“The best thing we can do for ourselves is work through our issues, because they’re just going to keep coming up in different ways. They’re like a shadow that always follows you around.”
– Kelley Kitley, Psychotherapist, TEDx Speaker and Author of MY self
Kelley Kitley has it all. A beautiful home, a caring family, and a thriving psychotherapy practice. Behind all the success, however, is a woman with great resilience and courage, who has overcome many hurdles. Kelley persevered to fight her own demons and become a role model for others.
Kelly shares how she became her own best friend and advocate for inner change.
Life Experiences Shaped Her Future
Kelley suffered from an eating disorder and substance abuse as a teenager. She managed to overcome these difficult problems despite limited support from her alcoholic parents. These experiences laid the foundation of her desire to help others in similar situations. Kelley became an advocate for mental fitness at a young age when she won the WGN Extra Effort Award, and through her work with migrant youth and as an Americorps volunteer in California. She went on to attain her Bachelors and Masters degree in Social Work, establishing herself as a caseworker. Simultaneously, she worked at a bar to earn money to pay for her tuition.
Surviving Trauma and Abuse
Kelley’s parents divorced as she entered college. Trying to survive this devastating event, Kelley was subjected to a shattering episode of sexual abuse and assault. The double whammy left her reeling and struggling to regain her self-confidence. Her resilience gradually helped her move past these deep emotional and physical traumas.
She eventually married, and settled down in Santa Monica, and later in Chicago. Kelley’s struggles did not end here, as she fell into a deep postpartum depression following the birth of each of her four children. Amazingly, Kelley not only came out of depression, but she went a step further: her personal battles with alcohol and depression motivated her to start her own successful private practice as a psychotherapist. She is now an empathetic counselor who helps others deal with similar situations.
Becoming an Author
Kelley strives to encourage others with mental illness. “I should know, I was one of them,” says Kelley. She decided to catalog her story of determination and triumph over her life circumstances in the form of her autobiography, My Self. It is a true story of survival and guts to defeat the worst of problems and emerge a winner.
After conquering her life’s greatest challenges, Kelley now enjoys juggling her multiple roles as a proud mother, therapist, business owner, TEDx speaker, and teacher.
