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Trauma, Anxiety & Eating Disorder Therapist in Arlington, VA

Hi, I’m Kellie

Maybe you’ve already spent a lot of time trying to understand yourself.

You know you overthink. You know you’re hard on yourself. You may even know exactly where your people-pleasing, perfectionism, anxiety, or complicated relationship with food and your body comes from.

And yet, knowing all of that hasn’t necessarily made it easier to stop replaying the conversation, trust your own decisions, rest without feeling guilty, or believe that what you want matters too.

You might look at your life and wonder why you’re struggling when so much of it seems like it should be okay. Other people may see you as capable and put-together while you’re privately exhausted from thinking, analyzing, managing, and trying to get things right.

I work with thoughtful, deeply feeling adults who are exhausted from living this way. Together, we can understand what’s keeping you stuck and help you build more trust in yourself, feel more comfortable in who you are, and create a life that feels more like your own.

  • I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with experience working with adults across a wide range of concerns, including trauma, anxiety, perfectionism, eating disorders, body image, and self-worth. My background includes working in residential eating disorder treatment with higher-acuity clients, as well as years of outpatient therapy with adults at different stages of healing and recovery.

  • My training includes Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Intuitive Eating, and Eat Breathe Thrive, and I’m also a certified yoga teacher.

    My work is grounded in Health at Every Size® (HAES®), fat liberation, LGBTQ+ affirming care, and an inclusive, weight-neutral approach. I care deeply about creating a space where different identities, bodies, relationships, and ways of being are respected and welcomed.

This work is personal to me too

〰️

This work is personal to me too 〰️

I know what it’s like to put pressure on yourself, question whether you’re doing enough, and look outside of yourself for reassurance about who you should be.

That experience is part of what drew me to this work. Over the years, I’ve helped so many people begin untangling their worth from their appearance, accomplishments, productivity, and how well they take care of everyone else.

I’ve seen how much can change when you begin trusting yourself instead of constantly trying to change yourself. I’d be honored to help you find that for yourself, too.

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What therapy feels like with me.

You don’t need to come to therapy knowing exactly what to say or where to start.

You can bring in something you’ve been thinking about all week, something that happened five minutes before our session, or simply tell me you have no idea what you need that day. I see you as the expert on your own life. I bring clinical knowledge, experience, and a different perspective, but I’m not here to tell you who you are or what your life should look like.

I want us to work together to create enough safety for you to be honest about what’s really going on. We’ll pay attention to what keeps showing up, make connections when they’re useful, and go deeper when you’re ready. I’ll be engaged with you in the process rather than sitting back and expecting you to figure everything out on your own.

We’ll start wherever you are and figure it out together.

Beyond the
Therapy Room

Outside of being a therapist, I’m usually in the middle of learning about something. I love psychology and spirituality, and I’m endlessly fascinated by astrology, tarot, and all the big questions about what it means to be human.

I’m also very happy with a great cup of coffee, a hot yoga class, planning a trip, trying a new restaurant, spending time in nature, or being with my husband, family, and friends. I love deep conversations, but I also love being silly and not taking
life too seriously.

Watercolor illustration of a to-go coffee cup with a purple sleeve labeled 'Café New York', a lid, and a straw, sitting next to a closed book and a pair of tortoiseshell glasses; handwritten text reads 'iced coffee and a good book.'
A woman with a towel wrapped around her head, wearing sunglasses made of cucumber slices, and a green and white striped shirt, sipping a drink with cucumber slices and a straw, set against a background of daisies.
Illustration of a woman with long brown hair sitting in a cross-legged meditation pose, surrounded by colorful flowers, a bee, and a ladybug, with a bright yellow sun in the background.
Illustration of a woman with long brown hair sitting in a cross-legged meditation pose, surrounded by colorful flowers, a bee, and a ladybug, with a bright yellow sun in the background.
Tarot card titled 'The Sun' with a smiling sun face and sun rays in orange and pink, shining over a field of yellow flowers with green stems and leaves, and pink and white clouds beneath.
Three pink tickets with black text that read: "To live for the hope of it all."
A cozy living room illustration with a striped green armchair, a red book on it, a polka-dotted mug on the floor, and a pink-checkered lamp, with the text 'Indoor so Kinda Girl'.