Life is hard.

It’s better with a therapist

(and a therapy dog)

Kelly Horwood + Theia

Therapist + Certified Therapy Dog

I am licensed to serve clients in NC, SC & FL

I help men and women who want healthy relationships and self confidence to embrace a fulfilling life without the stress and shame of their difficult pasts or messy emotions

You’re struggling. Despite being a perfectionist, tirelessly caring for the people in your life and trying to stay positive, life is harder than you expected.

You wonder why your efforts to be perfect leave you feeling even more like a failure.

When you look in the mirror you don’t see the good, you see “not enough” or “too much”. 

But now the anxiety is getting out of control and the depression feels more debilitating than ever.

Your fear of failure gets in the way of the life you want in so many ways. You aren’t the kind of friend/boss/employee/relative/partner/SELF you want to be.

Your confidence tanked a long time ago and you are getting tired of trying to maintain the illusion that “everything is fine”.

Your story isn’t over

Maybe you feel like my clients did before they started seeing me: like they had no control over the way their life was going. They worried that things were beyond repair and they were pretty certain it was all their fault.

What I treat:

Maybe you’ve never told another person what happened to you when you were younger. 

Maybe you told an adult about the abuse and they didn’t believe you, or blamed you, or ignored your requests for help.

Maybe you were used as a body for other’s pleasure and you had no say in it. 

Sexual trauma is a category of horror unto its own. I have experience working with clients all along the spectrum of abuse. 

I will not be overwhelmed by your story. My job is to be a safe place for your pain. 

A lot of my clients aren’t sure they have “traumas”.

So when I start asking them about events that may have happened in their lives, they quickly realize that yes, traumatic things have occurred. 

Because a trauma isn’t just a major tragic event, its ANYTHING you’ve experienced that has disturbed you, distressed you, and overwhelmed you. 

And I’ll bet you’ve got a nice long list of things like that.

Lets start unpacking it together.

Maybe you “used” to believe in Jesus Christ, or maybe things have just gotten complicated lately. 

Hard stuff has happened and you aren’t sure you believe the same things anymore.

Is God truly good? Does He love you?

Or you still have your faith but are feeling stagnant and disconnected from the God you’ve loved and served for a long time. 

Christian based counseling doesn’t mean I throw Bible verses at you. It means we unravel the complexities of faith, emotion, and worldview in a safe and non-judgmental way. 

Depression looks different on everyone, just like any other symptom. Maybe your type of depression includes suicidal thoughts, self harm, and hopeless.

 

Or maybe you just feel a constant pessimism and underlying disbelief that things will actually improve. 

Having difficulty sleeping, eating, or connecting with people in your life?

I can help.

The life of a military member is totally unlike anything else.
The stress of training cycles, last minute PCS orders, long spans of time without your partner at home, and feeling a general lack of community are all normal in the military.

You’re not crazy. The military can be a weird parallel universe to “normal society”, and adjusting to it never seems to end. It comes with its own set of challenges.

Body image and sexuality are two of the toughest topics for most women to discuss.

They are really hard areas to navigate even in a “sex/body positive” culture. (Because if we are being honest…is our culture truly “positive” about anything?)

As females we are told all kinds of contradicting messages that boil down to 

“You aren’t enough the way you are”

“Be better”

“But don’t be too much”

I work with women who are having a hard time understanding and accepting their own body, much more so in the context of a sexual relationship.

This is a complex topic that takes time to unravel, but often the root is shame. This is where counseling comes in.

“My partner has threatened to end things if I don’t change”

“I feel like none of my relationships work out”

“No one gets me. Everyone wants something from me”

“Why isn’t what I’m doing enough for them?”

“I don’t even know why I’m in this relationship anymore”

“I pour myself out for everyone all the time and no one ever does anything for me”

 

Whether its your boyfriend/girlfriend, spouse, parent, sibling, or friend, relationships are messy. But some basic tools go a long way in helping you find balance.

Constant tension, in your stomach, muscles or chest/neck.

Hyper awareness of all the possible ways things could go wrong.

Mood swings and high irritability, snapping at people, getting frustrated easily.

Unable or unwilling to slow down because you have to achieve and do all the things.

Anxiety isn’t just random panic attacks. Its the constant nagging feeling that something bad is about to happen, or that you can’t let up the pace.

It looks like perfectionism, isolation, or discontentment.

And its exhausting. Let’s work on that.

College is when everything is supposed to be awesome.

This is the “time of your life” and yet you struggle to make friends, get out of your apartment, and even get your homework done.

Or maybe its the complete opposite- you’re doing “everything right” and still feeling unsatisfied, overwhelmed and unhappy.

You’re depressed because college is not what you expected, and now you think life is only going to go downhill from here.

Oh young padawan, it doesn’t have to be this way.

Take the step

You deserve true healing from your past traumas; the things you wish you could forget.

Making your needs a priority AND still being superwoman is not out of your reach.

If you want to learn how to say YES to your needs, emotions and priorities, I’d love to help you get there.

Trusted Guidance

Evaluate

Life doesn’t often become chaotic overnight. We have to get clarity on the roots of the mess in order to know what needs healing.

Balance

Learning to feel compassion towards the parts of you that feel out of control is the beauty and challenge of self-healing.

Grow

The important work of caring for your soul will never be something you can forget. The growth is ongoing because you cannot unlearn what you’ve learned of yourself.

Contact

803-999-7228
kelly@thisfulllifecounseling.com
3310 Harrison Rd, Columbia SC