Mother-Daughter Therapy in Culver City, CA

Healing the Bond That Shaped You

Mother-daughter therapy at Restorative Counseling Center provides a warm, supportive space where you and your mother or daughter can begin healing the patterns that have kept you disconnected. I work with mothers and daughters across California and Florida using an EMDR-informed, trauma-sensitive approach designed to help both of you feel heard, understood, and able to move forward together.

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Mother and daughter connecting during therapy at Restorative Counseling Center in Culver City CA
Two women sharing a meaningful moment representing the mother-daughter bond and relational healing

Why This Relationship Is Uniquely Complex

The mother-daughter bond is one of the most influential relationships a woman will ever have. It carries the full archive of a daughter's early emotional life, and a mother's hopes, fears, and unresolved experiences projected across decades. When it's healthy, it becomes a source of deep comfort and strength. When it's strained, the effects ripple outward into our sense of self, our other relationships, and our emotional wellbeing.

What often looks like conflict on the surface, the same arguments resurfacing, the cycles of closeness and withdrawal, is frequently something deeper. It may be unprocessed grief, inherited trauma patterns, attachment wounds from childhood, or simply two people who have never had language for what they feel toward each other.

Therapy creates that language. And it creates a structured, safe space for both of you to use it, possibly for the first time. I have seen mothers and daughters transform their relationships in beautiful ways, and I would be honored to support you on that journey.

Who This Work Can Help

Mother-daughter therapy isn't reserved for relationships in crisis. It's for any pairing that wants more clarity, more closeness, and more understanding. And it's for relationships where distance or pain has made that feel out of reach.

Common reasons mothers and daughters seek therapy together include:

  • Longstanding tension that resurfaces at every family gathering or phone call
  • Communication that consistently breaks down, despite both of you caring deeply
  • Role reversals or enmeshment where boundaries feel nonexistent or painfully unclear
  • Estrangement, whether current, past, or feared, and the desire to find a path back
  • Grief, illness, or major life transitions that have created unexpected fractures in the relationship
  • Childhood wounds that one or both of you have carried into adulthood and now want to address together
  • A daughter's healing journey that a mother wants to understand and support, even when she doesn't fully grasp what happened
  • A mother's regrets that she wants to express, and a daughter who is ready, or almost ready, to receive them

If you recognize your relationship in any of these, therapy can help. If things are mostly okay but you want them to be genuinely close, therapy can help with that too. Whatever brings you here, there is hope for something better.

An EMDR-Informed Approach to Relational Healing

At Restorative Counseling Center, mother-daughter therapy is informed by EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a clinically validated treatment originally developed for trauma that has since been applied to a broad range of relational and emotional difficulties.

Why EMDR for a relationship issue? Because many of the most persistent mother-daughter conflicts aren't really about the present. They're about unprocessed memories, early attachment experiences, and emotional responses that became hardwired long before either of you had the words to describe them. EMDR works at precisely that level, helping the brain metabolize experiences that have remained stuck, reactive, and painful.

In practice, this means sessions may move between:

  • Joint sessions where both mother and daughter are present, working on communication, understanding, and shared healing
  • Individual EMDR processing for each person, where personal memories and emotional responses are addressed privately before being brought back into the relational work
  • Integration sessions where insights and shifts from individual work are translated into the shared relationship

Not every session will feel the same. Some will feel clarifying. Some may feel uncomfortable. The discomfort isn't a sign that therapy is failing. It's often a sign that something real is being touched.

EMDR-informed relational healing for mothers and daughters at Restorative Counseling Center Culver City
What to expect in mother-daughter therapy sessions with Robyn Sheiniuk LCSW in Culver City CA

What to Expect in Sessions

The first session is an intake, a chance for me to understand your history, your goals, and what has and hasn't worked before. Both mother and daughter are heard. No one is positioned as the problem.

From there, the work is tailored to your specific dynamic. There's no single script for mother-daughter therapy because no two relationships are identical. A mother and adult daughter navigating estrangement will work differently than a mother and teenage daughter managing a transition. I take time to understand your unique situation and tailor my approach to what you truly need.

Throughout the process, you can expect:

  • A therapist who holds both of you with equal care, neither taking sides nor softening truths that need to be spoken
  • A paced, trauma-sensitive approach that doesn't push either person faster than they're ready to go
  • Concrete tools for communication, emotional regulation, and boundary-setting that extend beyond the therapy room
  • Honest assessment of progress, including when additional individual support might be beneficial alongside the relational work

Online Sessions Across California and Florida

I offer all sessions through secure telehealth, available to clients throughout California and Florida. This means mother and daughter don't need to be in the same city, or even the same state, to do this work together.

