Brenna Pellington

My Story

I believe there are many paths toward healing and that healing happens in connection with ourselves, with each other, and with the world around us. I also believe disconnection is sacred. Our walls, our numbness, and the distance we sometimes crave are protectors that formed to keep us safe. 

In my office, no part of you will be cast aside for being inconvenient or unpresentable. Together, we will listen to what your system has been trying to tell you and move at a pace that honors your history, your resilience, and your becoming. Your wounds carry stories, your defenses carry wisdom, and it is an honor for me to witness them.

I received my bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 2016 and have spent over a decade working in residential and advocacy settings for mental health. Some of my most meaningful learning as a mental health professional, however, has come from my experiences as a client, sitting on the other side of the room and discovering what it means to feel truly seen, understood, and supported. These experiences ultimately inspired me to pursue my master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Lenoir-Rhyne University.

I specialize in trauma and grief work with particular attention to religious trauma, sexual trauma, and complicated or disenfranchised grief. I am familiar with the experience of navigating loss that is unseen, minimized, or misunderstood by others, and I hold great reverence for the ways grief reshapes us. Loss is not something to get over, but something to be integrated, honored, and carried with care.

I also have experience working with neurodivergent and non-speaking adults and approach therapy through a neurodiversity-affirming, trauma-informed lens. As someone who is neurodivergent, I understand how exhausting it can be to move through a world not built for your brain and how powerful it can be to finally feel understood. Identity work, shadow and parts work, navigating relationships (including non-traditional relationships), and reconnecting with the wisdom of the body through somatic approaches are also special areas of interest for me.

When I’m not in the therapy room, I find nourishment in good stories, long walks, creative writing, music, snuggling with my cat, and connecting over food or games with my favorite people. As I shared, there are many paths toward healing. Together, we can find what paths are most meaningful for you.

I specialize in:

• Dissociation

• Grief

• Identity exploration

• Life transition

• Trauma

• Neurodivergence

• Relationship issues

• Self-esteem development

• Anxiety

• Depression