Fiona O’Farrell
Dept. Chair and Program Director of Marriage and Family Therapy
she/they
Phone: 253-535-8802
Email: ofarrefe@plu.edu
Office Location:Garfield Station - Room 108
Status:Not Teaching
- Professional
- Biography
Education
- Ph.D., Clinical Sexology, Modern Sex Therapy Institutes , 2023
- M.A., Marriage and Family Therapy, Pacific Lutheran University, 2012
- B.A., Psychology, Western University , 2008
Areas of Emphasis or Expertise
- Use of consent-based frameworks to support training standards in MFTs
- Queer-affirmative clinical care
- Sex and intimacy enhancement for relational units
Professional Memberships/Organizations
- American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)
- American Association of Sexuality Educator, Counselors, and Therapists (AASECT)
- International Family Therapy Association (IFTA)
Biography
Dr. Fiona O’Farrell (she/they) graduated from the Marriage and Family Therapy program
at PLU in 2012 and is excited to return to the department as a Faculty member in 2024.
Fiona is enthusiastic about training emerging therapists to adopt systemic thinking to
explore the intersection of self-development, relational work, consent, and sexuality.
Fiona’s clinical practice supports relational clients in full-spectrum identity work,
relationship enhancement, consent, shame reduction, dismantling binaries, and queer-
affirmative care. Fiona’s research centers on improving clinical training standards by
integrating developmental frameworks and consent concepts into andragogical design.