Katie Ringstad

Katie Ringstad is a pre-licensed therapist whose approach to healing is shaped by over a decade of work in disability advocacy, systems navigation, and trauma-informed service delivery across educational, medical, and public settings. With roots in community-based work and a professional background as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Katie brings a deeply integrative, relational, and justice-oriented lens to therapy. 

Katie works with individuals and families navigating complex trauma, neurodivergence, disability, chronic stress, and life transitions. Drawing from Somatic Experiencing® (SE), Internal Family Systems (IFS), DBT-informed practices, and existential therapy, Katie sees her role as a collaborative witness and guide—walking alongside clients as they deepen their understanding of self, strengthen internal resources, and explore meaningful change. 

Katie does not pathologize distress or attempt to “fix” behavior, but instead supports clients in recognizing the context and intelligence behind what happens to them and how they respond. Her clinical work centers the inherent wisdom of the body, the lived realities of each client, and the nuanced ways that context shapes our nervous systems, our relationships, and our self-perception.

Informed by her years supporting students and adults in vocational and educational settings, Katie is especially attuned to the ways traditional systems often fail to accommodate diverse minds and bodies. She works to create therapeutic spaces that honor each client’s story while inviting exploration of identity, intergenerational narratives, community, and embodiment. Katie believes in holding space for both the messiness and the magic of being human—and in building a therapeutic relationship rooted in curiosity, co-regulation, and respect.

Before transitioning into private practice, Katie led pre-employment transition services for high school students with disabilities, where she supported students, families, and interdisciplinary teams navigate special education, postsecondary goals, and employment pathways. Her professional background also includes crisis response and advocacy, pediatric hospital and clinical support, and early literacy programming—all of which inform her systems-oriented perspective and client-centered care.

Katie holds dual Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Child, Adult, and Family Services from Iowa State University and earned her Master’s in Counseling from Drake University. She is currently completing her training in Somatic Experiencing® and working toward LPCC licensure in the state of Minnesota. Katie is honored to join the Dandelion Spirit team and welcomes clients who are seeking an affirming, body-based, and relationship-driven approach to therapy—especially those who may not have felt fully seen in other clinical settings.

Education

Somatic Experiencing International Beginner I beginning August 2025

Certified Rehabilitation Counselor, Commission on Certified Rehabilitation Counselors 2022

Master of Science, Counseling, Drake University 2021

Bachelor of Science, Child, Adult and Family Services, Iowa State University 2017

Bachelor of Science, Psychology, Iowa State University 2017