Kelsey Ruffing Counseling

01/05/2026

✨ Healing the Inner Child Isn’t About Living in the Past ✨
It’s about freeing yourself from it.

When childhood trauma occurs, parts of us can become emotionally “stuck” at the age the pain began. Not because we’re weak—but because our nervous system adapted to survive. Those younger parts often still hold beliefs about worth, safety, and love that quietly shape our adult lives.

Inner child healing helps bring awareness to those patterns so they no longer run the show. It allows us to meet old wounds with compassion instead of criticism—and to update beliefs that were formed in moments when we had very little power or choice.

Healing doesn’t mean blaming the past.
It means recognizing what was missing—and learning how to provide it now.

Through trauma-informed approaches like Brainspotting, CBT, and somatic therapies, healing becomes not just something we understand, but something we feel—in the body, the nervous system, and the way we relate to ourselves.

You don’t have to stay the age of the wound.
You’re allowed to grow beyond what you survived. 🤍

—
Kelsey Ruffing, MA, MS, LCPC
📍 Trauma-informed counseling | Inner child healing | Nervous system support

https://www.kelseyruffingcounseling.com/blog/healingtheinnerchild

Healing the inner child as an adult is not about reliving the past or assigning blame. It is about reclaiming parts of yourself that adapted in order to survive—and gently teaching them that safety, choice, and worth exist now.

01/02/2026

What if this year didn’t begin with pressure, but with compassion?

Self-compassion isn’t giving up—it’s creating the conditions where growth can actually happen. When we feel safe in our bodies and minds, change becomes possible.

This year, let care come first. 🤍

https://www.kelseyruffingcounseling.com/blog/newyear

01/01/2026

The new year doesn’t have to begin with pressure or perfection.

This is your reminder that healing happens gently, at your own pace.

Here’s to a year rooted in compassion, regulation, and care 🤍

11/27/2025

Gratitude is one of the most powerful tools we have for supporting our mental health. On Thanksgiving, taking a moment to acknowledge the people, moments, and small joys that carry us through can help calm the nervous system, soften stress, and create a sense of groundedness. Even in seasons of difficulty, practicing gratitude helps us reconnect with what is steady, meaningful, and healing. Today is a reminder that honoring the good—no matter how small—nurtures emotional resilience and supports overall well-being.

11/25/2025

✨ When Caregiving Becomes Your Identity ✨

So many women reach mid-life feeling exhausted, resentful, and disconnected from who they once were. Years—or decades—of caregiving, emotional labor, and holding a family together can slowly erode your sense of self, especially when emotional support isn’t reciprocated.

If you’re feeling anger, depression, or a deep loss of identity… you are not alone, and you are not “too much.”
You are awakening.

Mid-life can be a powerful turning point—an invitation to reclaim your needs, your voice, and your sense of self beyond caregiving.

blog here:

Caregiving is valuable, but it should not cost you your identity, health, or emotional well-being. Women deserve relationships where emotional support is shared.

11/24/2025

📣 New Blog Post: Brainspotting for Post-Concussive Syndrome

Healing after a concussion isn’t just physical—your brain, emotions, and nervous system are deeply affected too. Many people experience lingering symptoms like headaches, brain fog, mood changes, anxiety, or sensory overload long after the initial injury.

✨ Brainspotting offers a powerful way to support recovery.
This mind-body therapy helps calm the nervous system, release trauma from the injury, and restore cognitive and emotional balance. For many, it becomes the breakthrough when healing feels stuck.

If you or someone you love is living with post-concussive symptoms, there is hope—and healing is possible.

🧠 Read the full blog to learn how Brainspotting supports recovery from the inside out.
🌿 Integrative therapy for mind-body healing
📍 Kelsey Ruffing Counseling
🔗 Link here:

Post-concussive syndrome can feel isolating and discouraging, but healing is possible. Brainspotting offers an innovative, neuroscience-aligned therapy that supports the brain, body, and emotional system simultaneously.

11/17/2025

🌿Adjusting to a New Medical Diagnosis🌿

Receiving a new medical diagnosis can change everything — your routines, your plans, and even the way you see yourself. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed, scared, or unsure of what comes next.

Therapy offers a grounded space to process those emotions, rebuild your sense of identity, and strengthen the mind-body connection through the healing process.

🌱 Therapy can help you:

Navigate fear, grief, and uncertainty

Communicate your needs to loved ones

Prevent or reduce anxiety and depression

Adapt to lifestyle and health changes

Reconnect with purpose, identity & self-worth

A diagnosis may change part of your story, but it does not define who you are. With the right support, healing and hope are possible.

✨ You don’t have to navigate this alone.

📌 Read the full blog here:

Receiving a new medical diagnosis—whether chronic, life-altering, or unexpected—can feel like the ground has shifted beneath you. It is a moment when the mind, body, and identity are forced to reorganize in ways you may not have anticipated.

11/10/2025

Did you know winter can actually be one of the best times to care for your mental health?
In the quiet months, our nervous systems crave calm

With fewer distractions and slower days, this season offers space to rest, reflect, and reconnect—especially when paired with cozy hygge rituals.

🌿 Give yourself permission to recharge.

As the cold air settles in, with shorter days and longer nights, many of us instinctively wind down. But instead of resisting the season, it can be incredibly nourishing to lean into winter —to rest, reflect, and nurture our mental health in alignment with nature’s slower rhythm.

11/07/2025

11/06/2025

The sports world has been shocked by the passing of Marshawn Kneeland of the Dallas Cowboys. There have been several professional athletes who have had very public struggles with mental health, have spoken out, advocated, and have lost their lives to mental health struggles. We must remember that behind the title of athlete, there is just another human. The importance of mental health can not be rejected any longer. We can no longer cut mental health programs and no longer support stigma surrounding mental health. Strength does not exist in "getting over it". Strength exists in acknowledging and working through the struggle.

Athletes are often held up as examples of physical strength, resilience, and peak performance—but underneath the visible dedication and athletic prowess lies another critical dimension: mental health.

11/05/2025