Ryan Seedall

Field: Family Studies and Human Relationships
Areas of Focus: Couple Relationships, Marriage Relationships

Expertise

• Attachment Theory
• Couples Therapy
• Couple Support Processes
• Observational Research
• Process Research
• Dyadic Data Analysis
• Marriage and Families
• Couple Enrichment

Bio

Dr. Ryan B. Seedall is an Associate Professor and associate program director in the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program within the department of Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS) at Utah State University (USU). From 2019-2021, Dr. Seedall was also HDFS associate department chair.

Dr. Seedall’s program of research is to understand and improve relationship process, including both couple relationship and therapeutic processes. The overall theme of his research is to improve couple and family relationships. Dr. Seedall aims to do that through observational research on couple interaction and support processes, especially during adversity, as well as the impact of attachment on varying aspects of couples and families. In all, Dr. Seedall has published nearly 50 refereed articles and book chapters. He was also a co-associate editor for the Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy, Volume 1, which represents an important work in the field of MFT.

Dr. Seedall has expertise in research methodology, theory development and application, and ways to enhance therapeutic outcomes (including supervisory elements). Each of these expertise areas are utilized in the courses that Dr. Seedall teaches as well as in his mentoring style. Students benefit from these areas in terms of their scholastic, professional, and personal development. Within the program Dr. Seedall teaches HDFS 6380 - Survey of Research in MFT; HDFS 6320 - Theories in MFT; and HDFS 6390 – Practicum. Dr. Seedall also has taught hybrid and online courses about diverse families at the undergraduate level.

Dr. Seedall maintains a small private practice where he sees 3-5 clients each week from the community regarding a variety of issues as part of the Cache Valley Center for Couples and Families. Attachment Theory and Contextual Family Therapy inform how Dr. Seedall thinks about relational patterns and how he does therapy. He identifies that attachment theory highlights the importance of security and safety in relationships, with an emphasis on how partners signal their needs to each other and how they respond to each other’s needs. Contextual Family Therapy highlights how change can come from understanding intergenerational patterns and the importance of striving towards a proper balance of give and take in relationships. Dr. Seedall has previously coordinated outreach between the MFT program at USU and the Cache Valley Community Health Center, a primary care facility, and the Centro de la Familia in Cache Valley.

Dr. Seedall has been on the editorial board of four high impact MFT journals: Family Process (2022-Present), Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (2013-Present), Journal of Family Psychology (2015-Present), and American Journal of Family Therapy (2015-2018). Dr. Seedall has provided over 110 article reviews since 2012 and was awarded the 2013 JMFT Reviewer of the Year award. In 2017, Dr. Seedall also fulfilled an assignment as an ad hoc associate editor for JMFT and a guess editor for a virtual issue on change process research.

Since arriving at USU, Dr. Seedall has served on a number of committees including the USU Faculty Senate (2012); MFT Search Committee (2012-2013; 2015-2016; 2019-2020); MFT Re-Accreditation Committee (2012-2013; 2019-2021); Online HDFS Master’s Feasibility Committee (2013-2014); the MFT Curriculum Committee (2012-Present); HDFS Qualifying Exams – Research Methods Committee (2015-2021); the USU Undergraduate Research Advisory Board (2018-2019), the HDFS 1010 Curriculum (2019-2020), the HDFS Graduate Commitee (2021-Presdent). From 2018-2019, Dr. Seedall was also chosen to be a part of the USU president’s mental health working group, tasked with evaluating ways that USU can be more proactive in helping meet the mental health needs of students.

All of the work that Dr. Seedall does both as a therapist and as a faculty member at USU is anchored in the fundamental belief that humans are relational beings and that relationships form the bedrock for individual development, informing how we see ourselves and others. His goal is to foster secure bonds that promote growth. In this manner, Dr. Seedall believe there is great power in relationships to help people change, this is reflected in all the work that he does with the students at USU.