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About Tethered

Facilitating connection with self and others

A grounded space for reflection, alignment, and connection outside of weekly therapy.

Tethered exists for people who feel the quiet pull to slow down and reconnect. In a world that moves quickly and makes isolation easy, this work creates intentional spaces to pause, reflect, and make contact with what feels true and meaningful.

This is not a place for urgency or fixing. It is a place for presence.

The heart of the work

Tethered was created from a simple but grounding mantra: facilitating connection with self and others.

I became deeply aligned with this idea while participating in a program called Re-Embodying the Self of the Healer. Throughout that experience, it became clear how often we move through life disconnected from ourselves, even while surrounded by people. Disconnection does not always look dramatic. Sometimes it looks like busyness, numbness, or quietly carrying too much alone.

Every Tethered offering is grounded in this intention. In a culture that rewards productivity and independence, Tethered exists to create moments of connection. Connection to your inner world. Connection to the people you love. Connection to what feels steady beneath the noise.

This work is a reminder that connection is not something we earn or fix. It is something we return to.

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Hi, I’m Marcela.

My background in therapy has taught me that so much of who we are, and how we move through the world, is shaped by connection. From our earliest attachments to the relationships we form as adults, we are constantly learning what it means to be safe, seen, and held. And just as disconnection can wound us, reflection and presence can help us soften, repair, and re-establish relationship with ourselves.

Over the years, I noticed how small, intentional rituals can shift something inside. Writing a letter. Naming what we feel. Pausing long enough to notice what is present. These practices do not force change. They create space for it.

While my training as a therapist informs how I think, listen, and hold space, Tethered is not psychotherapy, counseling, or medical treatment. It is a reflective and relational practice. An invitation to slow down, breathe, and remember your own depth and belonging.

Through reflection mailers, gentle gatherings, consultation, and creative offerings, Tethered exists as a companion on the path. A steady reminder that you are not alone and that connection is still possible.

How this space is held

Tethered offerings are intentionally non-therapy. They are reflective, educational, and experiential in nature, designed to sit alongside traditional mental health care rather than replace it.

This work is guided by a few core values:

Presence over performance

Connection over productivity

Ethical boundaries and transparency

Clarity over complexity

Care, intention, and relational safety

Everything offered through Tethered is created with containment, pacing, and respect for autonomy in mind.

Credentials and training

My work is grounded in licensed clinical training and ongoing education in trauma-informed, attachment-based, and expressive approaches. While Tethered is not therapy, these foundations shape how I facilitate spaces for reflection and connection.

  • Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), Texas
    Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Associate (LMFTA), Texas

    Supervised by: Lauren Spaulding LMFT-S

  • Master of Education in Counseling and Development
    Marriage, Couple, and Family Counseling, Lamar University

    Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Minor in Nutrition
    University of Houston

  • EMDR Therapy, Basic Training
    Internal Family Systems Level 1 and Level 2

  • Introduction to Sandtray Therapy, Linda Cunningham
    Sandtray Poetry and EMDR, Marshall Lyles
    Making Room at the Table: Dissociation and Sandtray, Marshall Lyles
    Adult Attachment Interview, Expressive and Sand-Informed, Marshall Lyles
    Parent Child Attachment Training, Ana Gómez
    Re-Embodying the Self of the Healer, Marshall Lyles
    Year-Long Interpersonal Neurobiology Immersion, Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind, in progress

    These trainings inform the way I think about safety, symbolism, nervous system regulation, and relational repair.

If this resonates

If you are seeking a grounded space for reflection, alignment, or intentional connection, there are several ways to engage with Tethered.

You are welcome to explore the ways to work together, receive reflections by mail, or reach out with questions. There is no rush.

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Explore Ways to Work Together