We all have a story. I’d love to hear yours.
Kelsey Laulainen, LMHC (she/her)
Therapist and Clinical Supervisor
I approach my therapeutic work with kindness, compassion, and complete nonjudgment. We’ve all been there, and we don’t know what we don’t know. I believe therapeutic work can help individuals move through significant and complex trauma, make a connection with their mind and body, gain a curiosity and understanding of themselves and their relationships, and find healing and peace.
I believe that we often undervalue ourselves and underestimate our ability to love and to be loved. I believe that how we view ourselves is molded and shaped by our relationships: family, our religious or spiritual environment, god, teachers, and friends. Therefore, I believe that only within a safe, meaningful relationship can healing occur.
To help my clients attain healing and peace, I work to explore my clients’ lives and stories in a safe and warm setting. In this space, my client can move at a pace that is comfortable for them to pay attention to their experiences and all the parts of themselves, identify patterns, and make meaningful connections. Because each person is unique, I utilize a Psychodynamic, Relational, client-centered approach, including Internal Family Systems, and attachment. I will customize therapy according to your needs, comfort level, and circumstances.
My work supports cis and trans women and non-binary people who have experienced religious trauma, have Religious Trauma Syndrome (RTS) or have experienced Adverse Religious Experiences in a high-control religion or spiritual community. I also support those who have experienced physical, sexual, or emotional trauma, toxic relationship patterns, codependency, unhealthy family dynamics, grief and loss, depression, anxiety, and all the other ways we may feel “not okay.” I am queer, LGBTQIA+ affirming, kink-friendly, and poly/non-monogamous positive.
*I am also a Certified Clinical Supervisor, which allows me to support other therapists as they develop their own new skills.
My Story.
From the suburbs of Phoenix, Arizona to city life in Seattle, Washington.
I grew up as an Evangelical Christian in a conservative Mormon community and spent my adulthood navigating identity, faith, and my power as a woman. After getting my undergraduate degree at Concordia University in California, I started my career as a youth pastor in a conservative Lutheran denomination, at a church outside Sacramento. For those three years in full-time ministry, I found myself in an internal battle between the rigid religion I grew up in and my empathic, open, and loving self. Ultimately, love wins and I left my denomination and my professional calling, and began to forge a new faith and spirituality for myself.
For years, I stumbled through several careers and life paths. I developed a deep passion for hearing and exploring the stories of those around me. During lunch breaks, I found myself asking coworkers questions about their life, their heartbreaks, and their stress. In my corporate marketing job, I spent most of my time asking clients about their lives outside of work and their family relationships. I was drawn to the story of life and humanity, and eventually, this pull led me to my graduate program at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology.
I traded the desert for a view of Mt. Rainier and moved to Seattle in 2014 to pursue my Master’s in Counseling Psychology. After living in Seattle for almost a decade, I have developed a deep love for food and wine, spend my days gardening with my husband, and have created a life centered around story and healing.
It is from my own story of oppression as a woman in a rigid religion, my own anxiety and stress in finding my identity, and the healing work I’ve done - and continue to do - around my own trauma and pain that I do this work. My hope is that I can guide you on your own journey of healing and discovery.