Meet
Dr. Shauna Rae
I believe people make more sense than they realize. I help people understand the experiences, relationships, and protective patterns beneath the surface because when we understand what’s underneath, healing becomes visible.
As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, adjunct professor, researcher, speaker, coach, and relationship educator, my work focuses on helping people understand the deeper dynamics that shape relationships, forgiveness, repair, accountability, and emotional connection.
Whether I’m working with a couple, teaching graduate students, speaking at an event, or creating educational content online, my goal remains the same:
To help people understand what is happening beneath the surface so they can move forward with greater clarity, intention, and hope.
What
I Can’t Stop Studying
For more than a decade, I’ve been fascinated by the questions people carry when relationships become painful, confusing, or stuck:
Why do we protect ourselves the way we do?
What happens beneath the surface before relationships begin to disconnect?
Why do the same conversations happen over and over?
What helps people move from shame toward accountability?
What makes forgiveness possible without ignoring the hurt?
What makes trust possible after it has been broken?
What helps people reconnect after distance, disappointment, betrayal, or loss?
These questions have shaped my work as a therapist, researcher, professor, speaker, and educator.
They led me to pursue a PhD in Family Social Science and continue to guide the work I do today.
Beneath
the Surface
I believe most relationship struggles make sense when we understand the story beneath them.
The conflict is rarely just about the conflict.
The withdrawal is rarely just about the withdrawal.
The defensiveness, the shutdown, the criticism, the anxiety, the distance, and the same conversations are often connected to deeper experiences that deserve understanding rather than judgment.
My work helps people move beyond simply reacting to patterns and toward understanding the experiences, wounds, needs, fears, and meanings that shape them.
When people understand what is happening beneath the surface, healing becomes visible. It isn’t simply reflected in feeling better, but in an increased emotional and relational capacity to remain present, navigate conflict, repair after hurt, receive feedback, and cultivate deeper, more intentional connection.
Education & Credentials
My work spans therapy, coaching, teaching, speaking, clinical supervision, research, and relationship education, all grounded in a commitment to helping people understand the deeper dynamics of relationships, healing, forgiveness, accountability, and repair.
- PhD, Family Social Science, University of Minnesota
- Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
- Adjunct Professor
- Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Training
- EMDR
- Discernment Counseling
- Prepare/Enrich Facilitator
Research That Serves Real Relationships
My research explores
the complexity of relationships, with a particular focus on forgiveness, addiction recovery, healing, and relational repair.
As both a clinician and researcher, my work is grounded in understanding how pain, shame, trauma, addiction, and relational injury shape the way people relate to themselves and one another. I also explore what creates the conditions for accountability, forgiveness, repair, and lasting change.
My doctoral research at the University of Minnesota explored the lived experiences of couples navigating addiction recovery and forgiveness, examining how couples make sense of pain, rebuild trust, restore connection, and move toward healing together.
Research continues to shape the way I teach, speak, create educational content, and support the individuals and couples I serve.
A Growing Vision
My work currently includes therapy, coaching, speaking, teaching, research, and content creation. At the center of all of it is a belief that healing becomes more possible when people have language for what they are experiencing and understanding for what they are carrying.
As this work continues to grow, my vision is to help more people understand the complexity of relationships and expand access to thoughtful, research-informed education around healing, forgiveness, accountability, recovery, and relational repair.
This vision will continue to take shape through future resources, trainings, research, speaking, and educational initiatives that help people better understand themselves, their relationships, and the path toward healing.