Meet your therapist
I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) specializing in couples therapy, relational patterns, and somatic approaches to emotional change.
My perspective as a therapist has been shaped by a combination of ongoing personal development, education, and lived experience.
As a queer woman, I’m especially attuned to questions of identity, belonging, and the ways people navigate relationships across difference and complexity. I also had the unique experience of growing up TCK/CCK and grew up across multiple cultural environments, including North-Eastern China and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. I often experienced myself as living between worlds and identities, and that experience continues to inform the way I listen for nuance, context, and what is unspoken in people’s relational lives.
I work especially well with people who:
feel outside of the norm
experience themselves as outsiders within systems or communities
are navigating identity, relational, or life transitions
want a therapy space where complexity and nuance are welcome
Clients often describe me as grounded, engaged, relational, direct-but-compassionate, and genuinely curious about understanding people deeply.
My training includes attachment-based and experiential approaches to couples therapy, with advanced focus on how emotional and physiological patterns shape relationships.
Outside of my professional roles, I enjoy spending time with my partner and our two cats, practicing yoga, and trying to keep up with my Mandarin Chinese.
I earned my clinical masters degree in counseling psychology and somatic psychotherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco in 2020 and I have been managing my own private practice since 2024.
Though my primary framework is Formative Psychology, I lean on the PACT and EFCT frameworks for my couples work. I am trained in PACT Level 2 and have completed advanced training in EFCT (LGBTQ+ centered).
I am also a doctoral candidate in Integral, Transpersonal, and Somatic Psychology at CIIS where I am currently wrapping up my somatic-focused doctoral dissertation on the embodiment of romantic attachment among adult TCKs.
CV
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Emotionally-Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Professional Consultation with Katharina Sandizell, LMFT
March 2026 – present (ongoing)
Formative Psychology Professional Consultation with Christina Loeffel, LMFT
July 2024 – present (ongoing)
LGBTQ+ Centered Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Core Skills with Robert Allan, PhD, LMFT and Sandra Taylor, PhD, LMFT
September 2025 thru March 2026
LGBTQ+ Centered Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Externship with Robert Allan, PhD, LMFT and Sandra Taylor, PhD, LMFT
June 2025
Formative Psychology Practice Group with Christina Loeffel, LMFT
June 2019 – March 2025
PACT Couples Consultation Group with Patricia Hart, PhD, LMFT
September 2023 - May 2025
Conversations in Formative Psychology® International Class with Leila Cohn, PhD
March 2021 – August 2024
Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Level 2
August-November 2023
Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Level 1
January - April 2023
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California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
August 2020 - Current
PhD Candidate in Integral, Transpersonal, and Somatic Psychology (ITPS)
Dissertation in progress, research study completed
California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
August 2017 - August 2020
MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychotherapy
Bennington College
Bennington, Vermont
August 2009 - July 2013
BLA in Liberal Arts & Mandarin Chinese
Self-designed liberal arts major in verbal and nonverbal communication, with a focus in Mandarin Chinese
Middlebury College Chinese Language School
Middlebury, Vermont
June 2012-August 2012
Certificate in Mandarin Chinese, Level 2.5
International School at Xiamen University
Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
August 2011-January 2012
Certificate in Mandarin Chinese, Level 2
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Courtenay Houk Somatic Therapy (Private Practice), September 2024 - present
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) #147820
Center for Mindful Psychotherapy (CMP), January 2021 - August 2024
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Christina Loeffel, LMFT with specialized focus in Individuals
Supervised by Aaron Hagaman, LMFT with specialized focus in Couples and Adolescents
San Rafael High School (SRHS) Wellness Center, August 2022 - June 2023
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Judy Schwerin, LMFT
Center for Somatic Psychotherapy (CSP), September 2019 - December 2020
Trainee Intern & Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Christina Loeffel, LMFT
Prior to my work and education in counseling psychology, I had a previous career in the fast-paced translation industry where I specialized in quality assurance, project management, and localization. I left this field in 2017 prior to starting my MA degree at CIIS.
how I work
My work is especially focused on how nervous system patterns shape romantic relationships.
In couples therapy, we pay attention to:
what happens emotionally and physically during conflict
how each partner protects themselves under stress
where disconnection begins in the cycle
how both partners unintentionally reinforce the pattern
In individual therapy, we work to:
understand how emotional patterns live in the body
recognize what happens internally during conflict or distress
build capacity to stay present under stress
create new relational experiences that feel safer and more connected
As this awareness develops, people often become less reactive, less overwhelmed, and more able to respond intentionally instead of automatically. This work helps people develop a different relationship to their emotional and physiological responses—one that feels more grounded, connected, and manageable over time.