Courtney Garner
What to say about Courtney…
Well, she is a hoot—a hoot and a half, some might say. Others might disagree, but those people probably don’t appreciate an anti-capitalist, feminist killjoy who watches too much trashy TV and reads (listens to) a lot of smut.
Courtney is the kind of person who loves TikTok but doesn’t know how to work Instagram. She loves to be outside. These days, that mostly means going for walks or stimming in her swing (while listening to said smut). But when she can, she likes to touch ancient things and stand in places not many people have stood.
Courtney is very queer and, with all the beautiful options out there, went and fell in love with a cis man anyway. Don’t judge her—sexuality isn’t a choice, people! Don’t worry, this does not stop her from talking shit about straight white men as a group. She also loves being a mom to her four teenage kids. That’s right—four teenagers. She didn’t birth any of them, but they are hers all the same.
Obviously, Courtney is a mental health therapist.
There are a lot of therapists out there, and they all seem to have different letters after their names. Courtney went the clinical social work route, which means she is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). And since she has been doing this for such a long time, she is also a clinical supervisor (LCSW-S), which means she gets to help newer therapists figure out what the heck they’re doing, too.
Courtney graduated from the University of Kentucky—twice—because she really loves living in Lexington, Kentucky and didn’t want to leave. In 2010, she earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology, with a lot of focus on political science and human sexuality. In 2013, she completed her master’s degree in Social Work. In grad school, Courtney became a total brain nerd. Her interest in the physical mechanics of the brain and body expanded to explain why different treatment approaches work.
After graduation, Courtney started her career working with early childhood trauma and later moved into intensive adolescent and adult substance use and psychiatric care. These experiences give her an in-depth understanding of the broad spectrum of mental health issues—and she isn’t afraid of helping people deal with the really hard stuff.
Alright, so all that said, what is it actually like to work with Courtney?
Courtney’s primary approach uses mindfulness (hence The Mindful Practice) and somatic work to help retrain your body and mind. This is particularly helpful for the people Courtney works with because it doesn’t require you to think your way out of everything. Courtney’s clients tend to be overthinkers. And if thinking harder could solve their problems, they would have “healed” a long time ago.
The other parts of Courtney’s approach involve lots of laughter, genuine personal connection, perspective work, and just a touch of bullying clients into loving themselves more. Courtney cares deeply about her clients, knows people are capable of changing patterns they once needed to survive, and will happily call you on your bullshit when necessary. She will, unequivocally, be your number one hype woman.
