Ketki Chavan, AMFT | Los Angeles Couples Therapist

I welcome you to reclaim love for yourself, and your relationship! How would it feel like to be a co- creator with your partner, dancing through life together versus feeling like you’re in an uphill battle against the one you love? Deep down we all want to feel seen, heard, loved, belonged, and safe. You CAN co-create intimacy, connection, trust, and communication within your relationship, it’s just that most of us don’t know how to. Whether it was from the unrealistic romantic movies you watched as a kid, to seeing your parents or caregivers model love that didn’t quite resonate with you, many of us didn’t have healthy examples of love & relationships growing up. Where have you learned to love? Can you relate to this? If you’re reading this far, then I’m assuming you can relate. The journey to reclaiming love and relationships then becomes about trial and error, learning as you go, and exploring what works and doesn’t work for you. Like many, my journey to reclaiming love and relationships, (which still continues) also began this way.

My journey & Values

I learned more about love from my heartbreak than my actual relationships. The process of putting the pieces of my broken heart back together made me see the parts of myself that I hadn’t seen before. Ultimately we all want to be seen, heard and loved in our relationship. It was heartbreak that forced me to begin loving the parts of myself I despised & shamed, so I could experience more intimacy in my relationships. I have danced back and forth in embracing my cultural identity, sexuality, womanhood & body in order to experience more connection, love, understanding, trust, and communication with those I love.

As a South Asian Indian American woman of color, born and raised in Washington D.C., I grew up with hip hop and rock music, giggled with school friends as English effortlessly grazed off my tongue, but would come home to my mother tongue language, Hindi & Marathi. I was struck by my parents’ dual life, from working the 9 to 5 and holding the conflicting label of “model minority citizens”, to coming home and absorbing ourselves in Bollywood movies, yoga, Indian Classical dance, and spicy curries for dinner. I know what it’s like to constantly switch between multicultural identities, but not feel a complete sense of belonging to either culture, thus making you long for a sense of home & belonging in yourself and your relationship!

I understand how cultural experiences & beliefs like arranged marriage, dowry, collectivism, immigration, religion, sexual shame & guilt, in-laws & family dynamics also impact you and your relationship! It’s not easy, but what if I said, you CAN honor your cultural upbringing and still cultivate your ideal relationship with your partner? Together, the three of us can invite more truth, honesty, openness, intimacy, connection, and all that you desire in your relationship!

What I believe

Perhaps there was a time in the beginning of your relationship where you felt so in love and valued but are now stuck in a cycle of the same arguments over and over again. Sometimes you might feel like ending the relationship altogether.

I believe in bringing back that same initial feeling of playfulness & child-like joy into our therapeutic journey of healing and growth and ultimately your relationship! The journey to intimacy and connection doesn’t have to always be heavy, but can also be fun. I invite you to recall the reasons that brought you both together in the first place, while embracing the change both you and your partner have gone through!

We all deserve to feel like we are growing in our relationships instead of repeating the same toxic patterns. The more we are able to see, hear, and love ourselves, the more we’ll be able to do the same for our partner and overcome the constant arguments & patterns that keep coming up.

My Approach

Seeing & hearing both parties is important to me. Together we will explore the beliefs you both grew up with versus what beliefs support your relationship today, so you can have a strong foundation to heal and grow!

I will support you in gaining clarity about your triggers so you can communicate your needs to your partner and feel received, heard, and seen!

In addition to talk therapy, I often utilize art, music, poetry and dance, to explore different ways of communicating yourselves and connecting with each other through new experiences. Studies show that most of our communication is nonverbal, meaning we don’t actually say what we mean. Therefore, I pay attention to body language and also use somatics to understand your patterns & triggers so that we can problem solve in real time.

Along with my Masters in Counseling Psychology & Expressive Arts therapy and 3+ years of working with a diverse range of cultural backgrounds, identities, and ages, I am passionate about integrating & decolonizing practices from my cultural lineage such as tantra, yoga, meditation, mindfulness, spirituality, archetypes, cultural mythology and cultural dance to empower ALL and make healing accessible to everyone! Cultivating love within yourself & relationships inspires those around you and altogether creates a more loving world!

Do you want to reclaim love & your relationship? Do you want to reclaim love, intimacy, and connection so you can cultivate your dream with your partner? I know the first step can be daunting, which is why I am here for you to answer all your questions over a consultation call. Book your consultation now!! I am excited to connect more with you and discuss what our journey would look like for you!