helping put words to what the church forgot to explain
for many of us, healing has meant trying to think differently, pray harder, or become more disciplined. but even when our beliefs change, our bodies may continue responding as though they are unsafe. your nervous system carries the ways you learned to protect yourself, not as flaws, but as adaptations that once made sense.
studying trauma, attachment, development, the nervous system, and theology together taught me something I could not unsee: our psychology and spirituality are deeply connected. the ways we learned to relate to ourselves and others often shape the way we experience God, not because we lack faith, but because our bodies are trying to protect us.
in our work together, we will approach those patterns with curiosity instead of judgment, understanding where they came from and how they still shape your relationships, emotions, and spiritual life.
I do not believe healing happens by fighting your body. I believe it happens by understanding it.
as your nervous system experiences greater safety, you gain more freedom to respond from choice instead of survival, creating space for a more integrated relationship with yourself, others, and God.
A self-paced course with Kate Willsey
Is it God
or Is it Me?
Explore a faith that makes room for your whole humanity.
Moving out of spiritual wounding and into a life of abundance.
Explore the courseShort video lessons · Companion workbook · Your own pace
core spiritual wounding quiz
take this 5-minute spiritual trauma quiz to discover the spiritual survival skills that may be shaping how you relate to God, yourself, and others.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Meet Kate
like many helpers, my passion for trauma healing began with my own woundedness. I grew up in a charismatic environment I loved, but as I got older, I realized there was very little room for my suffering or the complexity of what I had lived through. I loved God, but I longed for language that could help me understand myself.
the wildest part is that the very thing the church warned me against (secular psychology) became the catalyst for some of the deepest freedom and safety I had experienced with God. therapy gave language to my internal world and transformed the way I understood my relationship with Him. psychology put words to what the church had never known how to explain.
now, as a licensed therapist and psycho-spiritual coach, I want to name what has been missing. I am still a church girl, but one who believes wholeness with God should never require us to abandon our humanity. with a master’s in social work, I am passionate about building a healthier bridge between psychology and spirituality.. one honest about harm and hopeful about repair.
I want to help build the kind of faith community where wounded people no longer have to disappear to belong.
LICENSED THERAPIST, COACH, CREATOR, SPEAKER
“Kate is the safest person I know… Kate was able to be a safe place to help me process and heal from church hurt and unhealthy leadership. Sessions have helped me gain a tool belt of resources and tools to help me engage with God and the church from a more regulated and healthy place. Kate makes me feel so loved and held in sessions and I tell her all the time that I wish all my friends could do sessions because they’ve been so helpful for me!!”
“Kate is the safest person I know… Kate was able to be a safe place to help me process and heal from church hurt and unhealthy leadership. Sessions have helped me gain a tool belt of resources and tools to help me engage with God and the church from a more regulated and healthy place. Kate makes me feel so loved and held in sessions and I tell her all the time that I wish all my friends could do sessions because they’ve been so helpful for me!!”
“I connected with Kate as a 37-year-old mom of two elementary-aged girls who had spent my entire life in evangelical Christianity. Although I experienced complex trauma in both my family and church community, I stayed deeply committed to my faith. Working with Kate gave me a safe place to process my spiritual trauma without feeling pressured toward any particular outcome. One of the biggest shifts was recognizing that much of my commitment to spiritual disciplines and theological research was actually driven by a protector part of me trying to create certainty and control. Learning to loosen that grip has brought incredible peace to my life, my marriage, and even my own mind. For the first time, I experienced what it feels like to have a nervous system that isn’t constantly self-monitoring. I’m still learning what healthy faith looks like, but Kate helped me trust that becoming a healthier, more integrated person is the foundation for whatever that journey becomes. I can’t recommend Kate enough. She is wise beyond her years and her coaching has been one of the most meaningful parts of my healing journey.”
past client
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past client
(identity kept anonymous)
(identity kept anonymous)
