The San Jose community and the wider mental health field are grieving the passing of Caitlin MacCalla, M.A., LMFT, a trailblazing trauma-informed therapist whose work transformed countless lives over the span of more than 20 years.
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Caitlin, the founder of Tides of Healing, served as a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California for 17 years (CA License #47854). Her career was marked by an unwavering dedication to helping individuals, families, and communities navigate trauma, adversity, and complex relational challenges.
Formally trained as a narrative therapist, Caitlin specialized in guiding children, adolescents, blended families, and bi-cultural couples, while also providing support in co-parenting, divorce, trauma recovery, and mood disorders. Her approach was deeply holistic and intersectional, rooted in cultural humility and an understanding of how systemic oppression and lived experiences impact mental health.
Her extensive career spanned diverse roles—from school counseling and group therapy to working within family and dependency courts, nonprofit organizations, forensic psychology, and sex offender treatment programs. She also devoted herself to mentoring professionals in the field, modeling empathy, advocacy, and professional excellence.
Caitlin’s colleagues describe her as a visionary and mentor, someone who consistently created safe, empowering spaces for healing. Friends and family remember her warmth, compassion, and the joy she found in being a devoted mother. She loved spending time with her son, cooking, baking, reading, and planning meaningful moments together.
Her death leaves a profound void, not only within her family but also across the mental health community, where her voice and vision made a lasting impact. Yet her legacy will live on through the lives she transformed, the narratives she helped co-create, and the communities she strengthened.
Caitlin MacCalla will be remembered as a healer, advocate, mother, and mentor—someone whose compassion and dedication reshaped lives and will continue to inspire generations of therapists and families alike.