Dr. Kathryn Rheem

Kathryn Rheem, Ed.D., LMFT, [Euro-American, cisgender, heterosexual, she/her] is a Certified EFCT supervisor & therapist, was a Certified Trainer for the International Center of Excellent in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT) for 16 years, and served on the Board of Directors of ICEEFT for four years. She has trained hundreds of mental health clinicians in Emotionally Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) nationally and internationally over the last 18 years. She’s a co-owner of Rheem, Clark & Associates, LLC (an EFCT-based clinical practice in Fairfax, VA), is a senior consultant to the Washington Baltimore Center for EFT and a co-founder of the EFT Café, an online, monthly EFT class. Kathryn teaches and presents EFCT regularly online to audiences in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand and has published 16 articles/chapters on the application of EFCT, including as a co-author on the recently released An Emotionally Focused Workbook: Healing Heartbreak Session by Session (Routledge, 2023) and co-author of the second edition of Becoming an Emotionally Focused Therapist: The Workbook (Routledge, 2022).

Kathryn works extensively with couples where one or both partners have endured trauma and has written and presented on the application of EFCT with trauma numerous times. In addition to the application of EFCT with trauma, Kathryn has a special passion for working with and teaching the Withdrawer Re-engagement process. For her doctoral dissertation, Kathryn completed the first analysis of Withdrawer Re-engagement, and she enjoys teaching clinicians how to come alongside and work with Withdrawers. She is licensed in Virginia, Maryland, and California. Kathryn was voted a Top Couples Therapist in Washington, D.C., by the Washingtonian magazine in its most recent poll, December 2012.