Katharine Barnhill LCSW, CGP

03/04/2024

**I'd love to add an additional male-identified therapist to my ongoing Wednesday morning training group for therapists!**

The group meets via zoom 10:45am-12:15pm central time. It's a really dynamic group of therapists working to expand their relational and professional skills via interpersonal process and case consultation.

Reach out if you'd like to know more! katharine@barnhilltherapy.com

08/01/2023

*New* zoom group for therapists starting late August and there’s room for a few more! ~~~ Who’s a good fit for this group? Ideal group members are therapists who believe the therapeutic work they do on themselves is worth the rewards – more self-awareness, less burnout, more connection, a larger emotional range, and more capacity to do effective and ethical clinical work.
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Group details:
A weekly process-oriented training group for licensed therapists located anywhere. We'll meet on zoom Wednesdays at 10:45am (central time). I hope to gather the group in Austin 1x/year to work in person (decided collaboratively). An in person or zoom intake session is required to assess fit and establish relationship.
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About me: I am a Certified Group Psychotherapist and Clinical Social Worker and currently lead 4 process groups and one process-oriented training group for therapists in Austin, TX. I also do relational, psychodynamically oriented work with individuals and work with couples. I am guided by my training in interpersonal neurobiology, attachment theory, psychodynamic theory and modern analytic group work. ~~~ I love supporting therapists in their deep dives into themselves and their clinical work. I believe the inner work we do as therapists translates into more capacity to be with our clients in their own healing. It also protects us from burnout and isolation, and enlivens this complex and deeply emotional work that we do.
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Please contact me if you have any questions! katharine@barnhilltherapy.com

05/02/2023

Save the Date! August 2023!

I'm starting a new zoom group for therapists that will meet Wednesdays at 10:45am, beginning in August. (With hopes for a 1 day intensive in Austin each year.) You can read more on my website:
https://www.barnhilltherapy.com/therapistgroups/

If you are interested and the timing is right just let me know. I'll be doing intake sessions this summer.

07/19/2022

When I read Pat de Young's book "Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame" a few years ago I loved it so much I did something really out of character. I randomly contacted the author and asked if I could book a session. She said yes! I got to pick her brain about shame and how early relationships can leave a kid (and adult) with chronic shame.
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In her book, Pat explains chronic shame's relational origins. When adult attachment figures are unable to connect with and emotionally attune (enough of the time - perfection is not the goal!), kids get left with a deep sense they are too much or not enough. A kid doesn't think "wow, my parent is really bad at understanding me and meeting my emotional needs!" They think "there must be something wrong with me that I feel this bad." Kids grow up thinking they need to be different to be loved and accepted. They need to be less of this or more of that.
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"Understanding and Treating Chronic Shame: Healing Right Brain Relational Trauma" is worth a read for all therapists and all those who suffer from chronic shame. The 2nd edition was published in 2022 and I'm loving the updates to the original.
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It's a good reminder for therapists that we are often most helpful when we can sit with and accept our clients' full range of emotions, exactly where they are. Truly understanding and "being with" > fixing 100% of the time. 💜

05/11/2022

Hi all, I have 2 openings in my process-oriented group for therapists (a group for therapists to work on their most important therapeutic tool - 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂𝓈𝑒𝓁𝓋𝑒𝓈).

Ideal members are interested in group work as a way to both nourish and challenge themselves. The group is open to therapists of any gender, experience level, and theoretical orientation. It’s helpful if you've done some individual therapy and have some practice putting your thoughts and feelings into words.

What happens in the group?
-Members explore attachment patterns and relational experiences that show up inside and outside the group.
-Members build capacity to be with themselves and others in a wide variety of feeling states (over time group helps folks widen their window of tolerance).
-Members have a shared experience of being actual humans, not just therapists, which reduces isolation and burnout.
-Long term therapeutic relationships are formed and group members experience knowing and being known.
-Personal and professional selves are explored.

DETAILS:
-Fridays 10:45am-12:15pm, weekly
-$65/group
-In person in Austin

ABOUT ME:
I'm an LCSW-S and Certified Group Psychotherapist and have been a therapist for 22 years. As a group leader I'm most heavily influenced by interpersonal neurobiology, attachment theory, psychodynamic theory, mindfulness and modern analytic group theory. I value diversity in all its forms and strive to create a group space where people can be their full selves. I believe every therapist can benefit from being in a group (I'm in two myself)!

