Kelly Kerrigan, LCSW

Kelly Kerrigan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and clinical supervisor who provides trauma-focused therapy for adults and couples—particularly high-functioning individuals and professionals in high-responsibility roles who have learned to push through, stay in control, and carry a lot for a long time. Many clients she works with are competent and capable, yet feel internally overwhelmed, stuck in survival mode, emotionally shut down, reactive, anxious, or disconnected. Common concerns include chronic stress, hypervigilance, sleep disruption, intrusive memories, shame, relationship strain, and the cumulative effects of trauma.

Kelly specializes in both attachment trauma and first responder mental health. As a co-responder, she brings lived experience and a deep, culturally informed understanding of the realities of the work—operational stress, exposure to critical incidents, and the expectation to function under pressure. She offers care that respects first responder culture while helping clients address what the nervous system has learned to hold.

Alongside this, Kelly has advanced expertise in attachment trauma and the relational patterns that can form in the context of early or chronic stress—such as difficulty trusting, emotional avoidance, people-pleasing, fear of vulnerability, strong protective parts, or repeating painful relationship dynamics. Her work helps clients build internal safety and more secure connection with themselves and others, not just symptom relief.

Kelly is an EMDR practitioner with advanced training in EMDR 2.0, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). Her approach is integrative and individualized, blending trauma processing with practical strategies for regulation, resilience, and relationship functioning. Depending on client needs, she may incorporate EMDR-based work alongside CBT, DBT, psychodynamic, and solution-focused interventions. She also has experience treating complex trauma and dissociative symptoms, prioritizing pacing, stabilization, and collaborative treatment planning.

Kelly earned her Master of Social Work from Arizona State University and in addition to private practice therapy has worked as a mental health professional across community policing, incarceration, psychiatric settings, and court mediation, offering a broad perspective on how trauma, systems, and relationships intersect. She is committed to providing a steady, high-trust therapy space for people who are used to carrying a lot—whether they present as composed, overwhelmed, or somewhere in between.