Kelly Goldsteinholm
Learning, Leading, and Sharing

At Affirming Therapy Center, we believe that we can best serve the community by a continuous cycle of growth by Learning, Leading, and Sharing.

Specialized training in trauma treatment and continued education inform my work with anxiety, alternative lifestyles, kink and D/s dynamics, gender exploration, and developing a healthy relationship with one’s body. Learning is applied through trauma-informed, harm-reduction–oriented care that honors complexity and resilience.

Below is a summary of current learning, leadership, and shared community resources.

Learning

Additional training with the Utah LGBTQ+-Affirmative Psychotherapist Guild:
— Intersection of grief and LGBTQ community
— Navigating uncertainty and moral distress
— Autism and LGBTQIA+: intersectionality and treatment implementations
— Psychiatry treatment focused on the LGBTQIA communities
— Harm reduction and addressing substance abuse in the LGBTQIA communities
Completed a 6-module course in Therapeutic BDSM™, which uses a collaborative approach between Psychotherapists, BDSM Facilitators, and educators to work together to support clients using concepts of kink as part of their healing.
Completed Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Externship. Emotionally Focused Therapy is a humanistic, evidence-based approach to psychotherapy, drawing primarily from attachment theory to facilitate the creation of secure, vibrant connection with self and others.
EMDR Trained Therapist: EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.

Leading

Volunteer for the San Diego Leather Realm – Sponsoring the GSRD Forum in providing a variety of Mental Health Resources to our local community.
Led Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse (ASCA) Groups at Home Start
Developed the curriculum and headed the Vicarious Trauma Support for Parents Group at Home Start
Collaboratively created a Trauma Triggers flyer as a community resource.

Sharing

Participated in a panel discussion at the Leather Realm in San Diego PRIDE titled “Rethinking RACK: Radical Autonomy in CNM & Kink,” including the creation of a red flag and green flag handout.
Workshop Presenter for “In Case of Emergency: Harm Reduction for the Dungeon,” focusing on scene triage and emotional response, focusing on aftercare, recognizing distress or consent breakdowns, and offering grounded, practical support during and after play.
Presented a talk titled “Addressing Disparities in Women’s Health: A Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Endometriosis” at the Collaborative Family Healthcare Association (CFHA) Integrated Care Conference.

Publications

Conference Presentations
Thibodeau, Lauren, Goldsteinholm, Kelly, Sudano, Laura. “Addressing Disparities in Women’s Health: A Cross-Disciplinary Examination of Endometriosis.” Presented at Collaborative Family Healthcare Association Conference in October 2021.
Journal Articles
Cui, Ruifeng, Haller, Moira, Skidmore, Jessica R., Goldsteinholm, Kelly, Norman, Sonya, Tate, Susan R. “Treatment Attendance Among Veterans With Depression, Substance Use Disorder, and Trauma.” Journal of dual diagnosis 12 (1): 15-26. 2016
Blaser, R. E., Goldsteinholm, K., “Depth preference in zebrafish, Danio rerio: control by surface and substrate cues,” Animal Behaviour 83(4) 953-959. 2012.
Bellizzi, C., Goldsteinholm, K. & Blaser, R.E. “Some factors affecting performance of rats in the traveling salesman problem,” Animal Cognition 18, 1207–1219. 2015.
Textbook Contribution
Blaser, R. E., Goldsteinholm, K. “Use of a Split Depth and Visual Cliff Apparatus to Measure the Diving Response in Zebrafish,” Zebrafish Protocols for Neurobehavioral Research. New York City: Humana Press. 2012.