About Dr. Lisa Steelsmith

I received my doctoral degree from Spalding University in Louisville, Kentucky as a generalist practitioner of Clinical Psychology, and have been in private practice since 2013. I work from an integrated perspective – blending the client-centered approach with psychodynamic theory, and a healthy dash of mindfulness and radical acceptance from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients surmount grief, depression, anxiety, and situational challenges.
Recently, I have been delving into polyvagal theory and sensorimotor psychotherapy techniques to allow for a more profound processing of past traumas. To aid further in work on “big T and little t traumas” I completed Phase I of Brainspotting, a therapy similar to EMDR, “that works by identifying, processing and releasing core neurophysiological sources of emotional/body pain, trauma, dissociation and a variety of other challenging symptoms.” (https://brainspotting.com/about-bsp/what-is-brainspotting/) I have also completed Basic Hypnotherapy which can assist clients in relaxation and sleep, and has been very useful in reducing a needle phobia for fertility treatments.
After struggling through my own fertility journey during graduate school, I completed training from the American Society of Reproductive Medicine in basic and advanced theory and skills, to assist clients struggling with fertility diagnosis, decision-making, and treatments. This work led to also specializing in working through grief of pregnancy loss and miscarriage, and then to practicing psychotherapy focused on perinatal depression and anxiety disorders. These are more commonly known as postpartum, but also manifest during pregnancy.
If you think you would like to work with me to heal, adapt, and grow, I would be happy to hear from you.