Mar Kaempffer, Intern Therapist

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Hello! 

          My name is Mar and I am excited to work with you! My background is extremely varied and mostly in informal education for all ages, but the thread that ties everything together is my love of working with people and their communities. I am a White settler on the indigenous lands of the Duwamish people. I am also non-binary, queer, disabled & chronically ill, neurodivergent, and benefit from the privilege of an extensive education. I have 2 big, adorable dogs that you’ll see in the background from time to time. Outside the office, I love to be outdoors as much as possible, garden, bake, read, play board games, camp, hike, and be in/around water. 


          As a systems therapist, I believe that we are deeply affected by relating to each other as humans and communities of people. The multiple levels of systems that we exist and participate in provide rich context for our lives and impact our thoughts and beliefs, emotions, and behaviors. Fundamentally, I believe that symptoms and trauma are natural consequences of the white supremacist, patriarchal, colonialist, and capitalist systems we are trapped in. Healing lies in restoring agency, creating and resisting in community, creating new narratives, and in the repair and balance of one’s relationships. I work from the integration of several evidence-based theories that are catered to the unique needs of each individual participant including, but not limited to, Internal Family Systems (IFS/parts work), Narrative therapy, Attachment theory, Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Solution-Focused therapy, somatics, anti-racism, feminist and queer theory, and liberation psychology. I incorporate creativity and humor into the therapeutic process as much as possible. As a sex therapist, I work with folx on topics like sexuality/gender/sexual expression and exploration, recovering from purity culture/religious trauma, desire discrepancies, kink, sex work, sexual trauma, polyamory and ethical non-monogamy, and more. I view the therapeutic space as a consent-based, client-driven, secure, non-judgemental, honest space for the brave exploration of self and identity, relationships, communities of belonging, experiences, growth, challenges, healing, grief and trauma.