Compassionate Therapy from the Lens of Relationships That Take All Forms
I live a life that doesn’t always follow the usual path, and I bring that perspective into my work
Hello, I’m Christie Spudowski
I’m Christie, a therapist and trainer who knows that parenting can be both joyful and exhausting — often at the same time.
I create spaces where parents can drop the performance, laugh at the absurdity, cry when they need to, and even swear a little. I’ve spent years working with families navigating trauma, supporting parents through some of their most challenging moments, and training other professionals in early parenting and infant mental health.
My work is rooted in attachment, trauma-informed care, and anti-racist, decolonized principles, because real healing happens when people feel safe and supported.
My Values
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Safety
Safety means creating an environment where clients feel emotionally and psychologically secure enough to explore difficult memories, express vulnerability, and confront challenging emotions.
Safety is essential to my work because I’ve seen firsthand how people can only begin to process trauma and build new patterns when they feel genuinely secure and supported, without fear of judgment or harm. Many of my clients are really at the beginning of understanding what safety truly feels like, and so that’s where we need to start.
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Kindness
Curiosity is a mindset that embraces complexity, uncertainty, and nuance, allowing growth and insight to emerge from exploration rather than presumption. Curiosity guides me because approaching each person’s story with openness and an explorative stance allows me to uncover underlying patterns, strengths, and possibilities that might otherwise be overlooked.
It helps me and my clients truly understand their struggles and identify more effective strategies for healing. I view this also as my dismantling myself as the “expert” in the relationship - I don’t always have the answers to my clients’ challenges, but being curious together helps us partner to figure it out together.
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Balance
Compassion is the capacity to recognize suffering and respond with care, patience, and understanding. It is rooted in presence and attunement, acknowledging pain without minimizing it or reacting with judgment.
I feel it is extremely important for me to sit in and lovingly witness my client’s pain and build their capacity to do the same for themselves. Those who have experienced trauma may have never fully experienced that (even if they’ve been in therapy already). Truly, when I am stumped as a therapist, this is what I fall back on.
Professional Training & Credentials
Yoga Teacher Training
Birth Doula Training
Certified Childbirth Educator
Complex Trauma (EMDR & IFS)
Perinatal Mood Disorders: Components of Care
Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Psychotherapy
Foster Care & Adoption
Advanced Perinatal Mental Health Psychotherapy
Intimate Partner Violence / Domestic Violence
Foster Care & Adoption
Parent-Child Psychotherapy
Grief & Loss
Reflective Supervision and Consultation
My journey to therapy
I’ve always been fascinated by the ways our earliest relationships shape us. For me, that’s not just something I learned in grad school — it’s something I’ve lived. My own story, and the healing work I’ve done along the way, taught me just how much relationships can wound us and, more importantly, how much they can repair us.
My career started in child welfare, sitting with families in some of their hardest moments, and I quickly saw how often parents were carrying their own trauma while trying to raise their kids. It showed me that parenting isn’t just about bottles, nap schedules, or discipline — it’s about navigating your own history while caring for this brand-new little human. That’s where my passion for infant mental health began, and it’s what still drives me today.
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working in homes, courts, and communities — places where parents often felt judged or unseen. My work taught me that when families are given space to feel safe, supported, and believed in, they can do incredible things. It also taught me that healing doesn’t happen in isolation — we need connection, compassion, and community.
In the therapy room, I bring all of that with me. While I prioritize cultivating a warm and nurturing space, you’ll also hear me laugh, cuss, and call things out when it’s needed. And I won’t pretend the world outside doesn’t impact the world inside. I care about creating spaces where people can show up as their full selves, whether that means messy, tender, strong, exhausted, or all of the above.
"Imperfect parenting moments turn into gifts as our children watch us try to figure out what went wrong and how we can do better next time. The mandate is not to be perfect and raise happy children. Perfection doesn't exist.”
– Brené Brown
Away from the Usual Path
I live a life that doesn’t always follow the usual path, and I bring that perspective into my work. I believe families look many different ways, and everyone deserves care that honors who they truly are. My approach to therapy is rooted in anti-racist, decolonized principles, because healing should never require anyone to conform to oppressive systems or erase their identity.
These days, I split my time between therapy, training, and consulting. I love supporting other professionals in deepening their understanding of, attachment, and early parenting, and I was honored to publish an article in ZERO TO THREE’s Journal. But no matter what role I’m in, my heart always comes back to this: parenting is a time of deep hope and deep healing. It’s a chance to nurture your child while also repairing the places in you that didn’t get what you needed.