About Lesley | Discover Your Path—Start Healing Today

I'm Lesley (she/her) — a Licensed Professional Counselor in Tennessee and Florida.

Most of us inherit the beliefs systems of the families and other systems we grow up in, without ever being taught how to challenge or question whether those beliefs actually seem to help us or harm us, or even align with how we truly see the world.

I believe it’s important to be able to name those things. Not to let anyone off the hook or even to blame anyone, but because you can't untangle something you can't put words to or explain. And even when we do name them, it’s not exactly the easiest thing to push up against deeply ingrained beliefs without some support.

Things like gender-role conditioning, family dynamics, religious and cultural messaging, neurotypical expectations… these can really do a number on what we believe about ourselves and also what is possible for our lives.

I approach therapy through a systemic lens and put a lot of focus on the therapeutic relationships. I work with people who are queer, neurodivergent, intuitive, and tired of approaches that flatten them into a diagnosis or a checklist.

I firmly believe in being kind and honest with clients, rather than “nice” and intentionally avoiding uncomfortable questions. I won’t be shamey or rude, but I will challenge you and call out stuff you may have been hoping I wouldn’t notice.

And at the end of the day, I’ll always be in your corner. And to me that means encouraging you to do the hard things that matter and to do them with integrity.

About Me

A woman with gray hair smiling while sitting on a log outdoors, wearing a dark t-shirt with a support local witches slogan and multiple bracelets on her wrist.

Gemini Rising, Aries Sun, Scorpio Moon

Hi! I'm Lesley (she/her)! I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor in Tennessee and Florida.

I was trained in a clinical tradition built on systems that has historically pathologized difference and concentrated power. I think it's worth naming that directly—because those same systems have likely shaped how you see yourself, and what you've been told “wellness” is supposed to look like.

My baseline belief is that there is nothing wrong with you. Nothing that needs to be fixed or managed into compliance.

I'm interested in helping you explore what your beliefs are, how they got there, and if they’re still serving you in the ways you want them to. What parts of you got buried or erased because you learned that disappearing, self-doubting, and shrinking was what you had to do to survive.

That's our work. And we do that together.

Not me telling you what’s right or wrong, or how you should feel or shouldn’t feel. The fact that I'm the therapist in the room does not make me an expert on your life. It will never mean that I will somehow know you better than you do. You are the authority in your life.

I'm here to offer perspective and possible roadmaps to help you reach your goals or to help you feel like you can be entirely yourself, whether it makes anyone else uncomfortable or upset. I will take your experiences seriously, move at the pace your nervous system can tolerate, and treat your history with the care and attention you deserve.

My approach draws on depth psychology, somatic awareness, and tools like Astrology, the Enneagram and Human Design alongside more traditional modalities—not as a fixed protocol, but as a way of listening more fully to what you're actually carrying and meeting you where you’re at on your journey.

If you've been misunderstood, dismissed, or reduced to a diagnosis in a therapy room before, I see you. You deserve a space where your full complexity is welcomed, celebrated, and honored—not managed, not explained away, and not rushed toward resolution before you're ready.

Whenever you’re ready, I’m here.

Get A Free Consultation

A woman with short, gray hair wearing a blue t-shirt is playing with a black, white, and brown Australian Shepherd dog near a river. The woman is smiling and leaning towards the dog, which is sitting on a rocky surface, looking up at her. The background features a calm river and lush green trees.

My sweet Aussie pup, Roxy. RIP.

Who I May Not Be The Best Fit For, And Why

The way I operate and do therapy is not for everyone. That’s not a bad or good thing, or some kind of judgement statement. It’s just an “is what it is” kind of thing.

The clients that tend to get the most our of working with me are ones that are willing to explore things about their life and themselves with curiosity (even if they feel an immense amount of resistance to whatever it is they find).

They’re willing to dig deep into figuring out why they believe certain things and to sit with what comes up as a result of the digging. And they’re willing to learn how to be compassionate enough with themselves to not look perfect while doing it.

Depth work—or really any kind of personal growth work—can be messy and uncomfortable. It often involves talking about and exploring a lot of things we’d really rather not talk or think about, especially with someone else in the room while we’re doing it.

It can involve looking at some really painful moments in our lives and hanging in there long enough to feel or think about them in new ways. Which sounds all fine and good, but in practice, it can sometimes feel like you’d much rather keep stuffing it down and attempting to go about your life not looking at these things head on. Which is incredibly valid, by the way!

Another thing that could turn some people off to working with me is that I do look at things from a systemic lens. Which means exploring ways our behaviors and beliefs have been shaped by things like gender-role socialization, family structures, and societal conditioning from living in a world built on white supremacy, systemic oppression, and hierarchical power structures.

If those things sound too much like liberal political nonsense and/or irrelevant to therapy, you’ll probably dislike working with me.

And lastly, if you're wanting to stick to learning some basic coping skills, focusing only on the future without exploring how your past has shaped you in the present, or if you're looking for a therapist who will listen but never challenge you or ask questions, I'm probably not the best fit—and that's also totally okay.

There is no wrong way to do therapy. I simply mention these things to give you important information to help you make an informed decision about your care.

Therapy gets to look however you want or need it to. And there are so many phenomenal therapists out there, and I guarantee you'll find someone who's your cup of tea and fits what you’re wanting!

Get A Free Consultation

-Queer, neurodivergent millennial witch that snorts when she laughs

-Astrology: Aries Sun, Gemini Rising, Scorpio Moon (plus some hefty Aquarius, Aries, & Gemini stelliums)

-Human Design: 6/2 Splenic Manifestor, Left Angle Cross of Limitation

-Enneagram: Type 5, Wing 4 dominant

-Music is everythinggg—some of my favorites: He Is Legend, Norma Jean, Zeal & Ardor, Hozier, A Perfect Circle, and Judah and the Lion

-Comfort is a biggie for me, so you’ll generally find me in leggings or jeans and a t-shirt or hoodie; I welcome you to prioritize your comfort, too, whatever that looks like!

-Dog mom to Koda & Opal (pictured below); and cat lady to Hemwick & Omen (also pictured below)… Any or all of these fluffy tyrants may crash your telehealth session at any point in time

-Deeply passionate about Collective Liberation, Economic and Racial Justice, Human Rights, De-colonization, Supportive Community, Rest As Resistance (shoutout to Tricia Hersey!), and the absolute need for honest, compassionate conversations to move the needle towards a better world

-Stressing to clients that they are the expert in their own lives and experiences, I am merely a guide and fluent translator, eager to join them on their journey if they’re open to it

-I originally studied Studio Art in college (ceramics & painting) before moving into mental health counseling—I even got to incorporate art therapy into my grad school work with kids in juvenile detention!