Karen Chambless (She/her)

Whether it’s showing up as worry, obsessive thoughts, irritation, restlessness, panic, or dread, I can help you develop additional coping skills and find relief and freedom from feeling trapped inside your head. Anxiety is more normal than people realize. 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.

I approach PTSD with an understanding that trauma isn’t always a single event—it can come from chronic environments, including religious ones. We’ll work at a pace that feels safe, helping your nervous system settle while making sense of what you’ve been through. I integrate trauma-informed, affirming care to help you process experiences, reduce overwhelm, and reconnect with a sense of safety in your body and your life.

I see anxiety not as a flaw, but as something that developed for a reason—often shaped by environments where you had to be hyper-aware, careful, or self-monitoring. Together, we’ll explore what’s driving your anxiety, reduce the intensity of thought loops and self-doubt, and build a more grounded relationship with yourself so you can make decisions and move through life with more clarity and ease.

I provide spiritually neutral and "secular" therapy. I enjoy supporting clients who want to explore spirituality in ways that feel authentic and self-directed, especially after harmful or high-control religious experiences. Whether you’re deconstructing, rebuilding, or unsure what you believe, therapy can be a space to question, grieve, and explore without pressure. We’ll focus on helping you reconnect with your values, identity, and sense of meaning on your own terms.

I use an Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed approach to help you understand and relate to different “parts” of yourself, including the inner critic, shame, or fear shaped by religious environments. Instead of trying to silence these parts, we’ll get curious about them, reduce internal conflict, and help you build a more compassionate, grounded relationship with yourself. Over time, this can help you feel less controlled by old patterns and more connected to your own voice.

ACT helps you navigate uncertainty, intrusive thoughts, and difficult emotions without getting stuck in them. This is especially helpful during deconstruction, when old beliefs no longer fit and new ones aren’t fully formed. We’ll focus on clarifying your values, building psychological flexibility, and helping you move toward a life that feels more authentic and self-directed. This approach allows you to move forward even when clarity feels incomplete.

ACT helps you navigate uncertainty, intrusive thoughts, and difficult emotions without getting stuck in them. This is especially helpful during deconstruction, when old beliefs no longer fit and new ones aren’t fully formed. We’ll focus on clarifying your values, building psychological flexibility, and helping you move toward a life that feels more authentic and self-directed. This approach allows you to move forward even when clarity feels incomplete.

Narrative therapy helps you examine the stories you’ve been taught about yourself, your identity, and the world—especially those shaped by religion. Together, we’ll explore what messages you’ve internalized, question what no longer fits, and begin to rewrite your story in a way that reflects your own values, voice, and lived experience. This process can help you reclaim authorship over your identity and direction in life.