Marla Vannucci (she/her)

Relationship issues emerge in my work with individual clients as well as partnerships and polycules. My primary background is in relational approaches, including attachment-focused therapies. I also am trained in emotionally focused therapy, which I use both in individual and family work. Relationship issues may include managing conflict, communication, decision-making, parenting, developing healthy attachments, identity issues, and trust/betrayal.

Life transitions occur continuously through our lifetimes in both expected and unexpected ways. Even if we are prepared for or anticipating a life change, these transitions can be stressful and often require us to explore our identities and experiences of ourselves in new ways. Additionally, life transitions may mean revisiting past trauma or integrating healing in new ways. And lastly, life transitions typically impact our relationships and how we see ourselves in relation to others.

PTSD and other trauma-related issues can present themselves in many different ways. I bring extensive experience in working with veterans, as well as survivors of sexual and interpersonal trauma. My approach to trauma work is multi-faceted and incorporates both mind and body. Trauma work typically includes exploring meaning, "before" and "after" contexts, structural and systemic factors, community/belonging building, and normalizing experiences.

Relationship counseling can occur with an individual or a family unit, whether that be a partnership, a family leadership unit, or a parent and child. I am trained in EFT, as well as multiple other family therapy methods. I taught Couple and Family Therapy and Advanced Couple and Family Therapy at Adler University for a decade. Relationship counseling often focuses on attachment safety, connection and intimacy, healthy expression, and shared understanding or perspective.

I integrate a family systems approach to all of my work. We develop knowledge about relationships from our families of origin, however those may be organized, and we bring that knowledge and expectations to all our relationship experiences. Family systems work may help to uncover our beliefs and patterns in relationships and allow us to make choices in our lives that feel like choices. Family systems work must always take a multicultural lens and respect culturally defined boundaries and roles.

Psychodynamic therapy brings the idea that what happened to us in the past, particularly in our key relationships, has shaped how we see ourselves and the world and our patterns of coping and relating to others. Sometimes this includes traumatic experiences, including attachment trauma, that may leave us vulnerable in different ways. Psychodynamic therapy uses the therapist/client relationship to create corrective relational experiences that help to strengthen the self and allow for new patterns