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MEET KATIE
Aside from my professional life as a therapist, I spend most of my time playing outside, cooking, writing, and reading. I love maple syrup, good coffee, and snow. I don't have the answers, and sometimes I don't get it right, but I do have some ears for listening and eyes for watching and an open heart that wants to learn along with you.
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Scope of Practice
I specialize in spiritual wellness and sexual empowerment.
What is spiritual wellness?
Feeling connected to something larger than yourself, and by something I mean anything at all. For some, this is God, or Allah, or Jesus, or Mother Nature, or, simply, Higher Power. For others, this is human connection, or connection to the larger world around us, or even creativity. I do NOT offer or prescribe any religious affiliation for clients. I only help them consider questions of faith and spirituality in order to understand their own belief system and how to access it. I understand nondenominational faith as a healing tool for all sorts of emotional quandaries.
What is sexual empowerment?
A sexually empowered person is connected to their sexual self. That means they understand their needs, wants, and desires without shame or blame, and can communicate them to a partner. They can be rejected without taking it personally, and can respect the physical and sexual boundaries of others, even when they differ from their own. In therapy, sexual empowerment work means looking at the forces that hold us back from stepping fully into ourselves, most importantly shame and body dissatisfaction, in order to explore what truly activates desire, what individual sexual needs are, and how to satisfy them in safe, healthy, and hopefully exciting ways. Sexual empowerment isn't just about sex - it is about feeling at home in your body.
I am an expressly feminist therapist. To me, this means that I invite feminist and queer theory into the room. That I believe in equal opportunities for everyone, across the intersecting spectrums of race, socio-economic status, sexuality, gender, and other identity markers. It means that I do not condone discrimination within the walls of my office, and will challenge clients to confront privilege, as I am in my own parallel process of confronting mine. I will do this gently, with curiosity, grace and compassion for subtly and not-so-subtly embedded beliefs and perceptions. Most importantly, I believe there are as many ways of being as there are people on this Earth, and that none of them are right or wrong or better or worse - they just are.
Other specialty areas:
I am a social worker by education, license, and experience in the field. To me, this means that I seek to understand my clients in the greater context of their lives, how their experiences, relationships, and the systems around them impact how they move through the world.
What is spiritual wellness?
Feeling connected to something larger than yourself, and by something I mean anything at all. For some, this is God, or Allah, or Jesus, or Mother Nature, or, simply, Higher Power. For others, this is human connection, or connection to the larger world around us, or even creativity. I do NOT offer or prescribe any religious affiliation for clients. I only help them consider questions of faith and spirituality in order to understand their own belief system and how to access it. I understand nondenominational faith as a healing tool for all sorts of emotional quandaries.
What is sexual empowerment?
A sexually empowered person is connected to their sexual self. That means they understand their needs, wants, and desires without shame or blame, and can communicate them to a partner. They can be rejected without taking it personally, and can respect the physical and sexual boundaries of others, even when they differ from their own. In therapy, sexual empowerment work means looking at the forces that hold us back from stepping fully into ourselves, most importantly shame and body dissatisfaction, in order to explore what truly activates desire, what individual sexual needs are, and how to satisfy them in safe, healthy, and hopefully exciting ways. Sexual empowerment isn't just about sex - it is about feeling at home in your body.
I am an expressly feminist therapist. To me, this means that I invite feminist and queer theory into the room. That I believe in equal opportunities for everyone, across the intersecting spectrums of race, socio-economic status, sexuality, gender, and other identity markers. It means that I do not condone discrimination within the walls of my office, and will challenge clients to confront privilege, as I am in my own parallel process of confronting mine. I will do this gently, with curiosity, grace and compassion for subtly and not-so-subtly embedded beliefs and perceptions. Most importantly, I believe there are as many ways of being as there are people on this Earth, and that none of them are right or wrong or better or worse - they just are.
Other specialty areas:
- Couples counseling
- Family relationship work
- Grief and loss
- Creativity
- Spiritual seeking
- Shame
- Body dissatisfaction
- Anxiety
- Life transitions
- Parenting
- Sexual and gender identity exploration
- Complex developmental trauma
- Self-harm
I am a social worker by education, license, and experience in the field. To me, this means that I seek to understand my clients in the greater context of their lives, how their experiences, relationships, and the systems around them impact how they move through the world.
Education
I received my master's degree in social work from NYU Silver School of Social Work in 2014. I have a bachelor's degree in liberal arts (history, education, and art) from Hamilton College (2011). I also hold an MFA in fiction writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts (2020). Additional trainings and certifications are listed on the Approach page of the website.
Influences
The following are just a few sources of inspiration to me in my work, to give you a sense of who I am as a therapist and what I bring to the therapeutic relationship:
- Developing insight and healing through storytelling (narrative therapy)
- Mindfulness / meditation - the practice of being present
- Interest in creative, soulful living
- Trusting and loving your body
- Mary Oliver
- Favorite recent fiction
Professional Experience prior to Firefly
Howard Center
- Interventionist: provided direct care support to child in residential treatment and community settings
- Crisis Stabilization Clinician: provided therapy and case management support to families and children following mental health crisis in an inpatient setting
- Family Counselor: provided in-home family counseling and case management on an intensive basis
- Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center: worked on the breast cancer service, with clients moving into life after cancer, and with loved ones who had lost someone to cancer
- Greenpoint YMCA Y Scholars Program: provided case management and counseling to at-risk teens through a goal-oriented framework
Trainings & Certifications
Member of Esther Perel's Sessions Community for Couples Therapists
Reiki Certified - Level 2
ARC: Attachment, Regulation, and Competency
TF-CBT: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CGT: Childhood Traumatic Grief
CAMS: Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality
I use my writer hat in my therapy office on a regular basis, especially when it comes to understanding and revising stories we tell to others and to ourselves.
Reiki Certified - Level 2
ARC: Attachment, Regulation, and Competency
TF-CBT: Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
CGT: Childhood Traumatic Grief
CAMS: Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality
I use my writer hat in my therapy office on a regular basis, especially when it comes to understanding and revising stories we tell to others and to ourselves.