Karen Chambless
LPC-MHSP
You’re overwhelmed by what’s happening in the world and it seems like no one feels it as deeply as you do. There has been so much change in your life with no space to process or time to take a breath. You’re scared of your own mind/heart/body but don’t want to pass that fear or responsibility on to your partner/friends. You can’t afford to fall apart; everyone in your life needs you to keep it together. You’ve researched online and read books and listened to podcasts and thought about it over and over, but still feel stuck or don’t know what to actually do or how you would do it. You’re the most self-aware person you know, but even you can’t escape your own mind. Your life is being run by your anxiety and guilt, and they’re dragging you down while keeping you spinning. Things aren’t working in a role or relationship or religion, but getting out or changing it feels impossible. Grief is so exhausting - you’re doing your best but you can feel yourself fragmenting apart behind the scenes. You’re tired of performing the self that others want.
You need a space to say the angry things, the scary things, the weird or dark things - a space to be honest in your unfiltered thoughts. You wish you had someone to listen to and care for you the way you do for others. You want to feel like you understand your own brain. You want to feel calm even in the midst of change and loss. You wish you could feel clear and confident about who you are and where you are going, and you want to be able to care for your people and do your work in a way that feels authentic and energizing and sustainable.
I create a safe and stabilizing space to process all the chaos that comes with life changes, whether they’re good, bad, or (most likely) complicated. This is an affirming place to be questioning, deconstructing, deconverting, and/or shouting into the void. I can hold space for despair, rage, numbness, bitterness, and all the other experiences that come along with grief. Whether it’s a loss in the past (which could be a month or 50 years ago), an ongoing experience with loss woven in, or in anticipation of a future grief event, it’s welcome in my therapy office. No platitudes or cliches here, just space to be messy and authentic because that’s how grief is. I can help you develop additional coping skills and find relief and freedom from feeling trapped inside your head. We will use a trauma-informed and neurodivergence-affirming lens as we explore what connections may be present to events in the past and work WITH your brain rather than against it.
As a highly sensitive person, an eldest daughter, and a lifelong overachiever, I know what it is like to feel chaos on the inside and project competence on the outside. I know what it is like to be ready to burn it all down but terrified of the pain of change. I love helping neurodivergent people of all kinds to work WITH their spicy/magical brains instead of against them. I am unapologetically affirming of LGBTQIA+ folks. I strive for a decolonized therapeutic practice and incorporate attachment science, interpersonal neurobiology, and parts work in therapy.
