Erin Runt Therapy

09/19/2025

Erin’s back to talk to Jenna Ryu about ways in which an older sister may positively impact the way younger brothers grow to treat other women in their lives.

interview with self magazine

08/08/2025

Following the recent viral video on TikTok, many people are wondering: What exactly is transference, and is it normal? I speak with Jenna Ryu at SELF Magazine about what transference is and what a mental health provider might do when it's present in the therapy relationship.

It’s surprisingly common—and not just a romantic fantasy that makes for juicy TikTok drama.

10/08/2024

Erin had the fun opportunity to speak with writer Faith Hill about adult sibling therapy - check out the article to hear more!

08/25/2023

Erin Runt Therapy is where relationships go to transform. We've got a new website, a new office space, and we're open to new clients from Illinois, Washington, Oregon, and Arizona! Stop by www.erinrunttherapy.com today to learn more or request services.

Erin Runt Therapy provides effective, skilled, and evidence-based marriage and couple counseling in Illinois, Washington and Oregon.

08/04/2019

The grief we experience after an unexpected loss can be straightforward, confusing, overwhelming, and everything in between. We might feel angry, devastated, helpless, disoriented, numb, and many other things - sometimes all at once. Some losses will just never make sense, no matter how hard we try.

When experiencing and , the kindest thing you can do for yourself and others around you is to have patience everyone's different way of experiencing the loss. Spending time with others who can hold space for your grief and be with you may give some comfort. Connecting with , , and even professional support is a good way to take care of yourself and process what you're feeling. You are likely not alone in your grief - take the step to talk about it with others.

07/04/2019

When someone is looking for a good but has no idea where to start, I recommend a couple things. ⁣
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•Make sure you have a idea of what you want to work on, and if there's anything that's important to you about a person you're going to trust with your . Example: knowing that you want to work on , knowing that you need help with with your life, or knowing that you need a therapist who is or about and .⁣
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•You can go to a therapy directory and use filters to rule out people who aren't a good fit. Example: If you were on Psychology today, you would check filters for "depression", "family conflict", and/or "queer-allied". I also recommend filtering for insurance, self-pay, or sliding scale.⁣
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•Make sure you look at their actual website. The actual website will tell you a little more about them and their personality. On something like Psychology Today, you have a word limit so you have to cut a lot out when you post a profile. ⁣
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•Make sure that the therapist you're looking at actually works with your concerns. Example: you want help with depression but the person's website only talks about working with and borderline personality disorder, even though they said on their Psychology Today profile that they work with depression. Or, you want a non-judgmental therapist to talk through gender concerns, but you notice that they don't mention anywhere on their website that they are aware of gender and sexuality or they reference "men" and "women" a lot, rather than "people". ⁣
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•Be willing to give them a call and ask them questions! Talking to them on the phone will also help you get a sense of if you click. It's also okay to judge a therapist on their picture. Sometimes we get a sense from a therapist's picture if they look , , , etc.⁣
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What other things have you found to be helpful when looking for a therapist?⁣
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06/24/2019

A common misunderstanding about the purpose of setting is that the goal is to or the behavior of another person. When we are taking any action with the hope of another person's behavior to be what we desire, we are being , even when we have . The true purpose of setting boundaries is to show yourself that you will take care of your and your . While it is other people's responsibility to our boundaries, it is not their job to predict our boundaries, set our boundaries, or uphold them for us.

06/17/2019

This photo makes me think of - an opportunity to find a spot to sit and with others. A moment to be . The room is a chance to gather also ... with our and , with our partner(s), and our . It is just as meaningful to come together to as it is to come together to or .

05/21/2019

How do you measure trust? How is it built? Do you measure it by how you feel, or by what you can see? ⁣
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Trust means: I can rely on you/me/this to be what we was said it would be. Trust is knowing that a person's actions and words match up. Earning trust means showing others that you do what you say you'll do, and that you take ownership when you don't. ⁣
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The absence of jealousy is not a good measurement of trust. We are completely capable of feeling jealous or suspicious even when we trust or when someone is trustworthy. ⁣
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05/17/2019

Hiding in a plant pot in my office is this little guy. You have to get close to see him - otherwise, it looks like a standard plant pot!

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People are just like this. You can look at someone every day, and not see the nuances of what's hiding right there in plain sight. How often do we look at the people we love and assume we see the whole picture, when really, we've stopped looking at the details? How often do we hide little parts of ourselves from the world?

05/13/2019

When I started grad school in 2008, I was on track to be a very different person. I didn't understand myself, my wounds, my motivations, my disadvantages, or my privileges. I didn't actually understand relationships and I'd never actually been to therapy.⁣
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Yet, I knew healing relationships is what I wanted to do. ⁣
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I've been on an 11 year journey toward the healthiest version of myself and my relationships that I can engage in. Part of that journey is for me - I love growing, changing, and learning. And, part of that journey is for the people around me, including my clients. My clients are unlikely to know or see my changes in my personal life over these 11 years, but I can't help but think that they can feel them in my presence, in my warmth, or in my unconditional acceptance of them. ⁣
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Opening Erin Runt Therapy three months ago was a next step in my journey toward living bravely, just as I ask my clients to do. My intention is that through Erin Runt Therapy, I will continue to provide the most authentic, skilled, and compassionate therapy services I can offer to the many relationships that enter my office while also getting a chance to nurture myself and my own human growth. ⁣
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Thank you for joining me along the way!