Hello! My name is Kelly Richardson
I am a Licensed Psychotherapist as well as a Mom, hence the name “Thera-Mom”.
I live in Northern California with my husband, and our two dogs Sunshine and Fergie. I love being a therapist and offering a safe place for people to take their mask off for one hour and just be themselves. As simple as it sounds, it can be life-changing. I have the privilege every day of watching people’s lives transform as they let go of trying to be who they aren’t and start embracing all that they are. More importantly, I love being a MOM. Each of my kids is so amazingly different, it’s hard to believe they share the same gene pool.
Like most moms, I wear a lot of hats– sister, daughter, wife, friend, mother, cousin, worker. Our roles and jobs are varied and in one day we can wear five or ten different hats. As women, we represent so much within us because each hat matters and each hat allows another side of ourselves to shine.
Let’s be honest- being a Mom is a full-time job no matter how old your kids are and finding time to just do you feels impossible. It’s nice to have a place where we can do life together–unapologetically and authentically–like in my therapy office. Walk this crazy journey called life with me, as hectic and stressful as it may seem at times.
Read my blogs, comment with your thoughts, challenge my thinking, share your ideas, and help me, help you. Thank you Jerry Maguire.
Kelly
Kelly’s Latest Blog Posts
The Beginning of the End
Senior Sunrise 2018. The beginning of the end. I’m not ready. Senior year marks the firsts of all the lasts. Big changes are on the horizon. It’s the last first day of required school. As a parent, the start of elementary school was met with anticipation and...
Dear 50…
Dear 50, You got me. I ducked and dodged you all year and you finally caught me. Time is undefeated. Everyone says you’re just a number but we both know, it’s a big number. When I was a perky little twenty-something, I thought of 50-year-olds as over the hill,...
Are You a Duffle Bag or a Dump Truck?
I over-pack. Every single time I swear, “This trip I’m only going to take what I know I will need, not take anything extra, travel light.” And yet every time, my suitcase is heavier than I expect, jammed with things I will never use or wear. A four-day trip? I...
It’s Time to Update Our Vows
Happy Anniversary Honey, I can’t believe it was so many moons ago that you stood in front of me and we vowed that for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, we would stand by each other and tackle life together. We were kids back then,...
Welcome to the Jungle: 6 Tips to Share with your College Freshman
Two years ago, I made the drive. We loaded my son and half of Bed, Bath and Beyond into my husbands truck and dropped him off at college. I was a novice, a college-mom-virgin, a newbie at launching my child from the nest. I read books, read blogs, joined on-line...
The Circle of Life Creates the Circle of Love
Life is funny. My youngest starts high school in the fall. It feels like a big step-- it’s my final rodeo before being an empty nester. Where did the time go? I swear I was just a new mom, all cute and perky and ready to produce the greatest kids in the world. ...
Peace Out Middle School
Dear Baby Girl, You did it. We did it. Thank God it’s over. We survived Middle School. Yes, I know I didn’t technically go to school with you, but I walked beside you for the whole crazy journey, so I hope you humor me and let me call this a “We” triumph. Coming...
Evening of Dreams: A Night to Remember
Sometimes a picture doesn’t do a moment justice. The moment is too big, too amazing, too special. The picture may show smiles and happy faces but what the picture doesn’t tell is the love and kindness that has created the smiles and happy faces. The picture...
The College Journey Means Blind Faith and What If’s
Launching your child to college sadly means change. As parents, we prepare for these changes the best we can but let's be honest, we are never fully prepared for all that lies ahead. It’s just like when you have your first born—you’re prepared for what you think...
Don’t Ask Me to Clean Up Your Spilled Milk
Our brain is a funny little highway in our head--a complicated processing system that takes what we input, processes it, receives a message, and then stores that message somewhere. With the help of 100 billion (give or take a few) neurons, it does this...
Dear Class of 2018, We have Failed You
Dear Class of 2018, We have failed you. I’m embarrassed to be a part of this generation that has created an unattainable expectation for college acceptances. Our system is flawed, and you are the unfortunate inheritors of this whacked out process we’ve created in...
Please Don’t Judge Me for Wanting to Have an Affair
Being married is the single hardest thing most of us will ever do. If you think “My marriage isn’t hard because I love my spouse so so much”, I challenge you to get real. Let’s be honest- even the happiest of couples say there are days they want to throw the towel...
The Warrior Woman Challenge
I’m tired of it. I’m done. I’m over it. My daughter is in middle school. I’m disheartened by the way girls treat girls. It’s upsetting and frankly, scary. We know the influence a mother has on her daughter and that modeling has much to do with how our children...
The New “Everyone Does It”… 4 Important Talking Points with your Teenager about Vaping
Remember that commercial- the one with the lady who smoked through the open hole in her neck? Debi Austin first appeared on television in 1996, telling viewers she began smoking at age 13 and could never quit. In a raspy smoker’s voice, Austin told the camera,...
Does a Piece of Plastic Buy Self Esteem?
I remember it so well. My now college-age son played on a recreation youth basketball team as a little fella. They were terrible, maybe scored 4 points in a game, if they were lucky. They were so bad it was cute… kinda. At the end of the season I mentioned to my...
