About Big Valley Therapy
About Big Valley Therapy
Our Name & Philosophy
The name Big Valley Therapy reflects a core belief: meaningful growth can occur even in life's lowest or most painful places. Valleys often hold grief, shame, fear, and disconnection — but they can also become spaces of deep healing and transformation when approached with care and compassion.
The name also holds personal meaning. "Otani" translates to "big valley" — reflecting a belief that even the most difficult internal landscapes can become places of growth when they are met with safety, curiosity, and support.
Rather than rushing people out of pain, Big Valley Therapy honors what emerges in the valley. When emotions are met with understanding and emotional safety, they often carry the wisdom needed for lasting change.
"Healing is not about avoiding the valley — it is about learning how to move through it with support."
How we work
Our Approach
Big Valley Therapy offers attachment-based, trauma-informed therapy for individuals and couples in Sandy, Utah. The work focuses on understanding emotional patterns, nervous system responses, and relational dynamics that shape how people relate to themselves and those they love.
Therapy here is not about fixing what is "wrong" with you. It is about helping you access your true, authentic Self beneath the protective strategies that once served a purpose but may now feel limiting or painful.
Attachment-based
Understanding how early bonds shape the way you connect and relate to others today
Trauma-informed
Safety and stabilization always come before deeper emotional processing
Collaborative
Sessions are emotionally attuned and paced to what feels right for you
The therapist
Josh Otani, LMFT
Josh is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who works with individuals and couples using an attachment-based, trauma-informed, and systemic approach. His clinical work is shaped by both professional training and lived experience — allowing him to meet clients with depth, nuance, and genuine compassion.
Personal background
Josh understands that recovery — particularly from sexual compulsive behaviors and the relational impact of betrayal — is about far more than abstinence alone. Through personal recovery work, including participation in 12-step programs and structured recovery services such as the Life Changing Services: Men of Moroni program, he developed a deep understanding of how shame, attachment wounds, and nervous system dysregulation often drive behavior.
Clinical training
Josh pursued systemic training to work effectively with both individuals and couples, recognizing that healing often requires attention to relational dynamics as well as individual experiences. His clinical training includes Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR, and Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) — supporting clients in processing trauma, betrayal injuries, and deeply held emotional wounds.
Graduate research — Utah State University
"The Relationship Between Blame, Maladaptive Guilt/Shame, Couple Communication, and Relationship Satisfaction in Pornography Users" — research that continues to inform Josh's clinical work with couples navigating trust injuries, shame cycles, and disconnection.
What guides the work
Clinical Values
Big Valley Therapy is guided by these core clinical values — shaping every session and every relationship with clients.
Safety before depth
Healing begins with emotional and relational safety. Therapy moves at a pace that respects your nervous system — never faster than you are ready.
Curiosity over judgment
Patterns are explored with compassion, not shame. Every response once served a purpose — and understanding that purpose is where healing begins.
Collaboration rather than hierarchy
Therapy is a partnership. Your lived experience is valued and honored — you are the expert on your own life.
Respect for each client's pace
There is no rushing or forcing insight. Change unfolds when the timing feels right — and we trust that process.
Is this right for you?
Who This Practice Is For
Big Valley Therapy may be a good fit if you are seeking thoughtful, relational therapy and are open to exploring emotions, attachment patterns, and internal experiences — not just surface-level solutions.
This practice often works well for people who:
Feel stuck in recurring relationship patterns they cannot shift on their own
Struggle with emotional disconnection or intimacy in relationships
Experience anxiety, shame, or harsh self-criticism
Want deeper emotional awareness and authenticity in their lives
Are navigating betrayal, broken trust, or relationship injury
Are ready for meaningful, lasting change — not quick fixes
You do not need to have everything figured out to begin. Curiosity and willingness are enough.
What changes over time
What Therapy Can Offer
Therapy at Big Valley Therapy is not about quick fixes or surface-level coping strategies. It is about helping you create real, lasting change in how you relate to yourself and the people you care about most.
Greater emotional awareness and regulation
Safer, more secure relationships with others
Understanding and softening protective patterns
Stronger self-compassion and authenticity
Deeper connection with yourself and others
A clearer sense of identity and direction
Take the first step
Begin Your Journey
If you are looking for attachment-based, trauma-informed therapy in Sandy, Utah, Big Valley Therapy offers a supportive space to begin. Whether you are an individual working through emotional pain or a couple navigating broken trust, reaching out is often the first step toward meaningful change.
You are not meant to walk the valley alone.
Contact Us
We would love to support you on your healing journey. Whether you're ready to begin or just exploring whether Big Valley Therapy is a good fit, please reach out — we would love to hear from you.