Sue Cates

Walking into a first session with Sue Cates, clients often find something they didn’t expect: a room where slowing down feels possible. Sue, a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based in Carlsbad, California, centers her practice on connection — the kind that gets severed by conflict, loss, or long-accumulated pain, and the kind that can be carefully rebuilt. She works with individuals, couples, and families navigating depression, anxiety, relational rupture, trauma, and the ordinary weight of lives that have grown hard to carry.

For couples and families, Sue draws on Emotionally Focused Therapy, a research-supported approach that traces the negative patterns keeping people stuck and helps them move toward something more secure. Her manner is warm and collaborative; she follows her clients’ lead rather than imposing a fixed agenda. Whether someone needs focused, short-term work or a deeper look at long-standing patterns, she adapts to what the moment calls for. Spiritual awareness and body-based mindfulness also inform how she works, adding dimension to the therapeutic process.

Sue brings her own life experience — marriage, parenthood, personal healing — to her understanding of what people carry into her office. Online sessions are available for those who can’t meet in person.