Katie Fields, PhD
LMHC (FL), LMFT (FL), LPC (CO), LCMHC (NC)
Founder of Fearless CounSouling® | Creator of CounSouling®
Katie Fields, PhD, LMHC (FL), LMFT (FL), LPC (CO), LCMHC (NC)
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What Kind of Human Journey Are You On?This is the question at the heart of how I practice therapy.
I've always been curious about the human experience. As a child, I remember wondering, Why do people do what they do? I wasn't looking for simple answers—I genuinely wanted to understand people, their experiences, and what shaped them. That same curiosity continues to guide my work today. When someone sits across from me, I'm not wondering what's wrong with them. I'm wondering: What kind of human journey are they on? While I deeply respect psychology and the science of human development, I also believe our lives are more than a series of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to analyze. I understand us as spiritual beings having a human experience. That human experience can be beautiful, confusing, painful, and profoundly complex—and it is through living it that we come to know ourselves. |
To me, therapy is about honoring both. It is about understanding the psychology of how we adapted and the deeper invitation to reconnect with who we are beneath those adaptations.
I don't believe people are problems to solve.
I believe they are stories to understand.
Every person who walks through my door has developed remarkable ways of surviving, protecting themselves, loving, belonging, and making sense of the world. Every adaptation has a purpose. Every protective pattern developed for a reason.
So rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?" I'm more interested in asking: What happened? What have you learned? How has your story shaped the way you move through the world?
Those questions create space for understanding rather than judgment.
They invite us to approach your life with curiosity instead of criticism.
I don't believe people are problems to solve.
I believe they are stories to understand.
Every person who walks through my door has developed remarkable ways of surviving, protecting themselves, loving, belonging, and making sense of the world. Every adaptation has a purpose. Every protective pattern developed for a reason.
So rather than asking, "What's wrong with you?" I'm more interested in asking: What happened? What have you learned? How has your story shaped the way you move through the world?
Those questions create space for understanding rather than judgment.
They invite us to approach your life with curiosity instead of criticism.
Psychology helps us understand how we became who we are. Spirituality invites us to discover who we are beyond who we had to become.
The Enneagram: A Map, Not a Box
One of the tools I use most often in my practice is the Enneagram.
More than a personality framework, I see it as a language for understanding how our attention organizes around what feels necessary for survival, belonging, love, and significance. It offers a way of becoming curious about the adaptive patterns we've developed throughout our lives and the wisdom they hold.
Used well, the Enneagram doesn't tell you who you are.
It helps you become curious about who you've learned to be, why those patterns made sense, and how they may be shaping your life today.
Like any framework, it is simply a map.
Maps help us orient ourselves.
They reveal patterns we may not have noticed.
They invite better questions.
But they are never the territory.
The goal is not to over identify with your type. The goal is to understand it, appreciate the role it has played in your life, and develop the freedom to choose how you want to respond moving forward.
Because you are always more than any type, diagnosis, personality assessment, or theory can describe.
More than a personality framework, I see it as a language for understanding how our attention organizes around what feels necessary for survival, belonging, love, and significance. It offers a way of becoming curious about the adaptive patterns we've developed throughout our lives and the wisdom they hold.
Used well, the Enneagram doesn't tell you who you are.
It helps you become curious about who you've learned to be, why those patterns made sense, and how they may be shaping your life today.
Like any framework, it is simply a map.
Maps help us orient ourselves.
They reveal patterns we may not have noticed.
They invite better questions.
But they are never the territory.
The goal is not to over identify with your type. The goal is to understand it, appreciate the role it has played in your life, and develop the freedom to choose how you want to respond moving forward.
Because you are always more than any type, diagnosis, personality assessment, or theory can describe.
Tarot: A Mirror, Not a Prediction
Another tool I love working with is Tarot, which I understand as an archetypal deck of the human journey.
For many people, Tarot has been misunderstood as a way to predict the future. That isn't how I approach it.
I see Tarot as a collection of archetypal stories—images that have been speaking to the human experience for centuries. Like dreams, myths, and great works of literature, the cards offer symbols that invite us to notice what is already present within us.
The cards don't tell me who you are, they don't determine your future, they don't replace your own wisdom.
Instead, they create an opportunity to pause and ask different questions. Why does this image resonate with me? What feelings does it evoke? What part of my experience is asking for my attention?
Often, the value isn't in the card itself.
It's in the conversation that unfolds because of it.
Tarot helps us step outside our habitual ways of thinking long enough to consider perspectives we may not have seen on our own. Sometimes a single image can illuminate something we've been feeling but haven't yet found words for.
Like the Enneagram, Tarot is a map—not the territory.
It offers possibilities rather than conclusions.
It invites curiosity rather than certainty.
Whether or not someone believes the cards carry spiritual meaning is less important to me than the way they encourage honest reflection. They help us slow down, listen inward, and engage our imagination, intuition, and lived experience.
Ultimately, I don't believe healing comes from a deck of cards.
Healing comes from the relationship we develop with ourselves.
If Tarot helps someone become more present, more curious, more compassionate, and more connected to their own inner knowing, then it has served its purpose.
It is simply another doorway into understanding ourselves more deeply.
And every doorway that leads us home to ourselves is worth exploring with openness, discernment, and curiosity.
For many people, Tarot has been misunderstood as a way to predict the future. That isn't how I approach it.
I see Tarot as a collection of archetypal stories—images that have been speaking to the human experience for centuries. Like dreams, myths, and great works of literature, the cards offer symbols that invite us to notice what is already present within us.
The cards don't tell me who you are, they don't determine your future, they don't replace your own wisdom.
