Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Nix.
Hi Katie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hi, my name is Katie Nix and I am a licensed professional counselor and owner of Bright Space Therapy.
My early life was very chaotic. My father died suddenly when I was 10 and my mother grew more and more mentally ill after that. My friends became my refuge. I easily connected with most people my age and often got in trouble for talking in class no matter how many times the teacher moved my desk. For college I moved far from West Texas to attend Ole Miss and studied psychology. At Ole Miss I found structure and stability that I had not had living at home. Becoming a licensed counselor was an easy choice for me. I loved connecting with people and I understood struggle. My early work was entirely with children doing play therapy. I often worked with kids who had lost a parent or had a mentally ill parent which I understood so well. With more training, I became very specialized in attachment theory and began working with all ages who had experienced attachment wounds and relational trauma including loss, betrayal, abuse, neglect, and more. In 2016, I took my first course with Dr Leslie Korn on nutritional therapy which incorporates functional and holistic medicine with mental health therapy. I later went on to be certified by Dr Korn and now I combine attachment and trauma therapy with functional medicine to get my clients to a new place of healing. In 2018, I founded Bright Space Therapy which I intended to be a small group practice of me and two other clinicians. I greatly enjoyed having coworkers again and the group grew slowly but surely over the years. We are now at two office locations with 12 licensed therapists and I spend my time seeing a small caseload of clients (10-12 a week) and supervising new clinicians work helping train them in attachment theory, clinical self care, and holistic mental health. Connecting with people helped me heal, finding structure and stability after chaos helped me heal, and using functional/holistic methods helped me heal. It’s my purpose to give that back and I find this work so fulfilling.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As a business owner, I went into solo private practice first which I found to be lonely and isolating. Expanding to a group practice helped with the isolation and I found I was able to grow as a clinician by case consulting with other therapists on the team often. With more growth, came more responsibility. At times, being the boss can also be isolating because you have to make the hard decisions and mange people’s feelings around those decisions and changes. Being the owner also means you wear many hats. I have found myself being the janitor, plumber, locksmith, admin, and more over the years and the work can be 24/7 when a problem arises. When I had my children, I didn’t get the typical maternity leave as there is still payroll to run and issues to manage. At the end of the day, I find the work to be fulfilling and stimulating and it has contributed to so much growth within myself that the good definitely outweighs the bad.
We’ve been impressed with Bright Space Therapy, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Bright Space Therapy is a group mental health counseling practice that specializes in counseling for kids, teens, and young adults. We are a youthful team and can understand the hardships of being a young person today like online dating woes, social media, and transitioning into adulthood. Most of our therapists have a specialization in Attachment theory and relational trauma but everyone also has their own unique style and use other counseling methods to offer adapted techniques for each individual client. We are not a one size fits all kind of practice. I am most proud that our office can serve a wide range of clients and that every therapist on the team is affirming of all culture, religion, sexuality, and gender. Clients are safe at our office and can express themselves fully, exactly how they are without fear of judgement or bias. We also accept many insurances which makes therapy more accessible. Offering functional and holistic mental health protocols also sets us apart. We have access to lab testing and nutritional knowledge that other therapists may not. This can offer more precision in diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for our clients.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
I often recommend to potential clients seeking a therapist that they should read over everyone’s bio on the website and see which therapist they connect with the most. We write our bios to offer as much information about our style as possible so potential clients can have a good understanding of what it will be like to be in the room with us. I find that this is a great start to developing a great therapeutic relationship.
We also love connecting with other mental health professionals and attend and host networking events in the Dallas area.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.brightspacetherapy.com
- Instagram: @brightspacetherapy and @katie.nutritionaltherapy
- Facebook: Bright Space Therapy
Image Credits
Photo with me sitting on floor with flannel black and white shirt was taken by goldenlight creative in Plano, TX
