Erika Brinley

Hi, I’m Erika Brinley, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and the owner of Kokoro Counseling Center. I believe therapy should feel like a safe, welcoming place where you can slow down, understand yourself more deeply, and make meaningful changes in your life and relationships. I work with individuals, couples, and families navigating anxiety, relationship challenges, life transitions, trauma, self-esteem, and patterns that may be keeping them stuck. My approach is compassionate, collaborative, and grounded in evidence-based therapies, including EMDR, Emotionally Focused Therapy, and attachment-based approaches. I earned my bachelor’s degree in Family Studies and Human Development and my master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. Most importantly, I want my clients to feel understood rather than judged and to leave therapy with a greater sense of clarity, connection, and confidence.

My approach to therapy is warm, compassionate, and collaborative. I believe therapy should be a place where you can be honest about what you’re experiencing without feeling judged or pressured to have everything figured out. I work with each client to understand the deeper patterns, emotions, relationships, and experiences that may be contributing to what they’re struggling with, while also providing practical tools to create meaningful change. My work is informed by approaches such as EMDR, Emotionally Focused Therapy, attachment-based therapy, and other evidence-based practices. Whether we are working through anxiety, trauma, relationship difficulties, self-esteem, life transitions, or feeling stuck, my goal is to help you better understand yourself, strengthen your relationships, process what has been painful, and move forward with greater clarity, connection, and confidence.

Your first session is an opportunity for us to get to know each other and begin understanding what brought you to therapy. I’ll typically ask about your family and family-of-origin experiences because understanding where we come from can help us recognize patterns, beliefs, and relationship dynamics that may be showing up in the present. We’ll also talk about what you’re currently experiencing, what you hope to get out of therapy, and what you would like our work together to look like. Most importantly, I want you to feel comfortable, heard, and understood. Together, we’ll begin identifying goals for therapy and creating a plan that feels meaningful and realistic for you.