ABOUT KATIE
The person on the other side of the screen.
Katie Zicarelli Gesell LCSW · Therapist · Griever · Professional noticer of patterns
HI, I’M KATIE
she/her/hers
I’m not particularly good at the mysterious therapist thing.
If you’re telling me something and I have a thought, there’s a pretty good chance you’re going to know about it. I’ll ask questions, make connections, point out patterns, and remember oddly specific things you told me months ago. I’ll laugh with you when something is funny, and I’ll probably stop you when you casually mention handling something completely differently than you would have six months ago.
I think therapy works best when it feels like an actual relationship between two people. You’re the expert on your life. I bring another set of eyes, a lot of questions, clinical experience, and occasionally the perspective to notice that we have, in fact, driven around this same block before.
You’re driving. I’m your copilot. We’ll figure out where we’re going together.
A FEW THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT ME
I’M A GRIEVER, TOO.
Grief is something I know both professionally and personally. I’ve spent more than a decade working and volunteering in grief and loss spaces, and I’m also a young widow.
I don’t assume that means I know your grief. I do know there’s no timeline for it, no perfect way to carry it, and no requirement to make it smaller here.
I LIKE BRAINS THAT WORK DIFFERENTLY.
I’m not interested in forcing your brain into a system that clearly hates it. With ADHD and neurodivergence, we can talk about the shame and frustration and figure out what makes everyday life actually work better.
Yes, this occasionally means we make the to-do list together.
I’M GOING TO BE A PERSON WITH YOU.
I use humor. I swear when it fits. I’ll tell you what I’m noticing instead of silently writing it down and making you wonder what’s happening over there.
You don’t need to perform “good therapy client” for me. Come as you are that day.
YOUR IDENTITY ISN’T UP FOR DEBATE.
I’m queer myself, and my work is LGBTQ+ and gender affirming, neurodivergence friendly, trauma informed, and anti-oppressive.
You don’t have to wonder whether “affirming” means ally or community here. You can talk about your identity when it matters- and talk about literally anything else when it doesn’t.
I’ll take you seriously without
making everything serious.
Hard things and humor are allowed to exist in the same room.
HOW I WORK
We can have a framework without making you fit inside it.
I’m relational and collaborative first. From there, I pull from parts work, DBT, ACT, CBT, mindfulness, somatic approaches, motivational interviewing, psychodynamic therapy, and grief-specific approaches like Continuing Bonds and the Dual Process Model.
In normal-person language: we’ll get curious about patterns, learn useful skills when you need them, pay attention to what your brain and body are doing, and get practical when practical would actually help.
I care less about making every session fit neatly into a modality and more about whether what we’re doing is useful to you.
THE PROFESSIONAL STUFF
Katie Zicarelli Gesell
Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing virtual therapy throughout Arizona.
Areas of Focus
Grief & Loss · ADHD & Neurodivergence · LGBTQ+ & Gender-Affirming Care · Life Transitions · Young Adults
Specialized Experience
10+ years working and volunteering in grief and loss spaces · Background in vocational rehabilitation and supporting people with disabilities and barriers to employment · 3 years specializing in grief in the workplace · Specialized training in grief and mother loss · Gender-affirming assessments and letters
YOU’VE MADE IT THIS FAR.
Want to see if we click?
You don’t need a perfectly articulated reason for starting therapy. You can have one specific thing, fourteen things, or just the sense that something isn’t working anymore.
We can start there.