Give Voice to Your Truth
At Seen & Heard Psychotherapy in Austin, Texas, you’ll find counseling for individuals, couples, and groups.
As a Licensed Professional Counselor, I'm here to help you bring awareness to your past, patterns, and feelings, so you can give voice to your truth and open up to a new way forward.
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Individual therapy:
Our early years have a big impact on how we operate as adults. Our ways of being and personal struggles can often be traced back to our family of origin. How you were parented, the role you played in your family, the defenses you learned to get by or survive – these stay with you and inform how you operate in the world.
You may have had an angry or abusive parent, which taught you to avoid confrontation at all costs.
Your boundaries were ignored or overruled, leaving you with the belief that your own needs are insignificant or invalid.
You may have learned that it's weak to show fear, or wrong to show anger.
You were taught to be a caretaker, to manage the needs and emotions of others and neglect your own.
Whatever your own history may have been, there's a place for what you learned and how you adapted; after all, it’s gotten you this far. But some of those early lessons have outlasted their usefulness. When your learned patterns don’t serve who you are now, you can experience anxiety, depression, or chronic disconnection. And these issues can be compounded with the burden of trauma.
Therapy provides the time and space to evaluate how your past impacts your current experience. It gives you the chance to create change – not simply for the sake of change itself, but because the shift will help you feel better and live more authentically.
It's time you were seen and heard.
Couple's Counseling & Workshops:
Many couples expect the connection that first brought them together to carry them through the years ahead. When the passion and energy we felt during the beginning of our relationship begins to cool, we may second guess our decision to commit. But if we accept the challenge, that transition allows us to enter into a deeper, more authentic union with our chosen partner.
You may be considering marriage, wanting to ensure that you each have the skills to make it work over time.
You may feel like you're on autopilot in your relationship, wondering if you'll ever be truly connected again.
You’re puzzled about why your partner doesn't see things the way you do when it comes to parenting, household chores, or everyday communication.
You simultaneously love and hate your partner, and resentment has been building.
Our romantic relationships are inherently dynamic and complex. As a couple's counselor, I specialize in working with romantic partners to promote dialogue, reduce negativity, and build positive connection for the long term. What special magic makes this work? I base my approach in the Imago Relationship Therapy framework, which recognizes that a lot of how we operate as romantic partners can be explained by looking at our earliest relationships.
While individual therapy can be fluid, Imago provides a structured process for building a conscious partnership.
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Whether you're looking for premarital counseling or you’re seeking more authentic connection with your partner or spouse, the Imago dialogue can significantly deepen and enhance your romantic relationship, dissolve resentments, and restore loving energy. The Imago framework emphasizes safety, structure, and healthy communication to help partners connect around and beyond conflict. Through our work in counseling, you'll develop a shared vision for what you want your relationship to look like, then create specific goals to work toward together.
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how it works
For both individual and couple's therapy, sessions take place virtually or in person at my office in Central Austin.
rates
50-minute session: $150-$175
Rates are the same for both individual and couple's therapy, and for virtual and in-person sessions. A rate range is provided to accommodate different budgets. You can select the rate from within the range that works best for you.
Interpersonal Process Group Therapy:
An interpersonal process group is a type of group therapy that can support you in developing greater self-awareness in your relationships and your ability to engage in constructive communication and emotional expression. Process groups differ from support groups, which typically center around a specific subject or common experience. By contrast, process groups focus on interaction in the present moment within the group itself. The format provides an opportunity for you to develop a clearer picture of how people see you and the way you engage, interact, and communicate.
As the group's facilitator, I help guide group dialogue and promote a safe, confidential space for participants to engage in authentic interaction. Interpersonal process groups are an excellent complement to therapy, and I encourage my individual therapy and couple's counseling clients to join in an interpersonal process group with me or another professional counselor.
how it works
Interpersonal process groups meet once a week, usually in the evenings.
rates
75-minute session: $50-75
A rate range is provided to accommodate different budgets. You can select the rate from within the range that works best for you.
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developing greater self-awareness
and constructive communication
developing greater self-awareness
and constructive communication
A Psychodynamic Approach to Therapy
My approach to therapy is greatly informed by the depth psychology of C.G. Jung, which allows for the exploration of the subtle and unconscious aspects of the human experience. Together we will bring the unconscious into more conscious awareness, so that you gain greater self-understanding and the opportunity to identify where you want change to occur. In psychodynamic therapy, we look at the “why” behind emotions, reactions, and habits, and consider the context of early life and relationships.
My approach is also influenced by the attachment work of John Bowlby, the Internal Family Systems model of Richard Schwartz, and the Polyvagal Theory of Stephen Porges. In addition to the Imago framework, the principles of Nonviolent Communication help guide the work I do with couples.
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Emily Harrington-Cheney
As a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas, I love helping clients see patterns and connections in their lives and relationships. I earned my master's degree in Professional Counseling from Texas State University, with a concentration in Marriage and Family Counseling. I completed my graduate counseling internship at Kaleidoscope Counseling & Assessment, where I worked with adolescents, adults, and couples. I'm a Certified Imago Relationship Therapist™ and I participate in weekly supervision and consultation groups to continuously sharpen my clinical skills.
My career as a counselor followed my first career as a teacher. I have a master's degree in Spanish Linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin, and I taught Spanish for more than 20 years in both high school and university settings.
Growing up as the oldest sibling in rural Indiana, my role in my family required me to absorb the anxiety of others. My family focused their attention on my intellect, accomplishments, and rational nature, and as a result, I learned to lock away my emotions. Over the years – through marriage, divorce, parenting, single parenting, remarriage, and co-parenting – I’ve spent time exploring and deepening the emotional side of myself that I had lost touch with as a child. The analytical and emotional skill sets I’ve gained through both professional and personal experiences contribute to my efficacy as a therapist.
But what am I really like as a therapist?
I'm known for being easygoing, warm, genuine, and charismatic. I also love to bring humor to the conversation, to balance out the weight of taking on the tough stuff. For me, professional success is helping you experience growth, healing, and connection in a space where you feel seen and heard.
