(she/her)
New to Grow
Hello, I’m Defne Kabas Bici, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist providing telehealth therapy for adults, couples, and families. I specialize in relationship issues, communication difficulties, trust and infidelity, anxiety, codependency, and life transitions. My approach is warm, collaborative, and supportive while also helping clients develop insight, healthier patterns, and practical tools for lasting change. I integrate evidence-based approaches including the Gottman Method, Solution-Focused Therapy, Narrative Therapy, and family systems perspectives to help clients build healthier relationships with themselves and others.
During the first session, we will spend time getting to know each other and discussing what brings you to therapy, your current concerns, personal history, and the goals you hope to work toward. My priority is creating a safe, supportive, and nonjudgmental space where you feel comfortable sharing at your own pace. I will ask questions to better understand your experiences, relationships, emotional patterns, and strengths, while also exploring what has and has not been helpful for you in the past. Together, we will begin identifying goals for therapy and discuss how we can work collaboratively toward meaningful change. Clients can expect the first session to feel conversational, supportive, and focused on building trust and clarity about the therapeutic process.
One of my greatest strengths as a therapist is my ability to create a balance between emotional safety and honest, meaningful reflection. Clients often describe feeling genuinely heard, understood, and supported in sessions while also being gently challenged to recognize unhealthy patterns, improve communication, and make lasting changes in their lives and relationships. I have strong experience working with couples and relationship dynamics, particularly around communication issues, trust, infidelity, emotional disconnection, and codependency. My training in the Gottman Method allows me to provide practical, research-based tools that clients can apply outside of sessions to strengthen their relationships and manage conflict more effectively. I also bring a culturally sensitive and systems-oriented perspective to therapy, helping clients explore how family dynamics, life experiences, cultural expectations, and past relationships may impact their current emotional wellbeing. My approach is collaborative, compassionate, and tailored to each client’s individual needs, with a focus on helping clients build insight, emotional resilience, healthier boundaries, and stronger connections with themselves and others.
I am best positioned to work with adults, couples, and families who are seeking deeper self-understanding, healthier relationships, and meaningful emotional growth. Many of the clients I work with are navigating relationship conflict, communication difficulties, trust issues, infidelity, anxiety, codependency, life transitions, cultural adjustment, self-esteem concerns, or feelings of emotional disconnection. I particularly enjoy working with couples who want to improve communication, rebuild trust, strengthen emotional intimacy, and learn healthier ways to navigate conflict. I also work well with individuals who tend to overthink, struggle with people-pleasing or emotional overwhelm, or feel stuck in recurring relational patterns and want to better understand themselves and their needs. My approach is collaborative, supportive, and direct when needed. I strive to create a safe, nonjudgmental environment where clients can feel emotionally supported while also being challenged toward insight, accountability, and lasting change. I work best with clients who are open to self-reflection, motivated for growth, and willing to actively engage in the therapeutic process.
Gottman method
I have completed Gottman Method Training Levels I, II, and III and incorporate Gottman Method interventions into my work with couples and relationships. My experience with this approach includes helping couples improve communication, rebuild trust after betrayal or infidelity, reduce conflict escalation, and strengthen emotional connection and friendship within the relationship.
Structural Family Therapy
I utilize principles of Structural Family Therapy in my work with individuals, couples, and families by focusing on relational patterns, family roles, boundaries, and interaction dynamics that may contribute to emotional distress or conflict. My experience with this approach includes helping clients identify unhealthy family structures, improve communication, strengthen boundaries, and create more balanced and supportive relationships within the family system.
Narrative
I incorporate Narrative Therapy techniques into my practice by helping clients explore the stories they hold about themselves, their relationships, and their life experiences. My experience with this approach includes supporting clients in identifying how past experiences, family dynamics, culture, trauma, and societal expectations may shape their self-perception and emotional wellbeing.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I incorporate Solution-Focused Brief Therapy (SFBT) techniques into my work by helping clients identify their strengths, existing resources, and achievable goals while focusing on practical solutions rather than remaining centered solely on problems. My experience with this approach includes working with individuals and couples who are seeking support with communication difficulties, life transitions, anxiety, relationship challenges, stress management, and personal growth.