Assistant Professor
- PHD, BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY, MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPY
- MA, WHEATON COLLEGE, MARRIAGE & FAMILY THERAPY
Min Xu (Ph.D., LMFT, AAMFT-Approved Supervisor) is an assistant professor in the Marital and Family Therapy program at the University of San Diego. Dr. Xu earned her B.S. in Economics from the Ohio State University (Columbus, OH), M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL), and Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Brigham Young University (Provo, UT).
Dr. Xu’s scholarly work primarily focuses on 1) Emotion regulation; 2) Predictors, mechanisms of change, and outcome in couple therapy; 3) Adult Attachment, Family-of-Origin, Differentiation-of-Self, and Childhood Emotional Experience. A consistent thread across her work is attention to how social and contextual conditions shape emotional processes, with the aim of developing socioculturally responsive approaches.
As a licensed marriage and family therapist (LMFT), Dr. Xu mostly works with high-conflict couples, young adults, and families with adolescents.
Scholarly Work
Recent Publications (*denotes the corresponding author):
*Xu, M., Johnson, L. N., Anderson, S. R., Bradford, A., & Banford Witting, A. (2026). Emotion regulation and relationship satisfaction in couple therapy: What happens across sessions? Family Process. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/famp.70125
*Xu, M. (2026). Resilience Factors in Family Structure Transitions: Emotion Regulation, Cognitive Flexibility, Identity Development, Social Support, and Contextual Considerations. Family Transition. https://doi.org/10.1080/28375300.2026.2622851
*Xu, M., *Rodríguez-González, M., Calatrava, M., Sambuceti-Lewis, A., & Martínez-Díaz, M. P. (2026). Differentiation of self, attachment experiences, and dyadic adjustment: An APIM approach with Spanish-speaking couples. Family Process, 65(1), Article e70105. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/famp.70105
*Xu, M., Bradford, A. B., & Johnson, L. N. (2025). Paths to better emotion regulation in couple therapy: Exploring ACEs and attachment. Psychotherapy Research, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/10503307.2025.2577211
*Bradford, A.B., Xu, M., Johnson, L.N., Anderson, S.R., Miller, R.B, Banford Witting, A., Bean, R.A., & Hunt, Q.A. (2025). Past to Present: The role of ACES in emotion regulation and emotion regulation’s subsequent relationship with couple satisfaction in couple therapy. Family Process, 64(3), Article e70064. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.70064
*Xu, M. (2025). Reconsider the anger of marginalized communities. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 51(2), Article e70018. https://doi.org/10.1111/jmft.70018
*Xu, M., Johnson, L. N., & Coyne, S. M. (2024). The influence of relational aggression and attachment insecurity on sexual dissatisfaction: Using the actor-partner interdependence mediation model. Contemporary Family Therapy, 46(1), 37-51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-023-09662-z
*Xu, M., Johnson, L. N., Anderson, S. R., Hunt, Q., Bradford, A. B., Banford Witting, A., Bean, R., & Miller, R. B. (2023). Emotion dysregulation and couple relationship satisfaction of clinical couples: An actor-partner interdependence model. Family Process, 62(4), 1555–1573. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12828
Office Hours
| Section 01 | |||
| 1/26 - 5/11 | M | 9:00 am - 12:00 pm | |
| 1/26 - 5/11 | T | 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm | |