About Karen Gwaltney, LMFT

It was a crisis of faith that got me into therapy. Raised as an Evangelical, I thought I had all the answers, but by my late twenties my life wasn’t aligning with the Christian path that was prescribed for me. This led to doubts, which led to questions, which led to answers I’d heard before: “You have to trust God.” “You need to be in the Word more.” Disillusionment turned into depression…which led me to therapy.

In therapy, I was met with encouragement to ask questions without the fear of judgment. I gained insights about myself and a broader perspective about the world. My therapist gave me tools to take care of myself and accept my humanity rather than condemn it–which actually led to some healthy changes I needed to make.

But I was still desperate for an iron-clad explanation for why we were here. My Southern Baptist upbringing and Presbyterian college era had cushioned me with certainty about life, but that certainty had crumbled. I was not satisfied with the idea that we live and we die and that’s it. There had to be a purpose to all of this. I took that shred of faith and moved from Florida to California to attend Fuller Seminary and get some answers.

In graduate school I began a process of *waking up* that I’m still in today. I learned that the real problem isn’t our humanity. The problem is the belief that being human is a problem!

I studied psychology and theology, receiving a masters degree in each, and got licensed as a marriage and family therapist. My training showed me that the seductive “certainty” of my former faith left too many humans disregarded, excluded, and unsupported. I was no longer willing to tell people they didn’t belong because they didn’t buy into a particular belief system.

Fifteen years later, my mission is to help people be more relational. I have studied countless reports of people who physically died and saw the other side and I’m convinced by too many of them to write them off (Anita Moorjani, Vincent Todd Tolman, and Mary Neal to name just a few).  The increasing accounts of NDEs plus scientific research on relationships inform my conviction that humans who pay attention to their connections and those who cultivate humility–the ability to acknowledge that we don’t know everything–are more likely to thrive in this difficult realm.

I work with:

  • Codependence

  • Religious trauma; Deconstructing Evangelical or fundamentalist Christianity

  • Conscious Coupling (dating/premarital/
    marital); Co-Parenting & Conscious Uncoupling

  • Near Death Experience Processing

  • Depression/anxiety

I have training in and may include the following modalities in our work:

  • EMDR

  • Relational Life Therapy

  • Restoration Therapy

  • Psychodynamic Therapy

  • Bowen Family Systems Theory

My work with people is heavily influenced by the teachings of:

  • Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and particularly Miki Kashtan 

  • Brene Brown

  • Pia Mellody (Facing Codependence)

  • bell hooks

  • Carol Gilligan

Today, having been on both sides of the crisis of faith — experiencing it for myself, and supporting people going through their own — I’ve found a few things to be true:

Rather than trying to rise above your humanity, embrace it. You were never meant to be anything other than human.

So much of our work is acknowledging our impact on other people, and caring enough to do the work to improve it.

Mental health is a commitment to dealing with what is. How do you want to take responsibility for living your life?

You being authentically you is a good purpose. Humans being their authentic selves creates space for everyone.

You can’t prove that God exists and you can’t prove that God doesn’t. But if you have a healthy relationship with yourself and others, you’ll spread the love that is God, walk in your purpose, and make the world a better place to be. Coming alongside of you is part of my purpose, and I am honored to help you find your footing after whatever blow life has dealt you.

Let’s connect
to see what’s possible.