Member since July 2024
Kristen Jacobsen, LCPC, is a psychotherapist, author, speaker, and coach/consultant. She is the founder of Cathartic Space Counseling and Kristen Jacobsen Coaching & Consulting, where she helps people identify the subconscious core beliefs driving their struggles and build healthier ones in their place. Kristen has taken the TEDx stage and been featured in countless media outlets, including Verywell Mind, Chicago Tribune, Psych Central, Self Magazine, and CBS News. Last year, she published her first personal development book, "Unpacked: How to Detach from the Subconscious Beliefs that are Sabotaging Your Life," distilling years of clinical work into a practical guide for breaking free of self-sabotaging patterns. Through her writing, speaking, and one-on-one work, Kristen is on a mission to help people understand how their core beliefs took shape and how to rewrite the ones no longer serving them.
What I'm most passionate about is core beliefs: where they come from, and how the very beliefs that once protected us can end up holding us back. We all carry deep, often unspoken rules about who we are: "I have to be perfect to be loved," "Needing help means I'm weak." These usually form early, as smart adaptations to real circumstances. The problem is they outlive their usefulness. The belief that once protected us starts to sabotage us, showing up as self-criticism, anxiety, or a ceiling we can't break through, long after the original threat is gone. That's the work I love: helping people trace a present struggle back to the belief underneath it, see why it made sense at the time, and test whether it still holds true.
I've personally struggled with anxiety since I was a kid, and it's shown up in different forms throughout my life. As a child, it was separation anxiety. After my parents' divorce, it became obsessive-compulsive disorder. As an adult, it's shown up as imposter syndrome and perfectionism. Different faces of the same underlying pattern. I share this because I find these experiences are highly relatable. So many people recognize a piece of themselves in this story, and that recognition is often the first step toward understanding the beliefs driving it.
I actually started college wanting to teach elementary school. That changed when I saw the movie "Silence of the Lambs" and became fascinated by human behavior, which led me to pursue a second degree in Psychology. I initially set my sights on forensic psychology, then pivoted several times over the course of my career. Today, I specialize in working with clients struggling with anxiety and complex trauma. I love this work and could talk about psychology all day. I believe everyone can benefit from understanding themselves better, so I try to make that accessible in as many ways as possible: therapy, coaching, speaking, writing, consulting, training, and supervising.
Unpacked is your field guide to detaching from the subconscious beliefs you picked up to survive - beliefs that now sabotage your relationships, goals, and self-worth. Learn how to let go of the rules that were never meant for you.
Unlock Your PotentialI've personally struggled with anxiety since I was a kid, and it's shown up in different forms throughout my life. As a child, it was separation anxiety. After my parents' divorce, it became obsessive-compulsive disorder. As an adult, it's shown up as imposter syndrome and perfectionism. Different faces of the same underlying pattern. I share this because I find these experiences are highly relatable. So many people recognize a piece of themselves in this story, and that recognition is often the first step toward understanding the beliefs driving it.
I actually started college wanting to teach elementary school. That changed when I saw the movie "Silence of the Lambs" and became fascinated by human behavior, which led me to pursue a second degree in Psychology. I initially set my sights on forensic psychology, then pivoted several times over the course of my career. Today, I specialize in working with clients struggling with anxiety and complex trauma. I love this work and could talk about psychology all day. I believe everyone can benefit from understanding themselves better, so I try to make that accessible in as many ways as possible: therapy, coaching, speaking, writing, consulting, training, and supervising.