About Me
Karyn Resch Brackney, MA LPC
My Origin Story
I love the smell of old books; I’m the weird lady in the used bookstore opening up random books and sticking my nose into the pages. In my basement, I have a stack of 84 journals, handwritten chronicles covering the last 20 years of my life in novel-like detail. Long before I saw Louisa May Alcott as a queer icon, I idolized Jo from Little Women (enthusiastic plug for Greta Gerwig's brilliant film adaptation!), partly for her tomboy confidence, but mostly for her determination as a writer. It should come as no surprise that I majored in English & Creative Writing in college, with the goal of becoming an author and professor.
In my senior year, I served as a TA in an intermediate nonfiction creative writing course. For the second half of the semester, I took half the class through a series of workshops; students would submit essays, and we would sit in a circle and discuss their writing while they took notes on what was working and what needed improvement. While my professor, who had the other half of the class, reported lighthearted essays on a humorous first visit to a sex shop or a memoir of beloved grandparents, every single essay presented in my group was about assault, depression, or death. Students cried in class as, one after the other, they bared some of the most painful and vulnerable moments of their lives. I was 21 years old, overwhelmed and underequipped, and though I couldn’t put words to it at the time, I had a strong sense that I wanted to enter into people’s stories on a far deeper level than sentence structure and narrative arc.
This was the first step on a path that ultimately led me into the field of counseling. While I still write stories (and occasionally blog), I’ve found a career where I get to step into the personal stories of others and be a witness to both heart-shattering trauma and breathtaking transformation. It is such a privilege to have this front-row seat to the beauty and resilience of the human soul.
My Therapeutic Approach
Now that I'm over a decade into this work, I've realized that while anxiety and depression may have diagnostic codes, they are not the real illnesses. These symptoms--the buzzing, churning, hypervigilance of anxiety or the cold, leaden burden of depression--are normal human responses to the overwhelming stressors we experience daily in the relational, cultural, and global systems in which we live.
Because of this, everything I do is trauma-informed. All of us come into the world vulnerable, hungry, and beautiful, ready for love and security. But this world is not an easy place to live, and years of rejection, unmet needs, physical exhaustion, emotional depletion, loss, suppression of our authentic selves, experiences of both inadvertent and intentional harm, and occasional moments of terror leave us all with trauma. For me, the heart of trauma-informed work is about restoring that original health and wholeness through experiences of safety, compassion, unconditional acceptance, and connection. Therapy may start with creating that experience in the therapeutic relationship; I hope it ends with your experiencing safety, compassion, and acceptance within and from yourself.
I'm eclectic in my therapy. I work from an attachment-based perspective, blending IFS-influenced parts work and somatic techniques with a deep understanding of human neurobiology and a focus on core beliefs, personal values, and interpersonal relationships. I have a flexible approach, balancing immediate needs—what’s happening in your life right now—with the overarching goals for therapy you’ve expressed.
A session with me may involve skill-building to manage symptoms, some psychoeducation to help you better understand what’s happening in your mind and your body, questions and reflection to help you explore your inner world, space to process past or recent events--and usually moments of humor and fun, because real human connection is often a little goofy.
My Areas of Passion
I work with a wide variety of clients, treating everything from anxiety and depression to trauma and anger management issues. However, I've found my best work often focuses on the following areas:
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Parents who are healing their own attachment wounds as they learn to break cycles in raising their own children;
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Young adults (18-26) who are navigating evolving relationships, careers, and worldviews;
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LGBTQ+ individuals (particularly those healing from, wrestling with, or learning to integrate a religious or spiritual background; please note, I am fully affirming of all queer identities and expressions);
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People exploring spirituality, religious deconstruction, and questions of meaning, belief, and identity;
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New mental health professionals seeking their own support as they enter the field;
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Men, women, or gender-diverse individuals exploring wounds related to gender, including masculinity & vulnerability; the impacts of sexism & patriarchal structures; gender expression, and more.
Even if you don't fit into one of those categories, don't hesitate to reach out. If my approach resonates with you, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at karyn@karynreschcounseling.com or 720-263-6545 to schedule a free consultation
If you’re curious to know more about who I am, check out these blog posts:
New Mental Health Professionals