Mackenzie Nolan, MS, LAMFT

Mackenzie Nolan

Therapist

I am a Licensed Associate Marriage and Family Therapist and I’ve been providing therapy since 2023. My goal is to collaborate with each client and family to support you in creating the change you want to make! I have had the honor to meet and work with individuals and families of all ages on a wide range of challenges related to relationships, trauma, and various mental health diagnoses.

I specialize in working with:

  • Children who have difficulty with emotional regulation, experience a lot of worries, or struggle in relationships with their siblings, peers, or family.

  • Teens who feel misunderstood by others, are exploring their identity, struggle with overwhelm, experience suicidal ideation, or seem to always be fighting with the people around them.

  • Neurodivergence, including Autism and ADHD, and supporting families to thrive while managing symptoms.

  • Parents, caregivers, and family members who have people in their lives experiencing challenges similar to those named here or are generally seeking support in navigating the stressors of life.

My clients describe me as compassionate, kind, direct, and supportive in our work together. To help you reach your goals, we may utilize one or more of the following in our sessions together: talking, story telling, skills practice, play, sand tray, games, books, art, movement, and calming tools. If you are looking for a therapist who can be compassionate, creative, patient, and structured, you have found one!

How I show up in sessions is consistent with who I am outside of the therapeutic space. I am a heterosexual cisgender female who uses she/her pronouns. I value offering a welcoming and safe environment for all, both within and outside of the therapy room. In my free time, I love to spend time outside in all of the seasons, often trying out new state parks and attending a wide variety of music-related events. Most of the time you will find me hanging out with my family and friends.

“Inviting our thoughts and feelings into awareness allows us to learn from them rather than be driven by them.”

-Daniel Siegel

I am taking new clients and currently have space for folks seeking a reduced session rate. Learn more on our rates page or by submitting the form at the bottom of this page.

schedule a session

What I believe about therapy:

  • Therapy should be a safe space for you to talk about anything, anytime without judgement.

  • People do not live in isolation. We are influenced by and influencing everyone around us.

  • Development of insight and resilience are two of the most impactful changes that can happen in therapy.

  • Therapy does not have to take a long time to be helpful AND therapy can be helpful for some people to engage with for a long time.

  • The relationship between therapist and client is a major predictor of change. Finding the right fit is one of the first steps in the change process.

Approach

My training is in marriage and family therapy, and as such I was trained with a systemic lens. I think it’s important to view an individual within the various systems they are a part of and the ways this affects how they show up in the world. I use a collaborative approach with everyone I work with, including children, as I think it’s important for everyone to have a say in their change process. From a theoretical stance, I operate from a mix of collaborative, structural, narrative, attachment, cognitive-behavioral, and emotionally focused theories, all dependent on what each person needs.

Trainings

I am excited to continue learning throughout my career! I continue to grow my experience in the field via reading (and listening!) to many books, formal consultation, networking with colleagues, and at training events.

    • Prepare/Enrich

    • Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC) Training

    • Treating Stressed Out Couples - Elizabeth Earnshaw

    • Trauma Treatment Certification Training - Janina Fisher

    • How Process Based Therapy is Revolutionizing Mental Health Treatment - Joseph Ciarrochi and Diana Hill

    • Neurodiversity Specialist Training: Affirming Practices for Autism, ADHD, “AuDHD”, Dyslexia, OCD, and More - Penny Stack, Hannah Smith, Sheetal Parikh, and Roberto Olivardia

    • The Living Legacy of Trauma- Janina Fisher

    • The Body Keeps the Score - Bessel van der Kolk

    • The Myth of Normal - Gabor Mate

    • The Whole-Brain Child- Daniel Siegel

    • No Drama Discipline- Daniel Siegel

    • Will I Ever Be Good Enough? Healing the Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers- Karyl McBride

    • Adult Children of Emotionally Immature Parents- Lindsay Gibson

    • Disentangling from Emotionally Immature People- Lindsay Gibson

Experience

In 2021, I completed my bachelors in Psychology from St. Cloud State University. During my time in my undergraduate program, I completed an internship at a counseling clinic where I was able to sit in with a licensed therapist during her sessions and truly learn what the therapeutic process can offer for so many at various stages in their lives.

I began working on my masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2021, continuing at St. Cloud State. During my graduate program, I completed a year-long internship providing therapy for complex family systems with children as young as 4 in their homes, often struggling with past and ongoing trauma and significant mental health concerns. It was during this internship that I learned the importance of working from a systemic perspective.

I graduated with my masters degree in 2023, earning my associate therapist license about 6 months post-graduation. After graduation, I transitioned into an outpatient mental health clinic where I continued to work with individuals and families with a wide variety of concerns and learning to expand the work I do with children and teens, often incorporating play and art into the therapeutic process.

In 2024, I joined Grounding Space Therapy where I continue collaborating with children, teens, and adults to support the changes they want to see in their lives.