Steph Bayan, LMFT

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I didn’t always know I would become a therapist.

My path here wasn’t a straight one. Before becoming a therapist, I spent years working in the music industry—a world that shaped the way I think about creativity, identity, connection, and what it means to build a life around something that matters to you.

Over time, my own experiences with grief and change began to shift the direction of my life. They asked me to slow down, listen differently, and become more curious about the parts of ourselves we often learn to move past quickly—the emotions we avoid, the patterns we repeat, and the things we can feel long before we know how to put them into words.

That curiosity eventually led me to this work. And while becoming a therapist wasn’t part of some long-held plan, looking back, the path makes sense to me now.

The way I think about therapy

I don’t believe therapy is about becoming a different version of yourself. Often, it’s about understanding yourself more deeply—the ways you learned to cope, the patterns that once protected you, and the parts of you that may have gotten quieter along the way.

I’m interested in what happens beneath the surface. The thought you can’t seem to stop having. The relationship pattern that keeps repeating. The grief that changes shape but doesn’t simply disappear. The moment your body tightens before you even know why.

In our work together, we might explore where those patterns came from, but we’ll also pay attention to how they’re showing up in your life now. Sometimes the work is about finding new ways to respond. Sometimes it’s learning to stay with an emotion rather than immediately trying to change it. And sometimes it’s simply having enough space to hear yourself more clearly.

I see therapy as a relationship built on curiosity, honesty, and trust. My role isn’t to tell you who you should be. It’s to help you understand yourself more fully so the choices you make can begin to feel more like your own.

What shapes my work

My work is relational and integrative, drawing from mindfulness, body-based awareness, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), narrative work, and other evidence-based approaches. Rather than applying one method to every person, I pay attention to what may be most supportive for the person sitting in front of me.

I earned my Master’s in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University and have continued my education in somatic, mindfulness-based, and grief-informed approaches. My training has included somatic study through Antioch University Santa Barbara, and I am currently a student in the Somatic Experiencing® Professional Training Program.

Grief is another significant part of my work. I completed Claire Bidwell Smith’s Grief and Loss: A Comprehensive Training Program, and my work includes supporting people navigating parent loss, mother loss, complex grief, and the experience of moving through parenthood without a parent of your own. I also facilitate grief groups and spaces for people to connect with others who understand something about what they’re carrying.

That learning informs the way I work, but it doesn’t define the work. Therapy with me isn’t about following a particular technique. It’s about creating enough safety and curiosity to notice what’s happening—emotionally, relationally, and physically—and finding ways of responding that feel more connected to who you are.

Education + Professional Training

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT)
New York

New Jersey

M.A., Clinical Psychology
Antioch University

Somatic Training
Antioch University Santa Barbara

Somatic Experiencing® Professional Training
Current student, Somatic Experiencing International

Grief and Loss: A Comprehensive Training Program
Graduate, Claire Bidwell Smith

View Steph on Psychology Today →

View Steph in the Grief Professional Directory →

Featured Conversation

Who Am I Without My Mother?

The Motherless Mothers Podcast

I joined The Motherless Mothers Podcast for a conversation about grief, identity, and what it can mean to become a mother when your own mother is no longer here.

We talked about the ways loss can resurface through parenthood, the question of who we become after losing a mother, and making space for grief alongside the life that continues to unfold.

Listen to “Who Am I Without My Mother?” →