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We cannot expect ourselves to calm anxiety or anger, detox shame, heal heartbreak, prevent reactivity or tame insecurities if we don't know how. So let's learn how with evidence-based methods.
LEARN. HEAL. BALANCE.
More Than Talk Therapy
Rather than passive listening, nod therapy, I provide skills-building, evidence-based therapy methods and integrative psychoeducation to experience results you can actually feel. I specialize in treating the following conditions and maladaptive coping patterns.
Anxiety and panic disorders
Obsessing, ruminating, OCD, AD(H)D
People-pleasing, sacrificing
Relationship distress, codependency
Divorce or breakup recovery
Sabotaging goals, binging, procrastinating
Insecurities, self-criticism, shame
Reactivity and outbursts
Struggling with clear boundaries
Depression or stuck in regrets
Complex-PTSD and emotional flashback
Lacking purpose, lost on your way forward
I just wanted to say thank you. It is wonderful... for the first time in my life, I am seeing and feeling healing!!!!
— Client Age 50
Truly grateful for all you have done for me. I've had dozens of therapists throughout my life but never felt benefits until now. I can feel such a shift. Thank you!
— Client Age 42
I used to have panic attacks. Now if I feel anxious I trust myself to self-soothe and feel better in a few minutes.
— Client Age 19
Nervous System Informed & Skills-Building
Learn. Heal. Balance.
We spend 12 years in school, learning math, history, literature and more, but why don't we learn about our emotional nervous system and social-emotional skills? The latest neuropsychology shows, that like any set of skills, this needs to be taught or at least modeled for us, so we can learn, practice, and gain the experience that brings the know-how and confidence to navigate emotions, decipher our wants and needs and tap into our authenticity, purpose and self-worth. This is also essential for fulfilling, secure relationships. Learn, heal and balance your nervous system with evidenced based therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), EMDR and more.
Gives time to talk about your therapy goals and answer any questions you have
When we resist tough emotions, they don't go away. Instead, they own us, they define us…the more we try to avoid our emotions, the more control they have over our thoughts and behavior.
BRENE BROWN, PhD
I'm Athena
ATHENA MCKEE, MS, LPC, C-DBT
Hi! I have 10 years of experience, 40+ years of life experience :) and am a mom of two. I am also a Best of Scottsdale Counselor award recipient. I provide a collaborative therapeutic space for you to vent about all the things big and small — while learning and healing with empowering emotional processing, nervous system calming and secure relating skills to build self-trust and mental, emotional and relational well-being.
If you have questions before scheduling, complete the contact form
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The ability to calm my nervous system with regulation is something I didn't even know existed. Learning DBT has improved my entire life.
— Client Age 28
Thank you for your help over the past several weeks. You helped me restore my self-worth and push my confidence to move forward with my life and career.
— Client Age 38
I hope you have a smile knowing how you are really having a healing impact on people! Thank you for helping me heal and learn to love myself.
— Client Age 47
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4
Foundation Capacities
Much like a car needs four wheels to function, studies show we need four core abilities for emotional, mental, behavioral and relational health.
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EMOTIONS AND NERVOUS SYSTEM
Processing and Regulation Skills
THOUGHTS AND CORE BELIEFS
Heal Inner Child & Tame Inner Critic
BEHAVIORS AND STRESS REACTIONS
Resolve Maladaptive Protecting & Getting
SECURE SELF AND ATTACHMENT STYLE
Gain Self-Trust & Secure Relating Skills
If we lack emotional health skills, whenever stress arises the human brain switches to autopilot and has an inherent tendency to do more of the same, only harder [maladaptive protective reactions]. Which is precisely, more often than not, the wrong approach in today's world.
Robert Cooper, PhD
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Give a woman a fish, feed her for a day. Teach her how to fish — feed her and her 'village' — for a lifetime.
Contact
When we resist tough emotions, they don't go away. Instead, they own us, they define us…the more we try to avoid our emotions, the more control they have over our thoughts and behavior.
Brene Brown, PhD
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Why focus on learning and skills-building?
