How I work · What informs my work
Approach, Education
& Training
Compassionate, direct, relational therapy—shaped around you.
I offer a holistic, integrative, and experiential approach that engages the mind, body, spirit, and emotions. Our work is guided by your needs, your goals, and a pace that is comfortable for you.
The therapeutic relationship
A space where you can come as you are.
Therapy is a sacred space where an individual, couple, or family can come as they are to experience healing grace in a time of need.
I want our work to offer an authentic, empathic, nonjudgmental, and safe environment. Together, we explore the goals that matter to you and make room for your capacity for healing and wholeness.
My style is compassionate and direct. I am interested in getting beneath surface-level symptoms and repetitive patterns, while staying attentive to what feels manageable and meaningful for you.
“My desire is that you won’t just go to therapy, but that you would experience therapy.”
An integrative approach
More than one way
to reach what matters.
Different people and couples need different ways of working. I draw from several approaches so that therapy can respond to you.
Understanding the patterns
Psychodynamic approaches explore how earlier experiences shape present-day patterns. Intensive Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) emphasizes experiencing underlying feelings, regulating anxiety, and recognizing the protective habits that can keep us stuck.
Meeting yourself with compassion
Internal Family Systems (IFS) helps us understand the different parts of you—such as an inner critic, a protective part, or a hurt part—with curiosity and compassion. We explore what these parts are protecting and what they need.
Processing painful experiences
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) focuses on processing distressing memories and their associated emotions, beliefs, and body sensations. With careful preparation and pacing, we work toward reducing the hold those experiences have on the present.
Moving toward what matters
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) emphasizes psychological flexibility: making room for difficult thoughts and feelings, staying connected to the present, and taking meaningful action guided by your values—even when discomfort is present.
Working with the whole person
Cognitive-behavioral approaches examine the relationship between thoughts, feelings, and actions. Somatic approaches attend to bodily sensations and regulation. My work is also polyvagal- and neuroscience-informed, with attention to how your nervous system responds to stress, safety, and connection. Spiritual exploration makes room for questions of meaning, faith, and belonging when these are important to you.
Reaching for connection
With couples, I take an integrative approach, with Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) serving as my primary framework. EFT emphasizes understanding the emotional cycle between partners and building a more secure, responsive bond.
In our work together
Your needs.
Your pace.
A collaborative process.
Most importantly, I engage in therapy in a way that is specific to your needs and at a pace that is comfortable for you. It truly would be an honor to work with you.
If our work together does not feel like the right fit, I am happy to discuss referrals. This journey is about what is best for you.
Whether you feel lost, stuck, disconnected, anxious, depressed, or overwhelmed by life, you don’t have to be alone in your struggles. I would love to journey with you toward recovery, healing, and personal or family transformation.
A closer look at couples work
Building a more secure bond.
I am certified in David Mars’ Transformative Couples Therapy® (TCT) and have completed Level I of Stan Tatkin’s Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT). I have also received extensive training in Emotionally Focused Therapy.
EFT helps partners build secure, emotionally responsive, and lasting bonds.
Read my personalized approach to Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (PDF) →
Learn more about EFT and its research
While no outcome can be guaranteed, research shows that 70–75% of couples move from distress to recovery, and about 90% experience significant improvement. You can learn more about EFT and its research base by visiting the International EFT website.
The depth behind the work
Education & professional preparation.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences LMFT #85177
Alliant International University
(PsyD-Doctorate) Couple & Family Therapy
Alliance Graduate School of Counseling
(MA) Masters of Counseling
Drew Theological School
(MDiv.) Master of Divinity
Nyack College
(BS) Psychology
Continuing to deepen the work
Areas of Additional Training
- ACT For Beginners Certificate Course with Russ Harris
- Emotionally Focused Therapy For Individuals (EFIT) Level I Certificate Course
- The Doherty Approach to Couples Therapy
- Two Day Patricia Coughlin ISTDP Training
- Three Day Winter School- ISTDP Advances in the Science of Psychotherapy
- One Week Intensive- Henry Cloud & John Towsend (Authors of Boundaries)
- EFT (Emotional Focused Couple’s Therapy)
- 30hr Externship with Sue Johnson
- EFT Core Skills Completed
- EFT & Healing Affairs
- EFT Mastering First Sessions
- EFT & Transforming Shame
- EFFT- Transforming Families with EFT
- EFT and Interpersonal Violence Part I
- Domestic Violence Specialist-1 Certification Course (NAMA)
- ASIST Suicide Intervention 2-Day Navy Training
- Certified TCT Therapist (David Mars' Transformative Couples Therapy®. Formerly Known as AEDP For Couples).
- Coherence Therapy- Completed Dyadic Practicum
- Internal Family Systems Level 1–Trained Therapist (80hrs Completed)
- MBSR (Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction) Center for Mindfulness
- Bioenergetics- Relational Somatic Psychology-Year-long Program
- Mindful Self Compassion (MSC) 8-Week Program
- Certified Discernment Counselor (For couples contemplating divorce)
- Certified Prepare/Enrich Counselor For Premarital Couples
- Attachment Focused EMDR Basic Training Completed (Part I, II, III) with Laurel Parnell
- PACT Level 1 Completed- Stan Tatkin's Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT)
- Applying Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy (ISTDP) with Couples Monthly 7-Session Series with Tami Chelew
- IFS 4 Month Online Intensive- Internal Family Systems Trauma Treatment Program with Frank Anderson
- Terry Real's Relational Life Therapy (RLT) Level One Training
- The Embody Lab 60-Hr Polyvagal Trauma Therapy Certificate Program
Clinical practice & teaching
Professional Experience
- United States Navy- Family Advocacy Support Specialist
- Kathryn de Bruin– Therapist Intern
- Alliant Couple and Family Clinic– Therapist Intern
- Adjunct Professor- Alliant International University
- Point Loma Nazerene University- Therapist Intern
- Adjunct Professor- Claremont School of Theology
- Nyack College- Therapist Intern
- Adjunct Professor- Nyack College- Learning Theory
- Adjunct Professor- Point Loma Nazarene University
Sharing the work
Speaking and Workshops
- Freedom From Perfect(Shun)
- Hold Me Tight (2 or 3 Day Couples Workshop or Retreat)
- Attachment Theory & It’s intersection w Relationships/Spirituality
- The Power of Self-Compassion
- Guilt, Shame & Salvation (SOZO)
- StoryCatchers: Listening as a Way of Life
- The Lightning Bolt of Grief- The Grief Process After A Breakup
- The Power of Words
- The Psychology of the Dechurched
- Healing From Religious Trauma
- Understanding Sexual Addiction & Pathways to Recovery
- Forgive to Live: Releasing Ourselves from Resentment and Unforgiveness
Areas of Interest and Experience
The next step
Let’s begin with a conversation.
We can explore what you are looking for and whether my approach feels like a good fit.
619-786-6508
411 Camino Del Rio S., #200, San Diego Ca, 92108
Mark@MarkGregoryKarris.com