Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Dunham & Kelsey D’Amore Connect To Thrive, LLC
Hi Katie Dunham & Kelsey D’Amore, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
We (Kelsey & Katie) met in 2016 after we had each graduated with our masters degrees. The universe aligned and we found ourselves working at the same site to collect the required supervision hours for our LPC licenses. In working alongside each other as we explored our identities as both people and therapists, we grew a deep sense of respect for each other and discovered that our values, perspectives, and worldviews were closely matched.
In June of 2018, with a desire to honor our shared strengths of creativity, cunning, and leadership we chose to take a leap and open a private practice together. We worked tenaciously to establish a safe place for clients (whether child, teen, or adult) to work through life’s challenges with the support of kind, caring therapists who are authentic, well trained, and trauma-informed. As two ambitious Slytherins, we readily connected over our dreams of building a thriving and successful practice. We then added in our love of dogs, an obsession with Harry Potter, and a desire to help people connect with their highest selves to form Connect to Thrive.
Over the last six years, we have experienced: growth, loss, celebration, grief, pride, exhaustion, and everything in between. We feel so fortunate to have the support of close friends and family as we’ve journeyed through this unpredictable and chaotic thing called life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Funny you should ask… We’ve had an interesting year to say the least…
As we all know and dread, the DFW area has had chaotic and random winter storms over the last few years. In February 2021, when the Texas power grid and Mother Nature teamed up to shut down most of DFW for a week or so, we were one of the unlucky many who suffered a burst pipe due to freezing temps and zero power. A sprinkler system pipe in our building busted and flooded our entire office and the office building next to us. We had to completely evacuate the space with what we could salvage and they had to tear the office space down, back to the studs.
While Telehealth/ Telemedicine in mental healthcare has become much more common practice since COVID-19 (and it has been great for increasing accessibility of care for clients), we are a primarily in-person practice. We specialize in working with children/teens (in addition to adults) and utilize play therapy, expressive arts, animal assisted interventions, EMDR, and somatic interventions. Modification can be made for most of these modalities when needed and research is showing that effectiveness it actually comparable.
And also, from our perspective, the screen can sometimes leave more to be desired. As humans, we long for connection, belonging, and togetherness. Being in the same physical space allows us the opportunity to slow down and just “be”. There’s a felt energetic difference in being able to exist in a space with another person’s heartbeat. It opens up the door for co-regulation and felt safety, which are both immensely important when asking clients, of all ages, to do something so incredibly vulnerable: show up authentically, feel their feels, and be present in their body.
Alas, 16 not-so-short weeks later, we were back into our space and able to resume in person sessions. All was well and we were eager to continue growing our team and supporting clients.
Fast forward to January of 2024… Over MLK weekend, we were forecasted freezing temps again, but fortunately the power was holding steady and we felt confident. Maybe too confident? Forgive our dry humor, it’s our preferred coping skill.
As I’m sure you can guess, another pipe burst. A sprinkler pipe again, but this time around it was in the front of the building instead of the back. Deja vu vibes all around as we had to completely evacuate the space and scrounge for supplies and items that could be saved. This go around, we decided that to do things exactly the same way as we did before may not be in our best interest, as we have no desire for a third round of waterpark fun.
We decided to relocate our office to Central Plano near the Downtown area. We were super fortunate to have other kind and compassionate professionals in the community open their offices to our team and allow us to continuing seeing clients in-person while we transitioned (HUGE thank you to Angela Lemond (Lemond Nutrition), Natalie Morse (Flourish Counseling), & Patty Boylen (Willow Counseling & Wellness)).
TLDR; We recently moved into a new (to us) office space in Plano at 75 & 15th street that we absolutely love. We have an amazing team of therapists in our office who are strong, resilient, caring, and whether we want to be or not- adaptable, flexible, and well-humored. We have learned the importance of community, loyalty, and slowing down and have endless amounts of gratitude for our friends and family that have seen us through to the other side of this second flood.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Connect to Thrive?
Connect to Thrive is a group of mental health professionals, specializing in modalities such as EMDR, somatic experiencing, play therapy, animal assisted therapy, and CBT. We are known for our love of Harry Potter, dogs, and our unique approach to clients. We are proud to support clients of all ages, from as young as three thru late adulthood. We are different from other offices in that we like to get all family members in for their own individual services to best support the family system. Accessibility is a core value of ours, and we ask all fully licensed therapists to panel with at least one insurance panel to ensure accessibility for clients.
How do you think about happiness?
Happiness is such an interesting concept to explore because the word itself can resonate with people so differently. If you ask people to conjure an image in their mind to represent the word happiness, no two images will be exactly the same. Is happiness: a feeling, a mindset, a state? For us, two different thought processes come to mind when it comes to happiness.
The first thing that comes to mind (not to geek out too hard), is a Dumbledore quote from the Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban. He says, “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” We view happiness as ebbing and flowing like the tides and believe that happiness can be present in the midst of hard times.
We often have to make a concerted, conscious effort to be able to acknowledge the happiness present in our life, especially during dark eras. Some people call these moments of found happiness during stress “glimmers”, and identify them as the opposite of triggers. Glimmers can be the simple, small moments that bring us joy and help to brighten our day-to-day life. For us personally, glimmers include goofy dog faces, fountain sodas, well placed sunsets while driving, and silly jokes that surprise our brain in the best way. Glimmers provide a reminder that we don’t have to wait for the tough time to be over before we can feel happy. We can make room for happiness by noticing the things around us (and within us) that bring us those positive sensations and settled feelings. We don’t want to confuse glimmers with toxic positivity. It’s not about “choosing to be happy”, it’s about finding joy in the small moments when everything around you maybe a dumpster fire.
Secondly, we find it very ironic that in our society happiness is typically referred to as something that we chase, search for, and seek out. There’s often active verbs associated with happiness, describing efforts to be happy as a quest or chase. However, the warm, calm, settled sensations and contentment that we experience when happy are typically found in moments where we’re SLOWING DOWN. It’s the ultimate Uno reverse card. When feeling stuck, tired, overwhelmed, and grumpy our brain rarely offers slowing down on the menu of options for next steps. Yet, when we choose to slow down anyway, and we lean into the opposite of what our brain wiring has learned in a world catered to productivity and achievement, there she is. Happiness. Just waiting for us to notice that she was right in front of us, hoping we would see her, all along (just like all the 2000’s rom coms taught us; shout out to: She’s All That and a Cinderella Story).
Pricing:
- LPC-S rates: $165/Session
- LPC Rate: $135/Session
- LPC-Associate Rate: $110/Session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thriveplano.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connecttothrive/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/connecttothrivecounseling
Image Credits
Photography by: Kelsey D’Amore, Catherine Williams, and Katherine Dunham
