Breanne Bernstein, MFTA
Hi, I’m Breanne Bernstein. I am a Marriage and Family Therapy Associate.
I work with individuals, couples, and families from school age through older adulthood. I am especially passionate about supporting teenagers, young women, and stepparents through periods of change when questions about identity, relationships, family roles, expectations, and what comes next can feel especially complicated.
Life transitions often involve more than simply adjusting to a new circumstance. Becoming a blended family, entering adulthood, changing relationships, or figuring out who you are in a new stage of life can affect how you see yourself and how you relate to the people around you. My approach to therapy is collaborative, relational, and down-to-earth. Rather than assuming there is one “right” way to live, parent, or have a relationship, I work with clients to understand the patterns and experiences that have shaped them and to identify what they want to keep, change, strengthen, or leave behind.
I use a systems perspective and draw from narrative, emotionally focused, developmental, and strengths-based approaches. I have experience working with anxiety, depression, trauma, emotional and behavioral concerns, family stress, relationship difficulties, and major life transitions. A significant part of my clinical experience has involved working with children and adolescents, including providing therapy in school settings and collaborating with caregivers and educators. My background in education also gives me a particular appreciation for how family, school, work, and community systems can affect an individual’s well-being.
I hold a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy and a Master of Science in Education. I previously worked at UConn Health supporting faculty and learners across the medical, dental, and graduate schools.
Breanne participates with Anthem, Aetna, Cigna, and Husky.
Breanne provides in-person care on Mondays and Tuesday evenings.
A Little More About Me
I bring some lived familiarity to the complexity of family roles. My husband and I are busy raising our blended family of four kids, covering what feels like every age and stage of development—my stepson is in college, my stepdaughter is in high school, our younger son is in elementary school, and our younger daughter is in preschool. Our family dog, a whoodle named Zoe, completes our household.
Earlier in life, I was a competitive dancer. Dance taught me a lot about persistence, expression, relationships, and adjusting when things don't go exactly as planned—skills that still feel surprisingly relevant to parenting, marriage, and family life.