Instead, they create an opportunity to pause and ask different questions. Why does this image resonate with me? What feelings does it evoke? What part of my experience is asking for my attention?
Often, the value isn't in the card itself.
It's in the conversation that unfolds because of it.
Tarot helps us step outside our habitual ways of thinking long enough to consider perspectives we may not have seen on our own. Sometimes a single image can illuminate something we've been feeling but haven't yet found words for.
Like the Enneagram, Tarot is a map—not the territory.
It offers possibilities rather than conclusions.
It invites curiosity rather than certainty.
Whether or not someone believes the cards carry spiritual meaning is less important to me than the way they encourage honest reflection. They help us slow down, listen inward, and engage our imagination, intuition, and lived experience.
Ultimately, I don't believe healing comes from a deck of cards.
Healing comes from the relationship we develop with ourselves.
If Tarot helps someone become more present, more curious, more compassionate, and more connected to their own inner knowing, then it has served its purpose.
It is simply another doorway into understanding ourselves more deeply.
And every doorway that leads us home to ourselves is worth exploring with openness, discernment, and curiosity.
More Mirrors
I also enjoy incorporating astrology, Human Design, numerology, and other approaches into my work. I don't believe any one framework can fully explain the complexity of the human experience.
Each offers a different way of seeing, with a different language. A different window into the same mystery, much like the many theories of therapy I learned in college.
Some frameworks help us understand how our nervous system learned to protect us.
Others illuminate developmental patterns, relationships, and family systems.
Some invite us to explore symbolism, archetypes, purpose, or the larger rhythms of our lives.
Each contributes something, each has limitations.
None tells the whole story.
You are always more complex than any framework can describe, and only you can know your truth.
So rather than asking, "Which system is right?" I find it more helpful to ask: "What does this perspective help us notice?" "What questions does it invite us to ask?" "How does it deepen our understanding of your experience?"
In that sense, I don't practice from theories, I practice through lenses.
Every lens brings certain things into focus while leaving others in the background.
When we look through several lenses with curiosity and discernment, we often begin to see ourselves with greater depth, compassion, and clarity.
The goal isn't to find a framework that tells you who you are.
The goal is to cultivate a relationship with yourself.
Every framework I use is held lightly.
Never as an authority.
Never as a definition.
Always as an invitation.
An invitation to notice.
To reflect.
To become curious.
To discover meaning.
And ultimately, to remember that the person doing the discovering is far more important than the lens they're looking through.
That is the heart of Fearless CounSouling.
Not the pursuit of answers.
But the practice of self-understanding.
Because I don't believe healing ever ends. It's an ongoing process of developing the capacity to meet ourselves with curiosity, honesty, compassion, and presence, again and again.
Discovering deeper truths.
The frameworks simply help illuminate the path.
You are the one walking it.
Each offers a different way of seeing, with a different language. A different window into the same mystery, much like the many theories of therapy I learned in college.
Some frameworks help us understand how our nervous system learned to protect us.
Others illuminate developmental patterns, relationships, and family systems.
Some invite us to explore symbolism, archetypes, purpose, or the larger rhythms of our lives.
Each contributes something, each has limitations.
None tells the whole story.
You are always more complex than any framework can describe, and only you can know your truth.
So rather than asking, "Which system is right?" I find it more helpful to ask: "What does this perspective help us notice?" "What questions does it invite us to ask?" "How does it deepen our understanding of your experience?"
In that sense, I don't practice from theories, I practice through lenses.
Every lens brings certain things into focus while leaving others in the background.
When we look through several lenses with curiosity and discernment, we often begin to see ourselves with greater depth, compassion, and clarity.
The goal isn't to find a framework that tells you who you are.
The goal is to cultivate a relationship with yourself.
Every framework I use is held lightly.
Never as an authority.
Never as a definition.
Always as an invitation.
An invitation to notice.
To reflect.
To become curious.
To discover meaning.
And ultimately, to remember that the person doing the discovering is far more important than the lens they're looking through.
That is the heart of Fearless CounSouling.
Not the pursuit of answers.
But the practice of self-understanding.
Because I don't believe healing ever ends. It's an ongoing process of developing the capacity to meet ourselves with curiosity, honesty, compassion, and presence, again and again.
Discovering deeper truths.
The frameworks simply help illuminate the path.
You are the one walking it.
My Role
My role isn't to tell you who you are.
It isn't to hand you another label or ask you to fit neatly into a theory.
My role is to create a space where you can slow down, become curious, and discover yourself with greater clarity and compassion.
I believe meaningful change doesn't happen because someone gives you the right advice, or tells you are because of your charts.
It happens when your experiences begin to make sense.
When your patterns become less mysterious.
When you understand why you've become the person you are today—and recognize that your story is still unfolding.
It happens when you can finally begin to see yourself clearly.
Together, we'll explore the experiences that shaped you, honor the adaptations that helped you survive, expand your capacity to meet life with greater presence and compassion, and create space for the authentic expression of who you are.
It isn't to hand you another label or ask you to fit neatly into a theory.
My role is to create a space where you can slow down, become curious, and discover yourself with greater clarity and compassion.
I believe meaningful change doesn't happen because someone gives you the right advice, or tells you are because of your charts.
It happens when your experiences begin to make sense.
When your patterns become less mysterious.
When you understand why you've become the person you are today—and recognize that your story is still unfolding.
It happens when you can finally begin to see yourself clearly.
Together, we'll explore the experiences that shaped you, honor the adaptations that helped you survive, expand your capacity to meet life with greater presence and compassion, and create space for the authentic expression of who you are.