Marina Rathjens

Marina Rathjens is a relational, trauma-informed therapist who works with adults, adolescents, and couples navigating life transitions, relationship challenges, and questions of identity. Her work is grounded in creating a safe, attuned space where clients feel seen and supported as they explore emotional patterns, strengthen self-trust, and move toward more meaningful connection. Whether someone is adjusting to a new school, country, diagnosis, career path, or relationship, Marina helps clients slow down, reflect, and feel more grounded during periods of change.

She brings an integrative, evidence-based approach informed by psychodynamic therapy, trauma-informed care, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and is formally trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS Level 1) through the IFS Institute. Marina supports clients through transitions such as parenthood, career shifts, identity changes, and relational strain, as well as professionals in high-demand roles seeking greater clarity, balance, and healthier ways of relating. She continues to work with adolescents and young adults facing academic pressure and identity exploration, helping them build emotional awareness and resilience. With couples, she focuses on communication, attachment, and emotional safety, helping partners slow reactive cycles, understand one another’s inner experiences, and repair moments of disconnection with empathy and curiosity.

Born and trained in Brazil, Marina lived in Colombia, England, and Germany before making the United States her home 16 years ago. Having navigated multiple cultures herself, she brings a nuanced understanding of belonging, identity shifts, and the emotional complexity of living between worlds, and offers therapy in Portuguese, English, and Spanish to Houston’s Latino, immigrant, and expatriate communities. She also completed the GLOBE Program, an interprofessional behavioral health training initiative that prepares clinical social workers to deliver integrated mental health care in diverse communities. A member of the American Group Psychotherapy Association, Marina serves as Third Vice President of the Houston Group Psychotherapy Society, where she co-facilitates the IFS Special Interest Group. At Lovett she is part of the Intensive Outpatient Program clinical team led by IOP Program Director Ellie Hemmat, and facilitates the Aftercare Process Group.