Chelsea Carnes,MSW, LCSW

Chelsea Carnes,MSW, LCSW Welcome! I am a licensed clinical social worker and co-founder of Willow Counseling Collective. I am a clinical social worker specializing in treating trauma.

I bring almost a decade of experience to those I serve in Central Texas with expertise in trauma. I have worked at our local advocacy center in numerous roles, juvenile probation, and foster care. I have been in private practice for over six years serving my community. Aside from individual treatment, I have a heart for community work. My clinical focus was in policy and macro level social work. I enjoy giving back to my community. This page is to learn more about new services I am offering that foster my community work! I am happy to begin offering trainings virtually and in person. These trainings are for agencies, work places, and professionals alike. In the near future, I will also begin clinical supervision. Join me in learning

01/23/2026

🎉 It’s Chelsea’s birthday week, so let's introduce her!

Chelsea brings over a decade of experience supporting children, families, and individuals across diverse settings, including local foster care, non-profit agencies, and juvenile probation. For the past seven years, she has been in private practice, where she has focused on doing deep, meaningful trauma work.

Trauma is Chelsea’s area of expertise. She is fully trained in TF-CBT and EMDR, with a strong foundation in evidence-based care. She also has extensive training in play therapy and is just a few short hours away from becoming a Registered Play Therapist (almost there!). Chelsea is currently working toward full EMDR certification, engaging in additional consultation to continue sharpening her skills and showing up as the best possible provider for her clients.

While Chelsea specializes in working with children, she also sees adults, and is known for blending clinical expertise with warmth, creativity, and connection. She thrives on staying connected to the community and loves finding thoughtful ways to integrate Willow into the broader community. 

✨ Fun fact: Chelsea recently took up golf and has developed a strong love/hate relationship with the sport...but remains committed!! (most days)

11/24/2025

This week we traditionally enter into a space of gratitude. Did you know that gratitude can light up parts of the brain tied to emotion, memory, and even our natural reward systems? Research suggests the amygdala and hippocampus respond to gratitude helping boost mood and giving us a little hit of dopamine. (And of course, gratitude isn’t a cure for depression/anxiety, but it can be a supportive practice)
So we’ll go first!
1️⃣Here at Willow, we are first and foremost grateful for one another. The opportunity to work together as a team of 5 like minded women is a dream! We challenge and encourage each other daily.
2️⃣Second, we are grateful for our landlords who provide us this space to practice! They are kind and generous and take great care of us.
3️⃣And last but certainly far from least, we are grateful for our clients. Those of you who show up and entrust us with your healing journey. This space feels sacred because of you.

Happy Friday! I have two intensives left for this year! One in November and one in December! Let's get you scheduled! If...
09/19/2025

Happy Friday! I have two intensives left for this year! One in November and one in December! Let's get you scheduled! If you have questions, let's chat.

The tea ☕ is....EMDR intensives!! I have heard from so many clients that often, a 50 minute session goes by too quickly ...
08/27/2025

The tea ☕ is....EMDR intensives!! I have heard from so many clients that often, a 50 minute session goes by too quickly and is not enough time to process what they need to process. Likewise, I get clients from other therapists who need EMDR but their therapist doesn't provide it. This is why I'm providing intensives!! I am so excited to see how this helps clients get to healing faster. 🤍

Tomorrow, I finally get to spill the tea 🍵Think healing meets focus, growth meets efficient, and therapy like you haven'...
08/27/2025

Tomorrow, I finally get to spill the tea 🍵

Think healing meets focus, growth meets efficient, and therapy like you haven't tried...yet!

Stay tuned because tomorrow I’ll be announcing a brand new service I am SO excited to share with you! 👀💜

Any guesses what it might be? Drop them below! ⬇️

Another training opportunity!! Back in July, I had the privilege of providing training to daycare providers about how to...
08/26/2025

Another training opportunity!!

Back in July, I had the privilege of providing training to daycare providers about how to handle BIG emotions in small children. 100% of teachers said they would recommend this training to others, 89% of teachers said that after the training they felt more confident/equipped to handle big feelings.

