Emily Gaston

Meet Emily Gaston

I am a sensitive and curious being who believes deeply in the inherent human capacity for healing and wholeness. I am shaped by early life struggle, trauma, and loss and know the tremendous challenges presented in navigating complicated or limited relationships within family systems. As the child of a deceased parent, I have felt the immense pain of grieving loss in a culture allergic to endings. I exist in queer community, centering chosen family and celebrating expansive identities and flexible ways of being. These experiences and dynamics inform my vision and resolve towards therapeutic work.

I practice from a relational, depth-oriented and IFS-informed perspective that honors each person’s unique and innate capacity for growth and self‑directed healing. I trust that my clients carry the tools for their own transformation and offer empathetic, attuned presence and support to help them access that wisdom. Together, we work to translate and transmute experiences of pain and suffering into opportunities for meaning making and purpose building

I am a Registered Associate Marriage and Family Therapist #155211 and Registered Associate Professional Clinical Counselor #19502, supervised by Philip Chang, LCSW #92156.

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My clients are individuals, couples, and families navigating life transitions, complex relationships, trauma, and loss.

They feel called inward and want to deepen their understanding of the parts of themselves that feel unknown, rejected, or overlooked.

They value authentic connection with others and themselves, so they seek healing that is relational in nature. They want to explore their lives, relationships, inner worlds in a supportive, curiosity-driven, non-pathologizing space, trusting more and more that staying connected with their bodies ultimately cultivates wise responsiveness to their nervous system. The awareness of the fullness and multiplicity of their identities leads them to attend to and consider how they want to relate to the systemic distress that legitimately impacts their and others’ lived experiences.

I work best with clients who are intellectually curious about how their past relationships, histories, and stories might be shaping their lives in the here and now. Through deepening their awareness, their capacity to articulate their inner and outer conflicts and felt tensions becomes useful in building self-trust, steady clarity, and leaning into more possibilities in their lives.

My clients include:

· Individuals feeling the impacts of acute, developmental, or relational trauma and seeking tools for emotional and physical regulation and integration

· Couples, intimate partners, and families striving to strengthen their connections and grow their capacity to meet and care for one another

· Those traversing experiences of grief, loss, or illness and searching for space to process and make meaning of these endings

· Teens and adults navigating a complicated world and calling for a greater sense of self-understanding, purpose, and belonging

 

In our work together, my clients often come to see that when relationships change, whether through loss, transition, or growth, something opens. An invitation to slow down, to listen more closely, and to imagine new ways of being in connection. I trust the innate wisdom each person carries, and I’m honored to walk alongside them as they move toward what feels honest, humane, and true.

Special welcome to individuals navigating relational and family-system trauma, those processing grief and loss, couples, queer folks, and those in poly or ethically non-monogamous relationships, teens, and young adults


Postgraduate degree in marriage and family therapy: Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, Pacifica Graduate Institute

Specialized training(s): IFS Therapy, Depth Psychology, Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Certifications: 200 Hour Certified Yoga Teacher

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