Rising Stars: Meet Kelsey Macdonald of Nashville

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Macdonald

Hi Kelsey, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Curiosity and helping others are two values I’ve carried since childhood that have always been a part of me. As early as I can remember, I was curious about everything and loved exploring the unknown from learning about how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly to trying to understand why people respond and feel the things they do. Overtime, I knew without a doubt that I wanted to seek higher education and live a life dedicated to learning about things I carried many questions about.

As a first generation college student, education and learning has always been deeply important to me. I remember placing great focus on my academics in high school and felt beyond grateful when I received full scholarships to complete my bachelor’s degree. As an undergraduate student, my interest in learning about people was often shaped by my own life story, experiences with trauma, and navigating my own chronic health conditions. It led me to be curious about how our brains worked, how trauma affects our body and mind, and learning about the possible ways we can heal from pain and suffering.

However, my path in becoming a therapist wasn’t quite straight and narrow. After I graduated with my bachelors in psychology, I decided to work in the field before continuing graduate school. I was able to work at a non-profit in a social work program, I became a supervisor and learned ways to foster the development of others, and I got to witness the barriers and systemic challenges often faced by others in very difficult circumstances.

Together with my own life and work experiences, this led me to go back to graduate school to begin the path in becoming a clinical mental health counselor for those who have trauma stories of their own. As a graduate student, I continued to follow my deep interest in how we can heal from trauma which led me to seek training in therapies that help the body and mind heal from past painful experiences including EMDR, IFS, and Brainspotting. During this, I completed my internship at a trauma center where my passion for helping others with complex trauma and chronic pain and illnesses continued to solidify and strengthen.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I wish I could say it was a smooth road! However, I think the quote “nothing worth having comes easy” comes to my mind when I think of my own path in becoming a therapist.

To say that it felt effortless and like I was born to be a therapist wouldn’t be entirely truthful, although I believe now I was exactly where I needed to be. Imposter syndrome played a huge part of my growing pains throughout my developmental growth as a therapist and in the evolution of honing in on my therapist identity. I often struggled with self-doubt, anxiety on how to “be a therapist”, and felt isolated at times with these feelings compared to my peers. Although I know now that experiencing imposter syndrome is such a common experience for many, it often was an inner process of exploring and reshaping my own anxieties while growing in my knowledge and skill set.

I also faced challenges that many graduate students experience, such as tending to my own self-care practices as someone with chronic health conditions all while balancing classes, work, an internship, studying, and a personal life. Although this season was a stressful time period, I can look back now and see the lessons it had offered me. I learned even more so where boundaries come into play in understanding our abilities and limits and how it’s important for our self-care needs to adapt in different seasons of life.

Today, I know that these are common experiences especially as a counselor in training. Although I still experience times of self doubt and feelings of turbulence in my continual development as a therapist, I am able to see how these experiences can reveal strengths in caring about the quality of care with clients and the delicate, ethical nature of our field.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a clinical mental health counselor, specifically a LPC-MHSP(t), who specializes in complex trauma or Complex-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD), chronic pain and illnesses, and neurodivergent affirming care. I am deeply passionate about working with clients who have complex trauma, which are those who have had histories of multiple traumatic experiences that have occurred over long periods of time. Often these experiences can carry great difficulties in relationships, feeling a strong sense of identity, and difficulty with the ability to regulate one’s emotions. It is not uncommon, especially for those with complex trauma histories, to also struggle with managing chronic pain or a chronic illness. I help clients who may fall under both of these categories as navigating trauma can impact an illness or pain symptoms. Alongside, I work with neurodivergent clients, or those who question they might be, who have trauma histories and are navigating nervous system differences including sensory, communication, and cognitive differences. Overall, I love working with clients whose struggles may not seemingly “fit” into neat boxes, who have painful experiences in their life, and who need all parts of them acknowledged and attended to.

As for how I work with clients, I utilize trauma therapies that provide healing for both the mind and body including use of Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Brainspotting, and Internal Family Systems (IFS). These modalities address the nervous system changes that occur from trauma by helping the body release negative self beliefs, somatic symptoms, and can help in fostering a compassionate connection to ourselves. Alongside individual therapy, I also provide EMDR intensives for those who are looking for deep healing at a more rapid pace.

In addition to my clinical work, I’m deeply passionate about connecting to graduate students and early-career mental health clinicians as they navigate the challenges of becoming clinical therapists. I believe this early stage of professional development presents unique hurdles that can make the journey toward becoming a therapist even more difficult including experiences of imposter syndrome, anxiety about therapeutic skills, burnout, and so much more. This is why I created From a Therapist, To a Therapist, a blog and podcast for new and upcoming clinicians, so that those who are at this stage of development as a counselor or therapist can feel supported for the exciting yet commonly challenging experiences.

Overall, I believe what may set me apart and, truly, what I am most proud of is being able to provide a space for those who often feel unseen or misunderstood. Whether someone struggles with C-PTSD, a chronic illness/pain, or are navigating neurodivergent differences, I offer a welcoming space to those who often have experiences of being overlooked by the system, who feel different from those around them, and who struggle to put language around their experiences.

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
There are too many that I could list that have been helpful for me as a therapist! I love listening to the podcasts A Modern Therapist’s Survival Guide as well as The Sensitive and Neurodivergent Podcast. These have helped me tremendously as they have been a resource on addressing topics related to my own challenges and interests with being a therapist. Altogether, I like to read and listen to topics surrounding the human development realm and those that are just fun to listen to or read to keep a healthy balance between engaging with work related topics and enjoying those that connect to all parts of me.

Pricing:

• Individual Therapy: $150/hour

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/kelsey-macdonald-nashville-tn/998592
• Other: https://fromatherapisttoatherapist.com/