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
Another Day, Another Tragedy
Dear America, What’s going on? Another day, another tragedy. Hasn’t this year been bad enough? When will it end? As soon as we stop the bleeding on one wound, you open another. I’m angry at you for allowing the hemorrhaging to continue and the acts of pure hatred...
Dear Twenty-Year-Old Me
Yesterday I assigned one of my patients the homework of writing to her 20-year-old self. She was struggling and needed to offer the same grace and forgiveness to her young self that she would offer to others. Knowing what I know now, what would I say to...
The New Boogeyman Could Be in Your Kids Hands
No language or words can express the power of the love a parent feels for their child. It’s indescribable and for many of us, it was an instant love. I remember being handed my first-born moments after he was born and being overwhelmed by the immense...
And Just Like That, Everything is Different
I witnessed a car accident yesterday. In fact, two or three seconds made the difference in me getting struck and the car next to me being clobbered. Even though I wasn’t hit, I saw the entire accident play out and I was the 911 call. It was upsetting and even...
Embracing our Daughters Begins by Embracing Ourselves First
I remember praying when I was pregnant with our youngest child for a daughter. Of course, we prayed for a healthy child and said the gender didn’t matter, but secretly I was hoping for a girl. I was blessed to have two healthy boys with strong Y genes from the...
I Took Auto-Shop in High School, not Robotics
Dearly beloved, we have gathered here to get through this thing called life. I was in high school during the '80s. A long time ago. To teenagers today, we are old and weathered. They don't know that at one time we were cool, with-it, chic and hip.... at least in...
It’s My Turn
Last night I had dinner with a group of women I treasure. We have been friends since our now college-aged kids were in pre-school. Dinners with them are one-part catching up, one-part alcohol and one-part laughing our asses off. We are linked together through the...
The Slap
Sitting in yoga class yesterday I heard something profound. It was simple, straightforward and it stuck. Butch, our 70-something year old very hip yoga instructor and cancer survivor, was talking about life and how we tend to drudge through, dragging...
The Best Thirty Minutes
The call came on Saturday night around 9:40pm. "Hi Mom" the familiar voice said. I stopped, smiled and without thinking found myself gravitating towards his bedroom, a place that once kept him safe every night and cocooned him from the world. But now- as a...
Giving Birth to The First Blog
Welcome to Thera-Mom Blog! I feel as if I've been wanting to write a blog for a very long gestation period. It's been cooking in my head and it feels like a pregnancy, waiting to give birth to something I am so excited about but also know so little about. It's the...
