Amy Van Daele, AMFT

My Approach & Values

Amy supports her clients in identifying and understanding their attachment style and related patterns within their relationships to obtain a deeper level of self-awareness. Through our past relationship experience, we develop “working models” of how relationships should be and how we should act in them. These experiences could be from our current relationship, past relationships, and the relationships with our original caregivers. This phenomenon is what we call attachment theory. Developing an understanding about your attachment style, and, if applicable, your partner’s attachment style, helps individuals choose relationships from a more empowered place and helps couples discover a deeper understanding and empathy for one another’s experience. 

Amy also utilizes the evidence-based method of Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy to help couples gain awareness of their attachment needs, triggers, and repeating unhealthy patterns. With this insight, partners learn how to work together as a team to change their conflict cycle by building safety, allowing vulnerability, deepening understanding, and empathizing with one another.

Amy helps couples turn toward each other as they move through challenges such as infertility, blended families, communication, loss, addiction, and healing past attachment wounds. She helps individuals reparent themselves by learning how to self-soothe, have compassion for themselves, and move through difficult times.

Amy’s therapeutic approach is compassionate, yet direct. She creates a safe space for both partners to feel seen and heard. Amy believes that relationship challenges are opportunities for us to better understand ourselves, turn toward one another, and grow together. This understanding is based on Amy’s training and also her own healing journey. After doing her own attachment healing work and realizing that she was coping and numbing in unhealthy ways, Amy chose to live a sober life. Amy understands what it takes to shift patterns of attachment, learn healthier coping strategies, and have deep, meaningful relationships because she has done the work herself. Amy’s own experience of attachment healing has deepened her empathy for clients and strengthened her commitment to helping them achieve similar growth and healing. 

Amy completed her Bachelor’s Degree at Rutgers University and her Master’s Degree in Counseling from California State University Northridge, graduating with a 4.0 GPA. She earned a certification from UC Berkeley’s 2-year mindfulness meditation teacher training and often integrates mindfulness into her work with clients. She also volunteers at a nonprofit where she offers free trauma-informed mindfulness classes to trauma survivors.

Amy is currently completing her supervised clinical hours for licensure as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She is being supervised by Couples Learn founder, Dr. Sarah Schewitz, who she consults with weekly to discuss client sessions. This means that when you work with Amy, you get the benefit of two therapists collaborating about the best way to help you!

Amy is originally from the east coast but now calls Los Angeles home. She is an avid traveler, reader, Kombucha drinker, hiker, candle connoisseur, plant mom, and pilates-goer.