Mariah Vlach
(she / her)
Therapist

Mariah is delighted to be working at The Academy at Sisters as an adolescent therapist! Mariah specializes in trauma and attachment, emotional regulation, and family systems healing. For most of her life, Mariah has been interested in understanding the impact trauma and dysfunctional life events have upon the human body and mind and how those interruptions can be addressed and repaired, to create more resilience, wholeness, and joy.

As the granddaughter of Eastern European grandparents who fled their homelands due to the wars of WWI and WWII, Mariah recognized there were unspoken patterns of trauma in her own family, passed down through the generations. Through her ancestors’ challenging life events, the structure of her family system was shaped. This insight led her onto a 15-year long journey of study focusing on the impact of generational trauma upon the nervous system of the family unit and its individual family members. Her mission has been learning how to bring light to these unspoken stories held within the body/mind connection, to mend the wounds of the past that affect those living in the present.

During her graduate program in counseling psychology, Mariah’s primary area of study was that of family systems theory, focusing on the conscious and unconscious webs that connect and influence the patterns that shape and affect a family unit. Mariah’s passion for working with adolescents and their families took root during the years she spent working in wilderness therapy where she guided adolescents and their families to strengthen the family web through education, reflection, cathartic and creative self-expression, inquiry, and practice.

Mariah believes the natural environment of Central Oregon lends a deeply supportive energy that amplifies one’s innate strengths while also bolstering the therapeutic process. She advocates that it is through this environment and long-term therapeutic process that true healing and change are within reach.

It can be challenging to see the forest through the trees when identifying and addressing needed changes in one’s family system. Therefore, Mariah holds great respect for families willing to seek outside support to address these issues. Mariah is honored to work with your family as you take the necessary steps to begin mending your own family web.

In her personal life, Mariah enjoys spending time in nature with her boyfriend and their two dogs, Zorro and Buddy, riding horses, adventuring to the Oregon Coast, learning how to make sourdough bread, identifying native medicinal plants, and learning about all the world has to offer.