Therapy for Life Transitions, Relationships, and Identity in Florida
Life does not always look the way you expected it to. The roles that once defined you may be changing, your relationships may be asking more of you, or you may be realizing that the ways you've learned to succeed are no longer helping you feel connected to yourself or the people you love.
I'm Steve Dever-Harris, LMFT, and founder of Parent Figure Collective. I provide online therapy for adults, current and former athletes, parent figures, and couples throughout Florida who are ready to better understand themselves, navigate life transitions, and build more intentional relationships.
You may be the athlete, the partner, the parent, the responsible one, or the person everyone turns to when something goes wrong. But who are you when you don't have to perform, solve, manage, or take care of everyone else?
You don't have to have everything figured out to begin. You just have to be willing to look honestly at where you are and where you want to go.
Maybe you've spent years being the strong one
What Sports Taught Me About Life Beyond Performance
For decades, sport was an important part of my life. I experienced it as a student-athlete and later spent 10 years coaching high school and college athletes. Along the way, I worked with student-athletes and their families through the recruiting, training, and competing process.
I saw firsthand how much goes into performance. The preparation, the pressure, the expectations, the relationships, and the commitment to something bigger than yourself can shape the way you see the world and your place in it.
But over time, I began to recognize something that extended far beyond athletics.
The wins and losses outside of sport were just as important, and sometimes more important, than the ones that happened within the performance bubble.
That realization became especially clear when it was time to leave athletics or move into a different role. Skills that once made sense in a competitive environment had to be redefined and transferred to everyday life. Identity shifted. Priorities changed. Relationships evolved. What had once provided structure, purpose, and a sense of belonging might no longer occupy the same place.
And those transitions aren't limited to athletes.
We all move through seasons when the roles that once helped us understand ourselves begin to change. Becoming a parent, navigating a relationship, changing careers, leaving a familiar environment, or questioning long-held expectations can bring uncertainty about who we are and how we want to live.
Sometimes, the hardest part isn't the transition itself. It's figuring out who you are within it.
This perspective is part of what led me to the work I do today. I'm interested in helping people look beyond the immediate problem to understand the patterns, experiences, and expectations that may be shaping how they respond to life and relationships.
Therapy offers an opportunity to slow down, get curious, and make sense of what has brought you here. Not to erase your past or change who you are, but to understand yourself more fully and decide what you want to carry forward.
Understanding the Pattern Is Part of Creating Change
My approach to therapy is warm, collaborative, and empowering. I draw on evidence-based practices to help you explore the experiences, beliefs, expectations, and relationship patterns that influence how you navigate everyday life.
Rather than looking at a struggle in isolation, we can consider the context around it. Where did a familiar response begin? What purpose has it served? How does it affect your relationships today? And is it still helping you move toward the life you want?
These questions are not about assigning blame or deciding that something is wrong with you. They're about developing a clearer understanding of yourself so that change can become more intentional.
You Can Respect Where You've Been While Choosing What Comes Next
I don't believe growth requires you to reject the person you've been. Often, the strategies and expectations you carry were developed for understandable reasons. They may have helped you succeed, feel connected, manage pressure, or meet the demands of a particular season of life.
The question is whether those same strategies still serve you.
My philosophy is grounded in compassion, context, and personal agency. I want therapy to be a place where you can examine your experiences without judgment, recognize the patterns that influence your relationships, and decide what you want to do differently.
You don't need to become someone else to create meaningful change. You can build on what you've learned, question what no longer fits, and develop new ways of relating to yourself and others.
The goal isn't perfection. It's to deepen understanding, make more intentional choices, and strengthen relationships that better reflect what matters to you.
You may be the person others rely on. You may be used to pushing through, solving problems, meeting expectations, or finding a way to perform when things get difficult.
You may also be at a point where those familiar strategies aren't working the way they once did.
