Meet Our Newest Counselor, Katie Cheatham

Recently I had the opportunity to hear from our newest counselor, Katie Cheatham, about her calling as a counselor and desire to help others heal and grow. Katie sees clients at our new Maitland location, which is located at Maitland Presbyterian Church. To schedule an appointment with Katie, please call our office at 407-405-7677.

Michael: Why do you enjoy being a counselor?

Katie: I enjoy walking alongside people as they learn more about themselves, their emotions, and their stories. I think that we can often make more sense of our overwhelming emotions and our reactions to others when we look at our past experiences. I enjoy helping people make connections between stories from the past and their responses in the present and start to untangle patterns that are no longer helpful. I believe that understanding ourselves better also helps us to know God better, and it allows us to live more fully into who God created us to be. It is an honor and a privilege to walk alongside my clients as they start to experience healing and freedom.

M: Why did you decide to become a counselor?

K: In college, I had planned to become a physical therapist, and I spent several years working with the rehab team at a local trauma center on my summer breaks. I enjoyed watching people learn to walk again or regain skills they had lost due to illness or injury, but after dealing with some health issues of my own, I realized that there are often mental and emotional wounds left over from accidents or traumatic experiences that don’t disappear when the physical healing is finished. I have found a lot of healing in my own counseling journey, and I want to share that opportunity for healing with others. 

M: What is something that has shaped you as a counselor?

K: God created us to be in relationship with other people, but for many years, I was afraid to be vulnerable and let people really get to know me. As a result, I often felt lonely, even when I was spending time with friends. When I started working towards my master’s in counseling, my classmates and my counselor encouraged me to embrace more vulnerability. It was terrifying at first to risk letting people get to know me more deeply and stop making it look like I had it all together. Over time, though, opening up to people I trusted was life-changing and freeing. I long to help my clients reach that space where they too experience the freedom of feeling known, seen, heard, and deeply loved.

M: What is something you are learning?

K: I am currently learning to embrace the joy and adventure of learning new things, even if it involves making mistakes. I have often felt self-conscious and anxious about making mistakes, which kept me afraid of trying new things in case I messed up. Making mistakes is part of the learning process, though, and I’m learning that there are so many amazing things to explore, whether it’s a new instrument, hobby, language, or sport. I have discovered so much joy and freedom in allowing myself to try something new and not give up when I make mistakes (because I’m probably not going to get it right the first time or maybe even the tenth time!). I’ve also realized that it helps to have supportive friends encouraging me as I explore something new.

M: What provides you joy and rest?

K: I absolutely love to swing dance, and I’m learning several other styles of dance now too. When I’m dancing, I experience joy and feel the freedom to learn, have fun, and laugh at my mistakes in the context of a very welcoming community. I also enjoy resting by playing the guitar, spending time with friends and family, cooking, going on walks, and enjoying sunsets.

M: What are some tips you would give someone who is in counseling in order to increase the odds of successful treatment outcomes?

K: I experienced the most healing in my own counseling when I learned to be honest with myself and with my counselor about my painful emotions and my hurt. Reaching this level of vulnerability took time, but once I did open up more to my counselor, I started to feel more deeply seen and heard and understood, and really feeling known is incredibly healing.

Shannon's Heart for Counseling

Take a few moments to hear Shannon's beautiful heart for hope and redemption for the people she counsels. If you need a safe space to process whatever you are facing in life right now, Shannon is available to meet with you. She meets with clients at the Lake Nona and East Orlando offices. If you'd like to schedule an initial appointment please call our office at 407-405-7677.

Michael: Why do you enjoy being a counselor?

Shannon: I once heard someone say counselors hold hope for people that they can borrow until they have hope for themselves. Every time I meet with a client, I look for hope in their story. I look for their dignity, their beauty. Oftentimes people are coming to counseling with sufferings or struggles that make it impossible to see those things. I love being the person in their lives who calls out their goodness, the one who sees God’s beauty in them and all the reasons for hope even in their sufferings and struggles.

M: Why did you decide to become a counselor?

S: You know how when you experience something really great, you want everyone else to experience it too? That’s counseling for me. Having someone walk me through the ups and downs of my life--helping me grieve wounds, explore their impact, face the ways I have coped with pain, and uncover how God is bringing beauty from ashes in me--has brought about significant healing and wholeness. My experience has given me a vision to be that helper for others.

I have also had the privilege of mentoring college women for the last ten years. My heart would break hearing these women’s stories of abuse, depression, anxiety, self harm, body image, and so much more. I always wanted be a better listener, ask better questions, and walk with them toward recovery. Becoming a counselor has only grown that passion to help others and given me more tools to do so.

M: What is something that has shaped you as a counselor?

S: Allowing others to truly know me changed my perspective on relationships, and it’s changed the way I counsel others. For years I believed that being perfect was what made me worthy of love and relationships. I never thought others could love me in my struggles and failures, so I worked to keep those parts hidden. Most of my relationships were based on a performance and that was a lonely place. But as I let a counselor and some close friends in on my struggles, I was met with compassion, and it began to discredit the lies I held onto so tightly. In the context of safe relationships, I experienced a truly Christlike love that wasn’t based on perfection. I don’t believe counseling is the end all, be all. My goal as a counselor is to ultimately help people heal their relationship with God, themselves, and others, because that’s where we experience the most lasting transformation.

M: Tell me about your passion to work with people serving in ministry.

S: People serving in ministry are such courageous leaders who give faithfully to those God has called them to. From my experience, people serving in ministry often feel the pressure to have it all together. Sometimes we bring performance and perfectionistic tendencies into our relationships with God. We share about God’s unconditional love, believing it for others but not for ourselves.

For people serving in ministry, it’s easy for normal, human feelings like disappointment, anger, confusion, and hopelessness to get buried under our work in ministry. We are reluctant to bring those feelings to God, because they don’t seem “godly.” When we no longer feel like we can bring our authentic selves to God, it can become a recipe for shame. Refusing to address those underlying feelings and performance-based tendencies not only keeps us from experiencing the rest and freedom God desires for us, but it also keeps us from ministering to others most effectively.  

For me, it was through slowing down and processing my feelings with a godly counselor that God began uprooting the perfectionism I was carrying over into my relationship with Him. I believe my story is not uncommon for others in ministry, and I want to help them find the rest, freedom, and true ministry fruitfulness God desires for them.

M: What do you enjoy doing for fun?

S: I love being active and being outside- running, walking, hiking, ultimate frisbee, working in the yard. I love being creative. I am a thrift shopper and a Pinterest DIYer trying to tackle anything from wreaths to re-habing furniture. My husband and I really enjoy hosting, having friends over for game nights and good talks around the fire.

M: What are some tips you would give someone who is in counseling in order to increase the odds of successful treatment outcomes?

S: Change happens in the context of relationships. Developing a community of people who support you can start small and simply. Go to the small group at church. Ask someone for help on a hard day. Talk to people about what you’re going through, what you’re learning. Take the risk of vulnerability in relationships, even if it’s just one or two at a time. Ask the hard questions. Be the safe friend for others. Your commitment to pursue health in your relationships will be essential because God uses those relationships to heal us.