Cara Brown, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist, MA, APCC

Being alive is a constant process of evolution and transformation, sometimes seemingly without our input. At times, the ever-evolving quality of life can feel exciting and expansive, and at others, it can feel overwhelming and chaotic. Psychotherapy provides a unique opportunity for the client and therapist to curiously engage with, untangle, and understand life’s processes—beginning to understand the inner world and its effect on the external. In doing so, a softening of rigid defenses and old patterns begins, inviting symbols, feelings, memories, thoughts, and desires to emerge in service to a fuller expression of the self. It is a process where creative impulses are given the freedom to evolve from the unknown. The ultimate goal is to cultivate a sense of self that feels embodied, integrated, and more deeply connected to both personal truth and relational others. My personal style as a clinician is humorous, warm, honest, and empathetic. I practice from a psychodynamic perspective, grounded in analytic and psychoanalytic theory. In practice, I am compassionate and collaborative, balancing supportive and expressive techniques as needed to help people recognize patterns of relating, explore their emotional depths, and uncover meaning in their experiences. Every person is unique, and the therapeutic encounter is a deeply connected experience. As a result, psychotherapy is highly individualized to the client. While honoring each person’s individuality, I also recognize that as human beings, we are not so different from one another, and many of our sufferings run in similar veins. I work well with people who are navigating their identity and how it can be expressed in the world, processing early childhood wounds, struggling with religious trauma, understanding neurodivergence, and working through grief and loss. As a former designer, I have a unique insight into the creative experience, which allows me to provide empathy and understanding to creatives struggling to express themselves fully. Mostly, I enjoy sitting with people who are curious and seek to better understand themselves and others.