The latest neuropsychological research shows that most emotional and mental health conditions are due to a lack of social-emotional health skills and maladaptive coping, 'getting' and 'protecting' behaviors that cause havoc on our lives and relationships — people-pleasing, sabotaging, obsessing, blaming, binging, etc. only to feel depleted, exhausted, stressed and disconnected.
UNDERSTANDING WHY AND HOW TO FEEL BETTER
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Why emotional nervous system health skills?
Lack of processing skills results in unprocessed emotions results in what neuropsychologists refer to as 'emotional constipation' — a chronic stress state with cortisol, adrenalin and other stress chemicals stuck in our cells. This results in anxiety disorder, OCD, depression and other mental health conditions, along with depleted health, immune system, metabolism, and even 'feel good' oxytocin. Chronic stress also decreases our capacity to connect with self and presence where 'feeling safe, valued and loved' by others (secure connection) occurs. is only possible in this state of calm nervous system.
PRACTICING SKILLS AND ACTUALLY FEELING BETTER
Leads to inner critic and depressing helplessness
To make matters worse we berate ourselves or blame others, thinking we should just be able to 'snap out of it' and 'feel better' even though we don't know how to deactivate our nervous system. Our inner critic rails against us only making matters worse by increase more stress chemicals, falling victim to the cycle of feeling powerless or anxious about our emotions and symptoms, grappling with shame, anxiety and helplessness.
PRACTICING SKILLS TO RELATE TO YOURSELF BETTER
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What is an insecure vs secure attachment style?
Our attachment style — stemming from childhood, directly correlates to the quality and duration of our relationships with family, partner, friends and career. It is foundational to our self-worth, self-trust, purpose and naturally provides us with the strength, awareness and capacity to stay out of the Codependency Trauma Triangle (conflict triangle, drama triangle, abuse cycle) where we lose ourselves and suffer.
PRACTICING SKILLS TO RELATE WITH OTHERS BETTER
Evidenced Based
Therapy and Skills
Attachment Style Focused Therapy
Gain the capacity for a secure, trusting balanced relationships by healing your attachment style, while resolving previous relational trauma, insecurities, triggers and maladaptive protective behaviors that can cause havoc in relationship.
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Somatic Attachment Focused EMDR
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy facilitates processing of trauma. After successful treatment, distress is relieved, negative beliefs are reformulated, and current day physiological symptoms such as anxiety, panic and other triggered emotions are reduced or completely resolved.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Mindfulness, Emotional Regulation
You may be surprised to learn that every emotion had a distinct message and purpose. With DBT and neurosensory skills, you gain the power to understand and process your emotions in a productive, beneficial way. Calm anxiety, anger, OCD, panic and even ptsd emotional flashback.
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IFS and Compassion Focused Therapy
Gain balanced self-leadership over your inner critic, your thoughts, emotions and maladaptive protective strategies (parts) such as people-pleasing, perfectionism, etc.
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DBT Core Skills
You may be surprised to learn that every emotion had a distinct message and purpose. With DBT and neurosensory skills, you gain the power to understand and process your emotions in a productive, beneficial way. Calm anxiety, anger, OCD, panic and even ptsd emotional flashback. To be most effective, DBT is designed to learn one lesson a week, with individual guidance from a licensed therapist or DBT trained instructor, and DBT Skills group (optional) for six months. It takes time to use the skills and have them work. When they do, you will have "lightbulb moments" and actually experience results you can feel.
Mindfulness is the foundational element and starting point in therapy, providing essential groundwork for the other three skill modules.
Distress tolerance skills help you get through intense emotional pain without making the situation worse. Builds neuroplasticity 'tolerance muscles.'
Emotional regulation involves understanding and processing your emotions, and choosing how to express and respond.
Interpersonal effectiveness help you be more effective at listening and communicating your wants and needs to ensure you feel respected, supported and cared for.
Emotional pain changes relative to how you react to it. When you move toward it in an adaptive way, pain shrinks. When you move away from it, pain grows. If you flee from it, pain pursues you like a monster in a dream.
