Episode 84 | Trauma-Informed Couples Therapy with Kathy Gusenkov, LMFT

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Episode Summary: How do trauma and attachment shape the way we connect with our closest relationships? In this episode, Shaina speaks with Kathy Gusenkov, LMFT, about how developmental trauma influences adult relationships and explores trauma-informed approaches to fostering safety, co-regulation, and secure functioning in couples therapy.

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About Our Guest:

Kathy Gusenkov, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist and the founder of Serendipity Psychotherapy LLC in the Phoenix area, where she has been in practice since 2020.

She specializes in working with couples and individuals, with a focus on the psychobiology of relationships — how the nervous system, attachment, and early experience shape the way we connect with the people we love most. Her work draws on body-based and trauma-informed approaches, with particular attention to what happens between partners in real time.

Alongside her clinical work, Kathy contributes to relationship research at the ASU HEART Lab and has taught and guest lectured at the graduate and undergraduate level. She brings the same curiosity that drives her in the research and classroom into the therapy room, staying close to what the science actually says about how people change and heal together.

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Topics Discussed:

Developmental trauma and adult attachment