Intersubjective Therapists in Knoxville, TN

If you are looking for a warm, genuine, queer-friendly and neurodiversity-affirming psychologist with extensive training in psychodynamic and cognitive-behavioral approaches, I may be a good therapist for you. I take an individualized approach to understanding and treating my patients, and will focus first on making sure you feel heard, respected and safe in our meetings so we can work together on your healing and growth.

I provide online therapy centered on personal growth and fulfillment. Recognizing that life's difficulties often prompt the search for a therapist, our work will address these immediate concerns while exploring the broader path to a meaningful life, uniquely defined by you. My approach integrates relational psychoanalysis, integral philosophy, and Eastern wisdom traditions, emphasizing mindfulness and compassion. I prioritize the present moment within our therapeutic relationship, using this focus as a means for reflection, insight, and transformation as we collaboratively create a space to understand the significant particular and universal experiences of your life.

I pride myself on my ability to connect with others easily and create a sense of comfort when interacting. I recognize that speaking to a complete stranger about your private experiences can feel uncomfortable and even scary. I seek to invite you into a shared space in which we can become curious together about whatever is causing you distress. Hopefully, the relationship you build with me can empower you to heal and transform the relationship you have with yourself and significant others in your life. I can help you understand what it is that you are experiencing, how you learned to navigate stressors over time, and identify ways to adjust your responses to stress in order to prioritize healthy coping and valued choices.

Something in you knows that what you're carrying runs deeper than the presenting problem. Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, capable, and outwardly composed-yet internally they live with anxiety, depression, chronic tension or pain, relentless self-criticism, or a sense that something essential is blocked, muted, or just out of reach. These struggles may surface in mood, in the body, in behavior, or in relationships-including sexuality and intimacy-but they are rarely contained to any one area. They tend to reflect deeper emotional and relational patterns formed early in life, often before language, that continue to shape how a person approaches closeness, vulnerability, agency, pleasure, and self-expression. My work centers on how early experience shapes the capacity for self-regulation, desire, connection, and meaning throughout life-and particularly on how people come to know what they need and want, how they learn to express or inhibit those impulses, and what happens when these capacities become conflicted, constricted, or difficult to sustain. I integrate psychoanalytic hypnotherapy, somatic awareness, and clinical sexology within a reflective, depth-oriented process. Hypnosis functions as a central clinical tool-creating conditions for deeper internal contact with emotional, bodily, and unconscious experience that can be difficult to reach through conversation alone. The aim is not only relief from symptoms, but the development of a more coherent and compassionate relationship with one's inner life: sensations, emotions, impulses, and desires. This work is oriented toward lasting psychological change-and toward greater freedom in how one relates to oneself, one's body, and one's capacity for connection, authenticity, and vitality. It is best suited to those ready to move beyond symptom management toward something more fundamental.

I do my best to listen in the service of understanding and provide thoughtful responsiveness, which I have found helps my clients connect to their inner life and with others. Using gentle honesty and compassion, I value autonomy and collaboration to help people feel less alone while finding a sense of purpose within their lives and in the world.

Knoxville is home to the University of Tennessee — the state's flagship research university — and serves as the gateway to the Great Smoky Mountains and Appalachian outdoor recreation culture, giving it a distinctive blend of college-town energy and Appalachian heritage that shapes its therapy community. The city's growing healthcare sector, anchored by UT Medical Center and Covenant Health, provides institutional mental health resources and supplies clinical training to the local community. Knoxville's working-class Appalachian communities carry distinct cultural attitudes toward help-seeking — including strong value on self-reliance and community support — that therapists must navigate with cultural sensitivity. The University of Tennessee's psychology programs, combined with the city's proximity to Appalachian communities experiencing opioid-related crisis, mean addiction recovery and co-occurring trauma are among the most active areas in Knoxville's local therapy landscape.

Gender ID

	62%	Female
	38%	Male

Session Type

	50%	In Person and Online
	50%	Online Only

Top Specialties

63%	Anxiety or Fears
63%	Depression
63%	Relationship and Marriage Counseling
50%	Loss or Grief
50%	Self Esteem
50%	Trauma and PTSD
38%	ADHD

Ages Served

100%	Adult
88%	Young Adult
50%	Senior
13%	Children
13%	Teen

Client Focus

50%	Women
38%	LGBTQ+
25%	Hispanic / Latino
25%	Men
25%	Native American

Intersubjective therapists in Knoxville, TN

Valerie Rosen

Dr. Daniel Cantor

Julie Griffin

Dr. Stéphanie Gamache, PhD

Dr. Adam Shafer (Chicago, IL)

Intersubjective Therapy therapists in Knoxville, TN Statistics

Average years in practice

Average cost per session

Accept insurance

Offer sliding scale