Kristy Ledford

The ways we cope, protect ourselves, disconnect, overthink, stay busy, use substances, or escape what we’re feeling usually developed for a reason. At some point, those things may have helped you survive, function, or simply keep going. But sometimes the very things that once helped us get through become the things keeping us stuck. Therapy with me isn’t about deciding what’s “wrong” with you. It’s about getting curious about how you came to be where you are, understanding the patterns that keep showing up, and figuring out what you need now. My style is warm, genuine, curious, and compassionate—with plenty of room for humor. I believe the relationship we build matters, and I want therapy to be a place where you don’t have to perform, have the right words, or show up as the most put-together version of yourself. I’ll listen carefully, ask questions, notice patterns with you, and offer honest feedback and gentle challenge when I think it may help. I work primarily with adults navigating trauma, anxiety, OCD, chronic stress, and addiction or substance use. You don’t have to identify as having a “problem” with substances to talk about your relationship with them. You may be questioning your use, struggling to make a change, newly sober, or years into recovery. We can start wherever you are. I also have extensive experience working with first responders, military-connected individuals, and people in high-stress professions—people who are often very good at functioning, taking care of others, and pushing through, even when something underneath isn’t okay. My approach is relational and informed by attachment, trauma, and the nervous system. I draw from psychodynamic therapy, EMDR, ACT, DBT, and somatic approaches depending on what you need. Sometimes our work will mean looking backward to understand what shaped you. Sometimes it will mean learning how to stay with what is happening inside you right now. And sometimes it will mean laughing in the middle of something hard. Therapy can hold serious things without feeling serious all the time. There is room here for the pain, the humor, the messiness, and everything in between.