For estranged or geographically distant pairs, online therapy removes the logistical barrier that often prevents healing from even beginning. For local clients in Culver City and the surrounding Los Angeles area, telehealth provides flexibility without sacrificing the quality of care. Many women find that being in their own familiar environment actually helps them open up more easily.

Sessions are conducted through a HIPAA-compliant video platform. All you need is a private space and a device with a reliable internet connection.

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Frequently Asked Questions About Mother-Daughter Therapy

Is there such a thing as mother-daughter therapy?
Yes. Mother-daughter therapy is a recognized form of relational therapy that focuses specifically on the dynamics, history, and communication patterns between a mother and her daughter. It can be conducted jointly, individually with each person, or in a combination of both formats.
What if my mother or daughter is reluctant to try therapy?
Reluctance is common and understandable. Therapy can feel threatening, especially in a relationship with a long history of hurt. In some cases, one person beginning individual therapy first, with an explicit goal of eventually doing relational work, creates enough safety for the hesitant party to eventually engage. A free 20-minute consultation is available to discuss your specific situation and explore what approach might work best.
Do you meet with us together, or separately?
Both. The structure is tailored to your relationship and goals. Some pairs benefit most from starting in joint sessions. Others need individual EMDR processing first. I help you determine the right sequence as the work develops.
Can therapy help even if we don't have major conflict?
Absolutely. Some of the most meaningful relational work happens between people who love each other but have never found a way to feel truly close. Therapy isn't only for crisis. It's for growth.
How long does mother-daughter therapy typically take?
The timeline varies based on the complexity of the issues, both parties' readiness to engage, and your specific goals. Some pairs see meaningful progress in a few months, while others benefit from longer-term work. You're not committing to an indefinite process. You can assess progress and direction at any point.
Does Restorative Counseling Center offer telehealth for mother-daughter therapy?
Yes. All sessions are conducted via secure, HIPAA-compliant telehealth. I am licensed in both California and Florida, so mother and daughter can be in different cities or even different states. This is especially helpful for pairs navigating estrangement or geographic distance.
Is EMDR used in mother-daughter therapy sessions?
EMDR may be used as one component of the work when trauma is part of the relational dynamic. It's integrated into a broader relational approach rather than being the primary modality for every client. During the intake, I assess whether EMDR processing would benefit one or both people and discuss how it fits into the overall treatment plan.
How is mother-daughter therapy different from family therapy?
Mother-daughter therapy focuses specifically on the dynamics between two people, rather than the entire family system. This focused format allows for deeper exploration of the unique attachment patterns, expectations, and wounds that characterize this particular relationship. Sessions may involve both people together, or alternate between individual and joint work depending on the treatment plan.
Do both the mother and daughter need to be willing to participate?
Not necessarily. Willingness can develop over time. In some cases, one person begins individual therapy first with the explicit goal of eventually doing relational work together. That process often creates enough safety and understanding for the hesitant party to engage when she's ready. If you're unsure how to approach this, a free consultation is a good place to talk it through.
What issues does mother-daughter therapy address?
Mother-daughter therapy addresses a wide range of relational concerns, including communication breakdowns, conflict after major life events, estrangement or reconnection, grief and loss within the relationship, identity transitions, unresolved childhood wounds, and patterns that repeat across generations. It can also support pairs who simply want to strengthen a relationship that feels distant or surface-level.

Beginning Your Journey

I offer a free 20-minute consultation where we can talk about what's bringing you to therapy and whether my approach feels like a good fit. There's no obligation and no pressure. It's simply a conversation.

If you're a mother who has tried to reach her daughter and felt the door close. If you're a daughter who has carried something for years and wonders whether it can finally be put down. If you're both, and you're ready to try. This is a place to start.

This relationship is worth investing in. The patterns that feel stuck right now can shift. The wounds that still hurt can heal.

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Restorative Counseling Center mother-daughter therapy practice Culver City California

Restorative Counseling Center is an online therapy practice for women in California and Florida who are tired of just "coping." Founder Robyn Sheiniuk, LCSW, uses EMDR and insight-oriented talk therapy to treat deep-seated trauma, grief, and the unique emotional challenges of cancer recovery. By targeting the root causes of anxiety and emotional numbness, she helps high-functioning individuals unburden themselves from the past and build a "new normal" defined by hope and resilience.

This page is for informational purposes. Therapy is not a substitute for crisis intervention. If you or someone you know is in immediate distress, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling or texting 988, or contact your local emergency services.