Dr. Shelby Kittinger, PsyD
My approach to therapy is both compassionate and challenging.
I strive to create a genuine, meaningful relationship where you feel held with care, invited into honest self-reflection, and supported in creating transformative change. This balance is the foundation of my work and why I began Compassionate Collective.
Healing happens together.
Areas of Focus in Therapy
Through clinical research, teaching, and years of direct therapeutic work, I have developed specialized expertise in working with religious trauma. Religious trauma often emerges from rigid belief systems, spiritual abuse, or high-control religious environments, and can leave lasting impacts such as chronic shame, anxiety, fear, identity confusion, and a painful disconnection from one’s body and inner knowing. Many people seeking therapy for religious trauma describe feeling “behind” in life, broken at their core, or uncertain how to trust themselves after leaving or questioning their faith. Therapy becomes a space to gently untangle these wounds and reclaim a sense of safety, agency, and self-trust.
My work with high-achieving perfectionists and women navigating body image concerns is informed by both extensive clinical experience and my published research, Embodied, which explores how performance, control, and internalized expectations shape one’s relationship with the body. In therapy, I support my patients in softening unconscious patterns, reconnecting with their bodies, and cultivating a sense of self-worth rooted in authenticity, presence, and compassion.
About
Dr. Kittinger is a licensed psychologist based in Portland, Oregon, providing therapy to adults in Oregon and Washington. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from the Rosemead School of Psychology at Biola University, where her research examined the impact of religion on body image. Her clinical training spans inpatient medical and psychiatric hospitals, rural mental health clinics, intensive outpatient programs, university counseling centers, and community mental health agencies.
Dr. Kittinger specializes in working with adults navigating religious trauma, anxiety, perfectionism, body image concerns, relationship challenges, and complex trauma. She has particular experience supporting individuals leaving high-control religious or spiritual environments, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and those in high-responsibility or public-facing roles.
In addition to her clinical practice, Dr. Kittinger provides trainings and consultation on religious trauma and related topics and has been featured on podcasts exploring the intersections of psychology, religion, attachment, and embodiment. She is licensed in both Oregon and Washington and is an approved clinical supervisor for psychologist residents and master’s-level associates.
Approach
Dr. Kittinger works from a relational psychodynamic framework, grounded in a deep respect for the wholeness of each person she works with. Therapy is guided by curiosity rather than judgment, with careful attention to how early relationships, lived experiences, and unspoken beliefs continue to shape emotional life, patterns of relating, and one’s sense of self in the present.
Together, we gently explore the past—not to remain there, but to deepen your understanding of what is happening now and to create space for meaningful, lasting change. The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a central part of the work: a collaborative, attuned space where patterns can be noticed, felt, and transformed in real time.
At the heart of her work is the belief that therapy is not something done to you—it is something you build together, through compassion, curiosity, and the courage to engage deeply with your inner world.
Media and Speaking.
