Caroline is accepting new clients for psychotherapy in person at our Clayton Street office!

Caroline sees adults for individual or relational therapy.

Hello and welcome! My name is Caroline (she/her), and I am the Clinical Director and an outpatient psychotherapist here at Out of the Woods Therapy. I have been with Out of the Woods Therapy since late 2020 and I am enormously grateful to work in a practice that values sex-positive, feminist-informed care. Below are some of my specializations, but I believe anything can be brought to therapy. As a provider, I take special care to consider the messages we get from our social institutions (including from the mental health field!) that ultimately dismisses, shrinks, or erases our potential for a thriving, beautiful life–and that is all of us. I am a firm believer that any person can benefit from a sex-positive, feminist-informed therapy, including people who may not believe or trust that those words have any bearing on their life.

Sex-positive therapy

Sex positive therapy is for everyone. If you grew up in a family, a culture, or a society, you could benefit from sex-positive therapy.
Were you taught that, in order to be “masculine,” you needed to initiate sex and be assertive, while internally you longed for someone to initiate tender touch with you? Or conversely, were you raised to believe that “good girls” don’t masturbate, enjoy sex, or have multiple sexual partners? Perhaps you found partnered sex unfulfilling or distressing, realized you were on the asexual spectrum, and now want to figure out how to move forward with dating in a culture that equates partnership with sex. Maybe you want to explore kink and BDSM, but are unsure how to ask for that experience from your partner/s. Perhaps you are disturbed or intrigued by a fantasy and want a space to gain insight into your desires. Or maybe, you are just exhausted from trying to have a radiant, authentic-to-you sex life in a world that seems hellbent on destroying your joy and pleasure.
Sex-positive therapy can help us re-imagine sex for ourselves. What we think about sex–what is permissible and acceptable, what it’s for, who should or shouldn’t be having it and how–can reveal so much about the messages and stories we internalize. In sex-positive therapy, we explore these messages together while you develop the skills, awareness, and insight to support you in having the kind of sex you want to be having (which could also be, no sex at all!).

Sex-positive therapy does not mean that I believe or promote the idea that all sex is “good” or positive sex, or that there are certain ways of having sex that are the “right” way. Just like gender, everyone’s experience is individual to them. I simply provide the container to explore and create new possibilities, outside of feeling obligated or beholden to internalized narratives or cultural scripts.

Couples+/Relational Work

I have worked with couples and relational systems as a therapist for over four years, and before my work as a group practice therapist I did years of milieu therapy (in residential treatment and community mental health clinics), which is also highly relational. I see both couples and relational systems, which could include polycules, throuples/triads, metamours, domestic partners, friends, and collaboration/project partners.
As a couples+ therapist, I am direct, curious, and empathetic. I utilize my intuition in sessions to ask questions that get to the core of what the clients are exploring together. I specialize in working with clients on sexual and intimate connection, helping clients to deepen mutual respect, curiosity, and understanding for what each partner is grappling with. I especially love working with couples who have been together for a long time who are interested in “relearning” one another sexually and intimately, or who may need a place to explore how internalized messages about sex have kept them from having the intimate connections they want to have. This includes working with monogamous couples exploring non-monogamy, and relational systems where there is an interest or desire “mismatch.”

I seek peer consultation and paid supervision regularly to continue to enhance my skills as a couples+ therapist. I use an eclectic approach with couples but I tend to do my best work with couples+ who are open to a less structured, more free-flowing process.

Existential Crisis/Religious & Spiritual Trauma

I have always been drawn to the experiences and questions that may evade direct answers (Pisces sun, Scorpio moon, hello). That is part of my draw to this work–despite the way mental health therapy is marketed now through pop psychology, it doesn’t always create immediate greater clarity. Sometimes, it simply supports us in asking more precise questions alongside someone who can hold and validate the uncertainty.

Over my years in the mental health field, I have had the honor of being with people during radical, seismic shifts in their life, which often translate to seismic alterations of their beliefs, religious or spiritual identities and paths, and how they make meaning. This has included working with people after acute or extreme trauma that made them question their faith, sitting with individuals who are exploring the rupturing impact of leaving a faith community, and people who have had an experience that confuses, mystifies, or frightens them. These existential crises can suddenly put us into contact with parts of ourselves we never wanted or knew we would meet–and having someone alongside you in that process can be a deep, soothing relief.

If you are grappling with your religious or spiritual beliefs, or needing a place to explore an existential crisis, I would be honored to support you.

Gender-Affirming Surgery Letters

I write gender-affirming surgery letters for current and new clients. I do my best to make these assessments and letter writing appointments as accessible, affordable, and low-barrier as possible. Please contact me with any questions.

Peer Consultation for Working with Kinky Clients

I offer peer consultation for therapists who want to consult on their work with kinky clients. I am uniquely positioned for these consultations as someone with lived experience, a background in sexuality studies and queer theory, and over a decade of working in the mental health field treating a vast array of clients and presenting needs. Lived experience is a primary and valid source of wisdom for any kind of peer consultation, and I love connecting with other therapists using this lens. Just like with my therapy clients, I provide a non-judgmental, supportive, and encouraging space during these consultations for you to explore cases, countertransference, and curiosities about what your kinky clients may be experiencing. Please contact me for rates and if you have any questions about what this offering could provide you.

About Me

In addition to the work described here, I am a writer, pop culture and queer theory aficionado, and great lover of cats (mine, specifically). I spend as much time as I can with my loved ones, I try to go to Dollywood at least once a year, and while I would never describe myself as “outdoorsy,” I am always brimming with wonder at the natural (and supernatural) world and you can often find me walking or sunning myself on a rock like a lizard. I bring humor, just the right sprinkle of irreverence, compassion, and curiosity to sessions. If anything I have said resonates with you, I invite you to reach out.  

Caroline is accepting new clients for psychotherapy in person at our Clayton Street office!

Caroline sees adults for individual or relational therapy.

caroline@outofthewoodstherapy.com

Caroline can accept most Aetna, Optum/United, Medcost or BCBS insurance plans.

The private pay fee is $140 for 50-55 minute individual therapy sessions and $165 for couple/relational sessions.

If you would like to know more about using insurance or out-of-network benefits, please click here.