Meet Katie Flanigan | Professional Clinical Counselor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Katie Flanigan and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Katie, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
I feel that risk is a natural part of life, so I often try to face it head-on. I believe the more comfortable we feel taking risks and allowing ourself to feel scared but still working through it, the more self trust we build. In my life and career all the risks I have taken have helped me grow, whether they work out the way I planned or not. I think one develops a strong sense of independent thought through not avoiding the things they want to do because there may be risk involved.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I own a private practice located in Golden Hill. My counseling approach is based on resilience, and I strive to help people identify their own personal power. I believe that we have everything we need inside of us. I like to build authentic and honest relationships with my clients by creating a space that offers candor, humor, and a normalizing approach to life’s challenges. I am really looking forward to integrating psychedelic assisted therapies into my practice in the upcoming years. I have been working as a therapist for over ten years and the process has been equally challenging and rewarding. I think the lessons have been endless and I can only hope I will continue to grow as a person and a therapist. However the thing that stands out the most for me is that people will have opinions about what you should do and how you should do it. While input from others can be valuable do not lose sight of your own intuition, trust your gut.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Love this question! To start I would plan some out door activities The beach trail hike at Torrey Pines, Penasquitos Creek Waterfall, Picnic at Kate Sessions park, and grabbing a drink at the Beach and Taco Hut in Coronado for a sunset. For some places to eat I would recommend Marisi in La Jolla, Campfire in Carlsbad, Juan Jasper in South Park, Pomegranate in North Park, and Fort Oak in Mission Hills. A good mix of higher end and affordable places. For cocktails some of my favorite places to take guests are Part Time Lover in North Park, Youngblood in Gaslamp, and Lou Lou’s Jungle Room for some live jazz. I also love Communal Coffee and Izola Bakery for coffee and pastries.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have had several positive experiences of support in my career so far! I worked at Mental Heath Systems wraparound program and every supervisor I had made me feel so seen and supported. I learned so much there. I developed not only more confidence in my clinical abilities but also a comfort in using my voice to advocate and share the ideas I have. Currently I have a network of other private practice therapists who I met from a previous position, that started their practices around the same time as me. This network has been and continues to be invaluable to me. Going into business for yourself can be isolating and having people to normalize and validate what you’re feeling and experiencing provides an enormous sense of emotional support.

Website: https://www.klucounseling.com

Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/1052440

Image Credits
Sarah Straus