REACH OUT TO CHRISTINE CHARNECO, MFT-LP

How I Can Help

Couples therapy is its own discipline. It asks a therapist to hold the relationship itself as the client — not just two individuals in the same room. The core principles are different from individual work: it’s system-centered rather than person-centered, and the real work usually lives underneath the surface argument. I’m specifically trained for this, and it’s where much of my passion sits.

With couples, I help partners step out of the recurring cycles that leave both people feeling unheard — the loop where one pursues and the other withdraws, where small disagreements keep landing on the same old bruise. Using the Gottman Method and Emotionally Focused Therapy, we slow those moments down to find what’s actually being protected underneath: a need for safety, for closeness, for respect, for repair. From there we build the practical skills and the emotional understanding that let a relationship feel like a secure base again.

I work with a wide range of partnerships and bring a genuinely affirming stance to each: neurodivergent, neurotypical, and mixed-neurotype couples; LGBTQ+ couples; open and non-monogamous relationships; and partners navigating trauma dynamics within the relationship. I pay close attention to emotional regulation and the nervous system — because the body is often the first place a relationship’s stress shows up, and a calmer body makes room for the harder conversations.

In individual therapy, I focus on EMDR, an evidence-based approach for processing trauma and the beliefs and reactions that grow out of it. For many clients, EMDR helps loosen the grip of experiences that still feel close — so the past stops steering the present.

You are the expert on your own life and your own relationship. My role is to partner with you, offer a clear framework, and help you build something more workable than the patterns you arrived with.

What Makes Me Credible

Professional Credentials & Training

Licensed to Practice as a Marriage and Family Therapist

Marriage and Family Therapist holding an active New York Limited Permit (MFT-LP) while completing the supervised clinical experience required for full licensure as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT):

• New York (License #: P140960)

Certificate of completion, Improving Cultural Competency for Behavioral Health Professionals (Continuing Medical Education).

Graduate-Level Education and Academic Foundations

• Clinical Master of Arts in Marriage & Family Therapy, Touro University — graduated Summa Cum Laude (4.0 GPA), with 500+ clinical training hours completed through graduate practicum.
• Master of Arts in Psychology, Touro University.
• Associate of Arts in Human Services, University of Phoenix.

Advanced Clinical Training and Certifications

Couple & Relationship Therapy

• Gottman Method certification — National Marriage Seminars of America, Inc.
• Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) — Wise Mind Psychotherapy Center.

EMDR Specialization

• EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Training, Level 1 — EMDR Consulting.
• EMDRIA-Approved EMDR Training, Level 2 — EMDR Consulting.
• EMDT Therapy Skills Training — Wise Mind Psychotherapy Center.

Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP)

• Specialized training — Feya Health Certification Training Program.

Oxytocin-Assisted Psychotherapy (OAP)

• Specialized training — Feya Health Certification Training Program.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy training — Wise Mind Psychotherapy Center.
• CBT for Depression — Wise Mind Psychotherapy Center.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy: Mastering the Essentials — Psychotherapy Academy.
• Dialectical Behavioral Therapy in Clinical Settings — Psychotherapy Academy.

Internal Family Systems (IFS)

• Internal Family Systems Model: Theory & Practice — The Knowledge Tree.
• Internal Family Systems and Polyvagal Theory: Healing Through Compassion — The Knowledge Tree.

Somatic Therapy

• Somatic and trauma-informed therapy training grounded in the work of Pat Ogden (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy) — Wise Mind Psychotherapy Center.

REACH OUT TO CHRISTINE CHARNECO, MFT-LP

Are you a new client? Please feel free to contact me or self-schedule below.

Every couple and every person arrives with their own history, strengths, and way of relating. It’s an honor to build that trust and to do the careful work of helping a relationship — or a single life — feel more whole. I’d love to learn what brings you in and what you’re hoping to change.