Member Highlight — Julia Zabasky, LMFT

Rick Hupp, LMFT

It was a pleasure of meeting Rick Hupp, LMFT, for our SFV-CAMFT Connections! member highlight. I found Rick to be earnest, compassionate, and dedicated to his work. Rick has been in private practice since 2013, sharing an office with his wife, Marty Simpson, LMFT, in Woodland Hills.

Rick had a previous career in high-end, computer-systems design, as well as general contracting. He shared that he returned to graduate school for very personal reasons.

Following a painful divorce, Rick became driven to learn what it would take to sustain a primary relationship. He sought to become a couples expert, aiming “to teach what I needed to learn.” 

In graduate school, Rick was introduced to and became intrigued with the work of Stan and Tracey Tatkin, whose Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) initiated a paradigm shift for him, both personally and professionally. Rick explained, “PACT guided me to see the couple as an ecosystem where individuals are both responsible for the well-being of each other in the relationship, and the system they share for their mutual survival.”

Rick believes that “the therapy session is a place to explore relational pain and guide the clients’ brains to awaken to the adaptive defenses installed from previous relational trauma. From there, the couple gets to consider the maladaptive aspects of those defenses, and together we consciously craft an alternative pathway for relief and safety.” 

Rick explained that “clients will mostly see their partners through the lens of their life’s experiences, which fuels their automatic assumptions and emotional reactions. A majority of relational difficulties stem from invisible emotional memories that are felt, not thought. Once clients start to recognize how automatic they can be, especially under stress, the path to healing developmental trauma and improving their relationship is revealed. The skills they learn in session shed light on the destructive reflexes from the typical communication issues that break connection.” He shared that “most couples find each other through unconscious attraction to resolve unfinished family business, whether they know it or not. If they are willing to consider the healing roles they represent for each other and accept the role of attentive caregiver to their partner, they increase their value to each other, which leads to more fulfillment in the long run.”

Rick is not afraid to work with high conflict couples and sees that the “couple’s pain is some form of growth trying to happen; and the conflict the couple is in can be great leverage for the session as it is a motivator for change.”

Rick’s practice is LGBTQAI+ friendly and he stated that, “the dynamics of secure functioning strategies apply regardless of orientation, attraction or identification. They apply to monogamous and polyamorous couples. I support anyone who wants to learn how to be securely attached.”

Rick is also a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT) and helps clients through the challenge of infidelity repair. According to Rick, infidelity is often facilitated by technology, and discovered by the non-involved partner by that same technology. Rick shared that, “From an evolutionary standpoint, our brain was designed to seek very specific things for survival that, up to only a few hundred years ago, were very rare and difficult to access. Online dating, porn and hookup sites spoof the brain to think it has unlimited access to other available, sexually receptive partners. Technology offers a heightened level of intensity and excitement. Our dopamine receptors were never made to be continually exposed to such abundance and reward.”

Another favorite author and therapist of Rick’s is Esther Perel. According to Rick, Esther Perel says, “when infidelity is discovered it starts a conversation which could not have happened any other way.” He explained that couples may not have the skills necessary to ask for and negotiate what they need in a relationship. These secrets and resentments accumulate and can fuel infidelity.

Rick shared that as an SFV-CAMFT member he has been going to the meetings and enjoying interacting with his colleagues. “I get so isolated with seeing clients day after day, week after week, it’s wonderful and refreshing to be reminded at these meetings of the high quality of individuals that share the dedication of helping others as I do. I’m always inspired and impressed when I hear what my colleagues are up to.”

When not working in his private practice, Rick enjoys spending family time with Marty and her two very creative adult children, as well as various construction projects around the house.

Rick sees individuals and high conflict couples with a history of trauma and his clients will find an understanding therapist who provides great psychoeducation as well as experiential transformation.

Julia Zabasky, LMFT, is passionate about working with foster-care youth and assisting them with finding a permanency plan, either returning to their families or placement in transitional housing. Her work includes management of trauma, depression and anxiety. She utilizes the Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy model in her work and sees clients in private practice. Julia holds an MBA, and a Master’s in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University. She may be contacted at 818.516.2038 or JZabasky@pennylane.org.