Contact me for more information → katharine@barnhilltherapy.com
You can read more about my practice here → barnhilltherapy.com

02/12/2022

Martha Beck said this on a recent “We Can Do Hard Things” podcast and I can’t quit thinking about it.
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How many times do we get stuck trying to figure out if the fear we feel is intuition - a stop sign we should listen to. Or a trauma response that’s trying to be helpful and protective but might be holding us back?
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Martha suggested when we are trying to decide about moving forward with something - I.e. Do I move forward with a relationship? Do I apply for a certain job? Do I have a baby? Do I move to that other city? Do I start a certain professional training? If the longing to do or have the thing is there even though you are afraid, then we can usually trust our longing.
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But if we are both afraid AND don’t have a deep longing for it - that’s a trustworthy stop sign. We are probably in “should” territory. We are considering something because it’s what we “should” want/do/have.
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I’m going to try this lens on for a while and see how it holds up.🕵️‍♀️ What do you think?

12/03/2021

I have 2 openings in my longest running process group - Tuesdays @ 12:30.
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Open to all genders. Hoping to add at least one more male identifying or non-binary member.
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This group is a dynamic mix of therapists and non-therapists. Members work deeply, engaging emotionally and with curiosity to support the growth of self and other. You'd be entering a group where you could "hit the ground running."
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Members are vaccinated and we currently meet in person (we move to zoom when COVID numbers increase).
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Read more about me and my groups on my website barnhilltherapy.com. Email me katharine@barnhilltherapy.com.
Would love to speak with you about group.

02/21/2021

"Along with accessibility, the women are working to create more representation for Blacks in mental health — in part through their ambassador program.

Their goal is to grow a strong, nationwide mental health network for the Black community so that there is enough space and resources for them to succeed and thrive.

"If you look at the research... there aren't a lot of people in the profession that look like you," Busby explains. "That could be a real barrier when we're talking about racial stress or racial trauma."

"It is this whole systemic thing," says Cammack. "It's how we educate, it's who is in the field, it's the historical aspects. They all play a part in the stigma that you see currently.""

https://people.com/human-interest/4-female-psychologists-create-mental-health-company-black-mental-wellness/?fbclid=IwAR2-xUILTJeqHpmIxUlER9O_x7OhgL2sqGv2rHuHTv48DeOeqqCN5TrYjKk

Dr. Nicole Cammack, Dr. Danielle Busby, Dr. Dana Cunningham and Dr. Jessica Henry provide free mental health resources as part of Black Mental Wellness

11/14/2020

Austinites - I’ve got a new process group forming. It’s for men and women interested in deep interpersonal work and personal growth. It’s shaping up to be an awesome group and I’ve got room for a few more.

08/14/2020

“Love is a willingness to negotiate life with someone in a way that honors you both.”

“Love is showing up for yourself and your partner; it’s the willingness to expand and resist the urge to shrink back in fear.”

“Love is the will to extend one’s self for purposes of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth […]. We do not have to love. We choose to love.”

Love is more than a feeling — it’s an action.

08/07/2020

Sensitivity appears to be an inborn trait, with natural variability across the population. Are you an orchid, tulip or dandelion?

Highly sensitive children, like orchids, thrive in the right environment, experts say.

07/23/2020

This is tough, right? Longing to be seen and known and turning towards someone with that hope. Then instead feeling overlooked, misunderstood, attacked, neglected....you name it, it really stinks.
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This happens in therapy sometimes. Despite my best efforts to catch and support and really see someone, I miss them, I get it wrong. And my clients hurt when this happens.
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Clients who have the courage to let me know when it happens invite the beautiful process of rupture and repair into our work. I’m always deeply grateful when given a second (or third or fourth) chance to get it right, to understand them more accurately. And my clients learn they aren’t doomed to forever experience the stuff of childhood - when their caregiver couldn’t hear them, for whatever reason, and left them alone with the pain. And so we do a piece of healing together.
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But speaking up about being hurt is really hard. It’s hard with your therapist and it’s hard in other relationships. I know from being a client and human in relationships myself - it’s vulnerable to come back and ask for care after you’ve been hurt. Sometimes it’s easier to ignore, attack, fall into shame or disconnect. I work on it, too.
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It’s also hard to hear we hurt someone we care about. It’s easy to blame or defend or explain or counter-attack or fall into shame here as well. So I work on taking a breath and reframing my mistakes as an opportunity for the rupture/repair cycle that is inevitable when you are a human in a deep relationship.
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I keep working at both sides of this because it is the process of rupture and repair that helps us develop deep security with others. Attachment researchers have studied this for decades! We can actually sink deeper into intimacy and trust by showing up for this process. Being perfect and never getting hurt aren’t the goals if we want real connection. We can build confidence that it doesn’t have to be perfect to be nourishing. We can build confidence that our pain matters to others.
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(PS - if you repeatedly approach someone asking for your pain to be heard, and they aren’t open to hearing you or being curious about their impact on you, that isn’t a safe relationship to do this type work. Time to switch gears and explore setting boundaries.)

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