Tony Fahkry
Four Stress Reaction Types
Get Unstuck from Fight, Flight, Freeze and Fawn
Understanding your stress types, associated symptoms and maladaptive coping methods (maladaptive 'protecting' reactions and 'getting' behaviors) is the first step. Our Attachment Style, childhood and adulthood experiences, adaptations, personality, birth order, trauma, and genetic predispositions impact how we develop stress types.
Flight Type
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Anxiety, Panic
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OCD, Hypervigilant
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Impulsivity, Binging
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Busyaholic
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Perfectionism
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Achievement Addict
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Fawn Type
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People-pleasing
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Compliant
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Inner Critic
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Sacrificing / Resentful
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Anxious Attachment
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Hero/Helper Addict
Freeze Type
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Depression
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ADD, Dissociation
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Substance Use
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Fatigue
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Avoidant Attachment
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Achievement Underminer
Fight Type
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Outbursts
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Controlling
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Outer Critic
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Shaming / Blaming
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Abusive (Unintentional)
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Personality Disorders
A current event can have only the vaguest resemblance to a past situation and this can be enough to trigger the psyche’s hard-wiring for a fight, flight, fawn or freeze response.
Pete Walker, MA, Complex-PTSD From Surviving to Thriving
Heal Your Insecure Attachment Style
The latest research shows 50% of adults in our society have an Insecure Attachment Style. This also results in chronic nervous system activation.
When you understand Insecure Attachment Styles (Anxious, Avoidant, Fearful-Avoidant) everything suddenly clicks. Stemming from childhood and influenced in adulthood, our attachment style effects:
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How we feel about ourselves and others
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Thoughts, emotions and behaviors
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Nervous system and neurochemicals in each moment
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Mental, emotional and physical health
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Responses to stress and vulnerability, both adaptive and maladaptive
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Foundation of self-worth and sense of lovability
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Self-care consistency to align with personal values, wants, needs, safety, connection
Fortunately, our attachment style isn't set in stone. It can change, evolve and is treatable. Through learning, we can develop more secure patterns and secure sense of self.
Four Attachment Styles
Secure and Insecure Types: Anxious, Avoidant and Fearful-Avoidant
Even though we all tend to have some traits and tendencies of each style at some point in our lives, we tend to default to one more than the other, along with associated triggers, assumptions, core beliefs and maladaptive reactions that cause can havoc on our lives.
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Secure Self-Worth and Resolving Inner Critic
Inner Criticism without Self Leadership Leads to Chronic Stress and Associated Mental, Emotional and Physical Health Conditions
This is complex and transformational work. With IFS Parts Work, DBT and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) gain awareness and learn to balance and mentor your inner critical thoughts with Wise Mind.
We all have an Inner Critic influenced by our childhood, adulthood, attachment style, core beliefs and expectations from culture, family and friends, and fueled by social survival needs (connection needs, sense of belonging, purpose, value, etc). Inner Critic uses shame, guilt, and self-berating. It results in a slew of maladaptive protective stress reactions trying to 'get' connection or 'protect' from punishment or rejection.
Our Inner Critics are unique, however there are seven common types
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Perfectionist berates you with impossible standards
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Taskmaster drives you to work and achieve at all costs
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Inner Controller controls and shames like a dictator
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Guilt Tripper unrelenting regret and shame, refusing self-forgiveness
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Inner Destroyer attacks your self-worth (worthiness to even exist)
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Underminer minimizes your accomplishments and strengths
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Molder / Conformist people-pleasing, self-shaming, self-rejecting
My Credentials
Licensure
Licensed Professional Counselor: Arizona / LPC-23927
Certifications and Awards
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Best of Scottsdale Award, Best Counselor 2019
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Certified Relationship Coach / 08101704
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Certified Clinical Trauma Professional / IAPT
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IFS-Informed Therapist (Parts Work) / IFS Institute
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Level 1 Gottman Method Therapist
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Certified Dialectical Behavior Therapist
Education
MASTER OF SCIENCE PROFESSIONAL COUNSELING
2019
Grand Canyon University / Phoenix, AZ
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
Human and Organizational Behavior
2012
Grand Canyon University / Phoenix, AZ
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN BUSINESS
ECONOMICS
2005
Arizona State University / Tempe, AZ
