Katie Alrutz
My name is Katie, and I’m a therapist specializing in the treatment of religious and complex trauma, mood disorders, and relational stress. I grew up in the Chicago area as part of a conservative religious environment. As I got older, I began to see how this environment interacted with issues such as sexuality, mental health, and trauma. Through a long journey of navigating my own mental health and re-evaluating my personal beliefs, I realized the heavy impact that restrictive religious environments can have. I am passionate about assisting those who are processing their experiences in religious environments and helping them realize they are not alone in their journey. This led me to conduct my master’s thesis on the treatment of religious trauma, where I developed a curriculum for group therapy. Understanding and treating religious trauma requires knowledge in a wide range of issues, including interpersonal relationships, family dynamics, sexuality, and developmental trauma. This wide range of experience has helped me work not only with religious trauma survivors, but with many others who have not come from religious backgrounds, but want to address other issues I have expertise in.
Religious trauma shows up in many ways, ranging from a vague and nagging guilt to paralyzing anxiety. Experiencing any kind of trauma over an extended period of time impacts our minds and bodies in unique, innumerable ways. My approach is to help you understand the effects trauma brings up in your life, and foster the skills and self-compassion needed to start moving forward.
Depression or anxiety may show up for the first time in the midst of a major transition, or they could have been part of someone’s story for years before they start working with me. Regardless, these issues can result in low motivation, low self-esteem, and emotional overwhelm that can quickly become debilitating. My approach is to address the short-term, urgent issues, in order to start identifying patterns and move towards an improved life long-term.
I also work with individuals wishing to navigate relational stress through individual therapy. Many of my clients come to me at a sticking point in a relationship, wondering if or how to move forward. This could be a romantic partnership, a lifelong friendship, or an important loved one. I help people in this situation assess their own values and the factors leading to the issues in the relationship, as well as develop steps towards action that match their goals and values.
As your therapist, I am committed to creating an authentic and collaborative space. I specialize in Acceptance Commitment Therapy, using a trauma-informed approach. In other words, I focus on meeting you where you are, providing practical tools to assist you in reaching your goals, in addition to facilitating opportunities to reflect on your past experiences and desired outcomes. I want therapy to be a space that works for you- I consider myself a collaborator in therapy; where you are an expert in your own experiences and needs. I consider it an honor to act as a therapist and would love to have the opportunity to work together!
