About Karen Chambless
Hi there - I’m Karen, a self-described nerd who loves learning, reading, and engaging with new ideas (my TBR stack is never empty). I’m most likely to treat myself to local art, great coffee, and live music, and I love being an auntie to my friends’ plants, pets, and kids.
I’m a former English Lit major and an introvert who has always found people genuinely fascinating.
Being a Highly Sensitive Person and a person who discovered my Queerness in my 30s means I know what it’s like to exist in a world that doesn’t seem to really work for you, to feel a little uncomfortable pretty much everywhere you go.
Books saved my younger self with the power of finding the just-right words for your experience, and my favorite thing about therapy is helping folks rewrite their own narratives woven with empowerment and hope.
A deep connection to something outside of myself was part of what helped me survive a childhood that (I would later realize) was pretty painful.
I grew up in church, and still have some really positive memories of church events and youth group friends. But after going away to college, I deconstructed my faith, reconstructed as a “progressive Christian,” deconstructed again a few years later, then came out as Queer a few years after that.
I lost mentors, friends, and family members all along the way.
My experiences with deconstruction and with coming out were terrifying and painful, but I wouldn’t give them up because they were part of me becoming my real, true self.
The self that fundamentalist Christianity would never have let me be.
After surviving my own experiences with religious harm, abuse, trauma, and deconstruction, as well as walking alongside friends as they experienced their own, I am passionate about helping folks heal from the ways religion has hurt them and reclaiming spirituality in whatever form feels safe and authentic.
I wholeheartedly believe that religion can be so devastating and harmful precisely because spirituality and community are so powerful. But because I know what it’s like to be controlled and manipulated by people who genuinely believed they had my best interests at heart, I maintain total ideological safety and pluralism in the therapy room. (Read more on secular therapy & ideological safety here.)
Whether the labels of religious trauma or abuse resonate for you,
or you just have a sense that some painful things happened to you because of past religious experiences,
therapy is for you.
Whether or not you would say you’ve ever gone through “deconstruction,”
therapy is for you.
Whether or not you know how you identify religiously/spiritually now,
therapy is for you.
Learn more about Therapy for Religious Trauma
Learn more about Therapy for Deconstruction
Learn more about me:
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I’m a Scorpio Sun and stellium with Aquarius Moon and Rising
I’m an Enneagram 2-4-8 tritype with a strong 3 wing.
My favorite book of 2025 was The Antidote by Karen Russell
My favorite video game is Stardew Valley
My comfort TV shows include Letterkenny, Bob’s Burgers, and British murder mysteries.
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Some of my favorite things about Chattanooga are: always being able to see mountains, the scenic train rides on the Tennessee Valley Railroad, the jellyfish and large-tank rooms at the aquarium, our historic buildings downtown and how the city is colorful in different ways all through the year.
I love how many truly good and caring people live in Tennessee, despite being a state where oppressive legislation feels suffocating and most folks have to struggle to get by.
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Because I know my neurodivergence and Queerness are inextricably tied to who I am and how I experience the world, I practice “identity-first” therapy.
You won’t just be treated as Jane Smith who has xyz symptoms of anxiety and grew up Southern Baptist.
We’ll always consider how your gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity, neurotype, socioeconomic class, family history, religious traditions, body size, and other aspects of your identity are coming into play with what’s going on.
We’ll always name how capitalism, consumerism, white supremacy, patriarchy, fascism, and diet culture are interacting with your nervous system.
MY THERAPY OFFICE
I designed my office to feel like sitting in a wise friend’s living room - cozy, warm, and soothing.
This is what you’ll see when you get off the elevator.
This is where clients sit for sessions.
I like having lots of art and books in my office!
Ethical Codes & State Regulations
I adhere to the following ethical and state regulations in my work:
Therapy with me is:
Collaborative
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Flexible
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Affirming
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Honest
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Collaborative · Flexible · Affirming · Honest ·
I tend to do my best work with:
Highly Sensitive People
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Overachievers
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Deep processors & feelers
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Eldest daughters (& sons)
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Creative solopreneurs
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The deconstructed and deconverted
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Highly Sensitive People · Overachievers · Deep processors & feelers · Eldest daughters (& sons) · Creative solopreneurs · The deconstructed and deconverted ·
Karen Chambless, LPC-MHSP — Religious Trauma Therapist in Tennessee
I am a licensed professional counselor (LPC-MHSP) in Tennessee providing online therapy for religious trauma, faith deconstruction, and complex trauma.
I have:
a master’s degree in counseling from an accredited program
over 3,000 hours of supervised clinical experience
5+ years of therapy practice
I specialize in working with adults healing from religious trauma, particularly those from evangelical, fundamentalist, or high-control religious environments.
I am a LGBTQ+ and neurodivergence-affirming provider, with additional experience supporting clients exploring queer identity, gender, and neurotypes such as ADHD, Autism, and High Sensitivity. I identity as Queer & Highly Sensitive and am passionate about supporting folks with queer and neurodivergent identities to grow and heal and be their whole magical selves.
My approach to religious trauma therapy
Affirming
Non-pathologizing
Secular and spiritually neutral
Understanding and informed about evangelical and fundamentalist culture
Identity-first - we name and consider the intersections of all your identities