A Healed Heart Loves Differently Whether you are coming in as a couple or riding in on your own, I want you to know this: Asking for help is not weakness. It takes courage, wisdom, and a little grit.

I’m Dr. Carolyn Litteral — most people call me Dr. L.
And yes, Litteral is pronounced literal. Literally. 🤠I have more than 15 years of experience helping people heal.

 

Around here, therapy is not about putting on a fancy show or pretending you have it all together. It is about pulling up a chair, telling the truth, and figuring out what helps you move forward.

Your Story Leads the Way. Faith has been an important part of my own healing, but I never assume it should be part of yours. Some people want Christian integration. Some have been hurt by religion, purity culture, spiritual abuse, or controlling church environments. Others simply want good clinical therapy without faith involved.

There is room here for your story. If faith gives you strength, we can include it. If faith has wounded you, we can gently untangle that. If you want therapy to stay completely clinical, I respect that too. You set the boundaries. You choose the trail.

Who I Work With: I especially enjoy working with Individuals ready to heal, grow, and become healthier, Couples who want to reconnect and build a stronger partnership, People healing from trauma, spiritual abuse, or religious wounds, People struggling with emotional  or sexual intimacy, Survivors of trauma who want to feel safe in intimacy again, Individuals who want to become healthier before beginning or rebuilding a relationship and all veterans and law enforcement. I primarily work with monogamous couples because that is where my training and treatment approach fit best. That is not about judgment.Sometimes the kindest thing a therapist can say is, “I may not be the right person for this trail, but I will help you find someone who is.”

The Cowboy Way of Therapy: There is something I appreciate about the old cowboy way.Be honest. Keep your word. Take care of what has been entrusted to you. Know when to stand your ground. Know when to soften your heart.
And when you get bucked off, learn something before you climb back in the saddle.Healing takes some of that same spirit. Not toughness that refuses to feel. Courage that is willing to feel and still keep moving. You do not have to become harder to survive your life. Sometimes real strength looks like learning how to become tender again without becoming unsafe.

How I Work :My approach combines warmth with solid clinical training.Depending on your needs, treatment may include: Trauma-focused therapy, EMDR, Attachment-based work, EFT and Gottman-informed couples therapy, Sex therapy, Experiential and relationship-focused approaches. For clients who want it, Christian beliefs and Scripture can also be thoughtfully included., Nothing is forced.We will use what helps you heal.

What You Can Expect

You can expect compassion, honesty, and respect. We may laugh sometimes.  We may sit with some hard things. We may untangle patterns that have followed you for years .There will also be accountability, because healing is not just about understanding where you have been .It is about learning how to live differently once you know better. You can expect a therapist who will honor your story, your dignity, your values, and the courage it took to walk through the door.

A Healed Heart Loves Differently

Trauma can teach us to protect ourselves.Fear can teach us to run, hide, control, please, or shut down.Healing teaches something different. It teaches us how to stay. How to speak honestly. How to receive love without fighting it.  How to give love without losing ourselves. A healed heart does not love perfectly.It simply learns to love from a healthier place.

If you are ready to begin, I would be honored to walk part of that road with you. Please text, as I am often in session and do not take calls on weekends.

With warmth, Dr. Carolyn “Dr. L” Litteral