Katherine Curley, MHR, M.Div., LPC-S, RPT™, IMH-E®– Katherine is a Licensed Professional Counselor, REGISTERED PLAY THERAPIST™, and LPC Supervisor for candidates for LPC in Oklahoma. She has a Master’s in Human Relations Counseling from the University of Oklahoma and a Master’s of Divinity from American Christian College and Seminary. Katherine seeks to provide a safe place and respectful environment for people to be heard and work through their problems. She considers it a privilege to be trusted with each client’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Katherine strives to help each person gain insight into their thoughts, feelings and behavior’s and the impact their lives and relationships. She utilizes strength-based approaches and eclectic modalities to tailor each person’s treatment.

Katherine’s past professional clinical experiences includes working with all ages with a focus on children and adolescents in foster, therapeutic foster and adoptive homes, in office, home and school-based therapy services. She has experience working with survivors various traumas, rape and domestic violence, and has provided crisis services in office and as part of a mobile crisis team utilizing assessments and tools: Columbia, and CAMS- for the treatment of at-risk patients. Katherine also has past diverse ministry experience in local churches in children’s, youth, and women’s ministries teaching, has been a Chaplin in jail, prison and detention centers ministries, campus ministries, etc. For those seeking Christian counseling, Katherine utilizes biblical truths and principals combined with extensive training in psychology.

Katherine believes therapy is an opportunity for individuals to experience insight into past hurts, challenge old thinking patterns, and begin to heal. Katherine entered this field because she wanted to make a difference in the lives of others. She wants to help instill help hope, enable them to overcome any adversities. Every person has their own unique story and journey in life. No matter what your story, there is hope and healing available. Katherine hopes to empower each person, equip them with skills needed to reach their goals, and to be successful.

Katherine has specialized training and/or certifications in:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)- Katherine is EMDR trained. EMDR is an evidenced based and researched psychotherapy treatment that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. (EMDR) therapy is a proven treatment to help people recover from trauma and PTSD symptoms as well as positive outcomes for other disorders such as anxiety, depression, OCD, chronic pain, addictions, and other distressing life experiences. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.

CBT -Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a therapy that challenges negative patterns of thoughts about self and the world to alter and change unwanted thought or behavioral patterns.

Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) is a specific type of cognitive behavioral therapy that has been effective in reducing symptoms of PTSD that have developed after experiencing a variety of traumatic events such as child abuse, combat, natural disasters and other types of trauma. CPT is an evidence-based treatment (evidence to support its effectiveness), that helps patients learn how to modify and challenge unhelpful beliefs related to the trauma. Katherine is listed on the CPT Provider Roster through Duke and the US Department of Veteran Affairs as an Oklahoma CPT provider.

TF-CBT- She is a National Provider for Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for children. This is an evidence-based treatment (with evidence to support its effectiveness) that aims to address the needs of children and adolescents who have PTSD or other issues related to traumatic life events.

Nurtured Heart Approach: Empowering individuals to channel their intensity in productive ways, ensuring their healing.

Prolonged Exposure Therapy trained: Prolonged exposure therapy (PE) is a form of psychotherapy for PTSD. People that have these symptoms understandably want to avoid thoughts, feelings, and things that remind you of the trauma. The goal of prolonged exposure therapy is to gradually help you re-engage with life, especially with things you have been avoiding. By doing so, you will strengthen your ability to distinguish safety from danger and decrease your PTSD symptoms. This is a therapy specifically to treat PTSD and not used for those without this diagnosis. The completion of this therapy requires that you speak about the trauma and encounter trauma-related thoughts, feelings, and objects and one may experience moderate distress, but this distress is often brief, and people typically feel significantly better because of treatment. Patients are required to conduct in vivo exposures outside of sessions.

Written Exposure Therapy trained: Written Exposure Therapy (WET) is a manualized exposure-based psychotherapy for PTSD that is a treatment recommended by the VA and is an effective treatment for PTSD, even among patients with complicated presentations. The Written Exposure Therapy (WET) treatment protocol is based upon a fear extinction/emotional processing treatment model that survivors with PTSD symptoms experienced relief from writing about their experiences in detail, paying particular attention to their thoughts and emotions that occurred at the time of the event that results in the reduction of fear and reduction in symptoms. Clients are not required to conduct in vivo exposures outside of sessions. However, research has found that confronting previously avoided people, situations and places related to the trauma is very beneficial. There are no between-session assignments.

Katherine is Internal Family Systems trained. Internal Family Systems (IFS) is an evidence-based psychotherapy. IFS views each individual as having a system of protective and wounded inner parts led by a core Self. Just like members of a family, inner parts are forced from their valuable states into extreme roles within us. The true authentic self is in everyone, and it cannot be damaged and can heal. IFS focuses on increasing understanding, helping restructure and bringing healing to these parts thus strengthening their core Self. IFS also helps one have a greater understanding of personal and intimate relationships and ways to strengthen these relationships.

REGISTERED PLAY THERAPIST™ Play therapy is to children what counseling is to adults. Play therapy utilizes play, children’s natural medium of expression, to help them express their feelings more easily through toys instead of words. The Association for Play Therapy (APT) defines play therapy as “the systematic use of a theoretical model to establish an interpersonal process wherein trained play therapists use the therapeutic powers of play to help clients prevent or resolve psychosocial difficulties and achieve optimal growth and development.”

Certified AutPlay Therapy Provider® AutPlay Therapy is a neurodiversity affirming framework for implementing play therapy designed to help child and play therapists address the mental health needs of neurodivergent children ages 3-18 (autistic children, those with ADHD, social anxiety, sensory differences, learning differences, highly sensitive, and developmental and physical disabilities. AutPlay combines play therapy, behavioral therapy and relationship development interventions to create supportive and engaging environments for children to thrive emotionally, socially and behaviorally.

Endorsement (IMH-E®) recognizes specialized experience in the infant-family field. It is not a replacement for licensure or certification but serves as evidence of expertise in infant mental health. Endorsement® is cross-sector and multidisciplinary, including professionals from child development, education, nursing, pediatrics, psychiatry, psychology, social work, counseling, and others. It reflects an individual’s specialization in infant mental health within their professional discipline. Endorsed professionals have completed specialized education, training, and reflective supervision/consultation, demonstrating competency in infant mental health promotion and practice. The intent of the Endorsement (IMH-E®) by the Oklahoma Association for Infant Mental Health (OK-AIMH) is to recognize and document the development of infant and family professionals within an organized system of culturally sensitive, relationship-based, infant mental health learning and work experiences.