How Therapy with Me is Different
I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and I work primarily with couples, and with individuals who are struggling with relational complexities. I also work with families of adult children. As a relational therapist, I work collaboratively with my clients. What this means is that through conversation, we explore the realms of your life, including your relationships, your work, your family, and anything else that might be helpful. Together we figure out what the problem is, and then we define tangible goals to help you achieve the outcome that you desire.
I also help couples, families, and individuals to manage, leave, and recover from toxic relationships with people who lack emotional intelligence, empathy, and accountability. These kinds of relationships happen in families, in romantic partnerships, in work situations, and in friendships. The dysfunction is typically multi-layered, and it can be very difficult to resolve. I’m often asked about narcissistic personality disorder (NPD); specifically, whether it’s possible to change a relationship with a narcissist from unhealthy to healthy, and how to heal from years of narcissistic abuse. My perspective is that in some of these relationships, change is indeed possible, but where very unbalanced and unhealthy patterns exist, a lot of work in therapy is required for sustained change to take place. In my experience working with narcissists, and with those they are in relationship with, the real growth and change occurs for the ones that have been on the receiving end of the toxicity and the abuse. This change usually takes place over time, once new and healthy boundaries are established and maintained. This is a very complicated relational dynamic. Let’s talk!
My Story
First, let me start by saying that I feel very lucky to be a relational therapist, doing the work that I love, while helping others to find what they love too. It’s taken some time to get here. Before becoming a Marriage and Family Therapist, I had a whole different life…
Prior to pursuing a Master of Arts in Counseling, I had a former career as an executive in business and in product development for the DIY craft industry. I spent a lot of time analyzing lifestyle trends and coming up with new ways for people to express their creative selves. An interesting career for sure, but it took a toll, with all the travel away from my family and the stress of always producing greater results. If I had it to do all over again, would I approach those years in the same way? I’m not so sure, but probably not.
I’ve found that time itself can be healing, and I’ve been blessed in lots of ways, through my faith, and with my family. Things weren’t easy - I experienced many of the struggles that may be bringing you into therapy today. Relationship doubts, parenting, the empty nest, geographical moves, new careers, financial stress, new marriage at mid-life, blended families, aging parents, illness, and the painful loss of loved ones. I bring a unique perspective to how a therapist can help clients to find their voices, to embrace their strengths, and to manage their expectations.
I graduated from the Master of Arts in Counseling program at St. Edward's University, with a dual concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy and Professional Counseling. I love continuing to learn about human nature, and our deep desire for connection. I’ve had the pleasure of ongoing training in both PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) as well as in IMAGO therapy. Both models are evidence-based, as well as results oriented, and I utilize techniques from these theories in my work with clients. I find it exhilarating to experience my clients’ A-HA moments when they begin to effectively implement new communication styles and tools for conflict resolution. Their lives evolve in meaningful ways; they experience acceptance, connection, and love as never before. It’s a beautiful thing to be part of, and I am grateful to witness their change.
Private Intensive Couples Retreat
When your relationship feels stuck and weekly therapy isn't moving you forward, it's time for a different approach. You both want resolution-either to rebuild what you have or to end things with dignity and peace.
Private Intensive Couples Retreats provide what standard therapy often misses: uninterrupted time to work through core issues. Over one weekend (10 hours across 2-3 days), couples achieve breakthroughs that have eluded them for months.
This method focuses on deep work, not surface solutions. We create a secure environment for the difficult conversations that will decide your relationship's future. You'll either discover a path back to each other or find a way to separate with mutual respect.
A 10-hour private intensive costs $2500. We also offer shorter mini-intensives for specific issues, billed hourly. When you weigh this against the emotional and financial toll of divorce, a couples intensive could be one of your smartest investments.
What clients are saying
Katey is straight forward and extremely easy to open up to. She always has wise and practical input. She helped me to navigate a difficult situation and I'm so grateful.
Our adult kids were making blending our families impossible. We were worried that they'd never get along, and that they'd ruin all that was good between the two of us. Katey met with all of us together and helped us to set some reasonable expectations with the kids, while prioritizing our new marriage. Now family get togethers aren't as stressful, and our relationship has never been better!
We felt pretty hopeless in our marriage and decided to give it one last shot in therapy, and I'm so glad that our friend suggested that we work with Katey. It wasn't easy to repair the years of hurt, but we learned new ways to deal with our conflicts and to really talk to each other. We're happier now and closer than ever before.
Therapy with Katey has made the most positive difference in my life. I'm so grateful for her words of wisdom and the skills I learned through counseling. The level of care that she provided during my most difficult time was far and above what I expected from any therapist.
I felt that group therapy with Katey offered a safe place to talk about my experiences in unhealthy relationships. I felt supported and encouraged to make changes in my life.
I never thought that trust could be restored after the affair, but Katey taught us a new love language called IMAGO, and it really works!
My ex and I were struggling to co-parent after our divorce. Katey helped me to set aside the guilt and shame I had about making our kids' lives more difficult, and to focus on the next chapter. I know now that the kids will be OK, and so will I.
Having worked with KV for the better part of a year, our marriage is bearing new fruit. We have supported our relationship and family with therapy from the beginning. We have worked with a few approaches and marriage therapists over the 20 years together. I am recognizing new growth in both of us which is enriching our relationship and bears fruit for not only us, but for our children also. Relationships can be vulnerable to prior life experience, Emotional presets and scars from prior and early life experience often influence our reactions and behavior. Defenses develop naturally and can stubbornly block connection, commrodardy, intimacy and access to love exchange. The approach KV uses is a highly effective tool that aims to work around roadblocks and landmines imposed by our emotional defenses, to access loving relationships with a powerful approach that doesn’t try to fix our ingrained defenses but rather yields them powerless in the quest of relationship quality. This is achieved by a protocol to practice when either person hits a snag. Her approach is supported and delineated by reading materials from the originators of this approach and founders of this movement in therapy.
Katey Villalon is an exceptional therapist with a rare ability to blend deep clinical insight with genuine warmth and connection. Her relational, attachment-based approach creates a safe and empowering space for individuals and couples to do transformative work. Katey brings advanced training in both IMAGO and PACT modalities, allowing her to skillfully navigate complex relationship dynamics, trauma recovery, and emotional regulation. Katey meets each person with compassion, clarity, and a deep respect for their lived experience. Her dedication to helping clients build secure, authentic relationships-both with others and with themselves-is truly inspiring.
After working with multiple psychologists in helping us work through historical traumatic experiences that impeded proper communication that we dealt with as a new couple Katey was the one that managed to have a lasting impact in working with us on ways to communicate effectively and reach lasting resolution.