best to repair any rupture with you. I use humor. I sit cross-legged in my chair. I fidget.