This training dives into how little ones learn to manage big feelings, with a focus on:
🧠 Understanding emotional regulation through the lens of child development and brain capacity
🤲 Supporting somatic responses (how emotions show up in the body)
💞 Using co-regulation to guide children toward calm and connection

This training is designed to be both practical and insightful—perfect for:
🌟 Preschool directors & teachers
🌟 Kindergarten teachers
🌟 Groups of moms navigating the toddler years

If you’ve ever wondered “How can I help children calm down when their emotions feel too big?”, this training will give you the tools and confidence to respond with developmentally appropriate strategies that actually work.

📩 Message me if you’d like more details about scheduling this training for your school, team, or group!

This is my dear friend and colleague, Maegan Ruiz, owner of Counseling Collaborative, LLC. She and I had the pleasure of...
08/25/2025

This is my dear friend and colleague, Maegan Ruiz, owner of Counseling Collaborative, LLC. She and I had the pleasure of providing an ethics training at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor this past spring. Our training spurred me on to create my own and keep spreading the knowledge!

Working with children who have experienced trauma is incredibly important—and it also comes with unique ethical considerations that every professional should be equipped to navigate.

I’m currently offering a 1.5-hour in-person training on this topic, with plans to bring it online by early next year for even greater accessibility! 🎉

This training is designed for anyone who supports children in their work:
👩‍🏫 Teachers
👮 Probation Officers
🎓 School Counselors
🧑‍⚕️ Therapists & Social Workers
👩‍👧 CPS Workers
💙 CASA Volunteers
…and more!

What you’ll gain:
✔️ A deeper understanding of trauma-informed ethics
✔️ Tools to prevent unintentional harm when supporting children
✔️ Confidence in making decisions that protect both the child and yourself as a professional

This is perfect for agencies looking to provide continuing education for staff or for individuals wanting to strengthen their skills and knowledge.

📍 Currently available for in-person trainings
💻 Online format launching early next year—stay tuned!

If you’d like to book a training for your team or be the first to know when the online course is live, send me a message or drop a comment below.

✨ Remember when I said I’d share the story of the group I co-founded? Well, here it is!One year ago, four wonderful wome...
08/24/2025

✨ Remember when I said I’d share the story of the group I co-founded? Well, here it is!

One year ago, four wonderful women and I decided to take a leap and create our own practice. 💫 We wanted a space where we could come together as like-minded practitioners, each specializing in trauma, all believing in holistic and somatic healing, and all deeply committed to giving back to our community. Thus was born Willow Counseling Collective! You should learn more about them too! And why we chose our name. WillowCounselingCollective.com

Fast forward to today—I get to walk into work every day and feel so grateful for the space we’ve built and the women I get to share it with. 💕

Here’s to community, healing, and loving where you show up every day! 🌱

Hi friends, I’m Chelsea! A little about me… I’m one of the co-founders of Willow Counseling Collective (more on that adv...
08/23/2025

Hi friends, I’m Chelsea!

A little about me… I’m one of the co-founders of Willow Counseling Collective (more on that adventure soon 🌸). Before starting my private practice, I worked at the Advocacy Center supporting kids who had experienced abuse, and I’ve also worked in probation and foster care.

Therapy-wise, I’m fully trained in TF-CBT and EMDR, with advanced training in sandtray and play therapy (yep, even adults can benefit from sand and play ✨). I’ve also started weaving in parts of IFS. My approach? Helping clients not only work through thoughts, but also tune into what our bodies are telling us—because healing happens both in the mind and the body.

Fun fact: my degree actually had a specialization in policy and macro social work! So community work has always been close to my heart. 💜 That’s why I created this page—to share education, resources, and updates on new services I’ll be offering as I continue to grow and deepen my work in our community.

Thanks for being here—I’m so excited for what’s ahead! ✨

Address

Belton, TX

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 4pm
Tuesday 8am - 4pm
Wednesday 8am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 1pm

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