Steffani stands outside in a sage green top, smiling.

Steffani Kizziar, PsyD (she/her)
Licensed Psychologist, Clinical Supervisor & Teacher

Hi, I’m Steffani. I work with adolescents, adults, and couples seeking support to become their best selves, free from the often-debilitating effects of trauma, mood disorders, substance abuse, interpersonal difficulties, grief, and self-defeating behaviors and patterns. 

I understand the therapeutic task as creating the space in which people can listen to and learn about themselves in relationship through a stance of compassionate curiosity. Together, we can think about and question the cultural, social, environmental, and individual forces that shape us, and make room for that which does not yet have language. 

I’ve walked with clients through the varieties and experience of trauma and its aftermath and know that healing and integration are possible. I have faith in the process even as I appreciate its difficulties. Together, we can learn what is true for and about you so that the past can inform, not dictate, the present. 

Work with me
Steffani's bookshelf in her office in Salem, Oregon.

Important to me

I usually have several books in progress at any one time. Poetry and fiction allow me to learn about myself, the world, and the choices and dilemmas that confront us. 

Learn more about my approach
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Selected Education

PsyD in Clinical Psychology

MA in Clinical Psychology

MA in Infant Mental Health

BA in English Literature

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Selected Research & Presentations

  • Implications of attachment pattern on psychotherapy process and outcomes.

  • Intergenerational transmission of attachment:  Effects of pathological mourning on the caregiving system.

  • Implications of attachment pattern on psychotherapeutic process and outcomes. Chapter in Clinical Application of the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System: Working with Attachment Trauma

  • Assaults to the caregiving system: Contributions of maternal attachment trauma and responses to infant crying to abuse risk. International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Pathological mourning and the transmission gap: Effects on maternal caregiving and child attachment. International Attachment Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Maternal responses to infant crying: Associations with maternal attachment and caregiving trauma, and caregiving risk. World Association of Infant Mental Health, Rome, Italy

    Caregiving and attachment disorganization:  The dysregulating effects of maternal failed mourning and current attachment figure trauma. World Association of Infant Mental Health, Rome, Italy

Steffani Kizziar, PsyD sits in an armchair in her office in Salem, Oregon.

History is not destiny. — Alan Cohen