I work with adults, current and former athletes, parent figures, and couples who are ready to take an honest look at themselves and their relationships. Together, we can explore what's happening beneath the surface, understand the patterns that keep showing up, and consider new ways of responding.
Your Roles May Change. Your Story Still Matters.
Adults Navigating Change
Life transitions can challenge your sense of identity, purpose, and direction. Therapy can help you understand what is changing, reconnect with what matters to you, and make choices that better reflect the person you are becoming.
Current and Former Athletes
Sport can shape more than performance. It can influence identity, relationships, confidence, expectations, and the way you measure success. Whether you're competing now or figuring out life beyond athletics, therapy can help you explore what sport has given you, what no longer fits, and how to carry your strengths into the next chapter.
Parent Figures
Being a parent or caregiver can bring competing responsibilities, changing relationships, and questions about the kind of person you want to be within your family. Therapy can create space to examine expectations, understand recurring patterns, and approach relationships with greater intention.
Couples Seeking Greater Understanding
Relationships can become stuck in familiar cycles, even when both people care deeply about one another. Couples therapy offers an opportunity to better understand those patterns, communicate more openly, and explore how each person contributes to the relationship dynamic.
My background brings together graduate education in marriage, couples, and family counseling with years of experience in the world of athletics.
That combination informs the way I think about identity, performance, relationships, family dynamics, and the transitions that happen when life no longer follows a familiar playbook.
Experience and Perspective
Education
Master of Science (M.S.) in Marriage, Couples, and Family Counseling
Professional Experience
Therapist serving adults, current and former athletes, parent figures, and couples
Therapist serving all levels of care from outpatient to residential within community mental health and private practice
Former student-athlete
Ten years of coaching high school and college athletes
Experience working alongside student-athletes and their families through recruiting, training, and competition
These experiences inform my interest in helping people understand the connections between their individual experiences and the relationships, roles, and environments that shape their lives.
I approach this work with respect for each person's story and an appreciation for the many ways people learn to navigate challenges.
Thoughtful Support, Wherever You Are in Florida
Parent Figure Collective offers online therapy for clients located in Florida. Whether you're based in Orlando or elsewhere in the state, virtual sessions offer an opportunity to engage in therapy without traveling to an office.
Online therapy can provide a dedicated space to reflect on your experiences, work through life transitions, and explore the relationships that matter to you.
My practice offers individual therapy, couples therapy, and coaching through online services. We can discuss your goals and determine which offering may be the best fit for what you're looking for.
What You Can Expect With Me
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First, we make some space
Therapy should be collaborative, practical, and deeply human.
My goal is to create and hold a space where you don't have to perform. You can think. You can process. You can question. You can be honest.
When contemplating change or preparing to make it, therapy can give you a place to slow down and move forward intentionally.
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Then, we change the lens.
You are the expert on your own life. My role is to help you become more aware of your patterns, understand what is happening beneath the surface.
Maybe you're repeating the same relationship pattern.
Maybe you're struggling to communicate what you need.
Maybe you're navigating a major transition.Maybe you've spent years being the strong one
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Now we can build practical skills.
We'll explore what's happening, why it may be happening, and what you want to do differently. That means we won’t simply focus on what’s wrong.
Here we develop new ways of responding. This can include willingness to practice new skills or being open about what is and is not working.
Together, we can work toward understanding yourself and your relationships in a more meaningful way.
You Don't Have to Figure It All Out
Therapy for Adults, Athletes, Couples, and Parent Figures in Florida Who Understand the Problem and Still Feel Stuck
If you're navigating a transition, questioning an old definition of success, or noticing patterns in your relationships that you want to understand more clearly, therapy can be a place to begin.
You don't need to arrive with a perfect explanation of what's wrong or a clear picture of what comes next. You can start with what feels difficult, what keeps repeating, or what you know you want to change.
I'm here to help you approach that process with curiosity, compassion, and intention.
When you're ready, let's start a conversation.