Charity Laughlin

Charity Laughlin serves as an Adjunct Professor at Seattle University's Couples and Family Therapy Program within the College of Arts & Sciences. She is based on the First Hill campus. Beyond academia, she works full-time as a clinician, clinical supervisor, and Director of Couples and Relational Therapy at Pacific Behavioral Healthcare, a private practice in Bellevue, WA specializing in intimate partnerships. She volunteers with the Washington Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (WAMFT), holding roles such as Legislative Committee Chair and Board Member at-Large, advocating for the policy-level sustainability of the couple and family therapy profession.

Education:

• Masters in Couples and Family Therapy, Seattle University (2019)
• LMFT License, State of Washington (2021)
• AASECT Sex Therapist Certification (2022)

Research and Clinical Focus: Her clinical work emphasizes distressed partnerships, relational/sexual concerns, and interpersonal trauma. She integrates Bowen Family Systems Theory, Emotionally-Focused Therapy, Gottman’s research, Internal Family Systems Therapy, and Interpersonal Neurobiology. She draws inspiration from Juliane Taylor Shore and Dr. Alexandra Solomon’s methodologies. She views human development as a process toward wholeness, framing relationship challenges as dialectics requiring balance rather than problems to solve.

Advising and Professional Contributions: As a Washington State-approved supervisor and AAMFT Approved Supervisor Candidate, she prioritizes collaborative, strengths-based supervision to help therapists develop their identity and therapeutic approach. She emphasizes attuning to clients’ diverse social identities and the impact of vulnerability in relational work.

Labs/Teams: She leads the Couples and Relational Therapy team at Pacific Behavioral Healthcare and actively contributes to WAMFT’s legislative advocacy efforts.