Katherine A. ReusingLMFT, LPC

I think the biggest barrier for those seeking therapy is the fear of being judged. I have had many clients tell me that it was not what they expected after they began therapy. They thought the therapist would point out everything they were doing wrong. Instead, they told me they found it is a self-affirming process that helped them see their strengths and assisted them in figuring out what they wanted and how to accomplish that for themselves. I hope people will see that therapy is a process that enables them to see the things that are keeping them stuck in self-defeating behaviors and finding new ways to meet their needs that lead to fulfillment and happiness. The therapist's role is to guide and support them through this journey. It is my journey in therapy that led me to want to be a therapist because it works. We all have issues, and we can all use a guide to help us sort them out.

Therapy is a collaborative process. I believe that the client is the expert in their life, and it is their choice where they want their life to go. I think fostering change starts with believing in the clients and their ability to grow. However, when clients come to therapy, they have lost faith in their ability to make things better. My job is to give them that hope and the tools to reach their goals. My role is to make change seem possible and create a safe place for the individual, couple, or family to achieve their goals.

I believe that therapy is a process that can empower you to make the changes you want to be happy. Change is a journey we will take together to resolve the issues that are holding you back from becoming the person you want to be. My experience has led me to believe that most self-defeating behavior is rooted in childhood emotional injuries. These injuries lead to unhealthy adult relationships that are multigenerational and repetitive for the individual. I have found that relational wounds, especially those suffered in childhood, are the deepest. These wounds left unhealed and unexpressed do psychological, emotional, physical, and spiritual damage that lasts a lifetime. These unexpressed feelings leave us in a reactive mode. When emotions are acknowledged and validated, one can choose how to act in the situation bringing fulfillment and happiness. Doing my own work in therapy led me to become a therapist because it really helped change my life. Taking that first step to ask for help was the hardest but worth it.

• Georgia, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, MFT001363
• Connecticut, Licensed Professional Counselor, 1175

I have had the opportunity to work with many people of different races, cultures, gender and sexual orientation, ethnicities, and religious beliefs, which has enriched my life. I have worked in the area of developmental disabilities in Nebraska, the mental health department, and an Alternative to Incarceration Unit with domestic violence offenders and domestic violence victim services in Connecticut. I developed a domestic violence program that included offender treatment as a victim's services in Arizona and recently expanded a domestic violence victims services program in Georgia. I received my Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy while in Connecticut and Licensed Professional Counselor in 2000. I complete my Ph.D. in 2018 and now provide therapy for victims of domestic violence and their families and supervise interns and associate therapists. What I have learned is while everyone is unique, people are more alike than different. Everybody wants to mean and matter, be believed and respected, be loved, be happy, and to make a better life for their children. We all are just meeting our needs the best way we know. However, sometimes the things we learned growing up do not help us do this in ways that are beneficial to us and our relationships. This is where therapy can help. I know it saved my life. It is the reason I became a therapist because it works.