ASHLAND — After working in the mental health field locally for several years, Kailey Bradley and Stephen Thomas are launching a new, inclusive counseling practice focused on their respective specialties: grief and sex therapy.
Seated side-by-side in their home for a Zoom interview, the married couple and business partners enthusiastically discussed their new addition to Ashland’s mental health offerings and what sets their practice apart from others in the area.
Refuge Counseling, aptly named for its mission to be a safe haven for anyone to have difficult conversations, prioritizes an inclusive and affirming atmosphere above all else. All of their staff are LGBTQIA-affirming, sex positive, multiculturally sensitive and aware of the impact systemic problems like racism, ableism and homophobia can have on mental health.
“That was one of the main reasons we decided to start our own practice,” Thomas said. “We hope to be a place where any person in Ashland can talk openly about topics that feel taboo, difficult life transitions or systemic issues.”
Bradley and Thomas shared about their individual specialties and why they are passionate about what they do.
Grief counseling, Bradley explained, is for individuals experiencing any kind of loss—not just death. Many of her patients have chronic illnesses, some have lost their faith or religious practice, and others are navigating other life changes like divorce. A wide variety of life experiences can result in loss, mourning and sorrow.
These counseling sessions aim to create a refuge where the normal plethora of emotions of grief are normalized and accepted as valid, according to their website.
Rather than fixing grief for her patients, Bradley seeks to validate loss, remove stigma from expressing different emotions they experience and support individuals through the grieving process–whatever form it takes for them.
“People often say, ‘Isn’t that really sad?’” Bradley said of working with individuals experiencing grief. “But ultimately, just to be able to provide a safe space for people—to talk about things that they don’t normally have a place to talk about—is truly enriching for me as a person, just to be able to create that safe space.”
Bradley’s own experience with a chronic illness and the counseling she received in college ignited her passion for this work.
“I felt myself opening up,” she recalls from her early experiences in counseling. “I felt the tension slowly ease from behind my eyes, neck and back. Permission granting, versus spiritual bypassing in which emotions are glossed over in the name of ‘count it all as joy,’ was foreign to me.”
With full permission to finally express the full gamut of her emotions for the first time, Bradley was able to begin to understand her emotions were normal and didn’t have to be hidden. She pays it forward today by giving that same open and affirming atmosphere to her own patients.
Sex therapy, Thomas’ specialty, addresses anything at all relating to sexual issues. He works with couples or individuals who are navigating a plethora of sexual concerns, including relationship conflict, anxiety, depression, sexual dysfunction, sexual pain, postpartum sexuality, infertility, LQBTQ+, monogamous or non-monogamous relationships, gender transition or questioning, infidelity, general sexual health exploration, sexuality disability, aging, sexual compulsion and problematic pornography use.
Thomas is currently in the process of getting his AASECT certification in order to provide the most up-to-date, beneficial information to his patients.
“Why did I, a small-town Ohio boy, son of a Baptist preacher and an ex-youth pastor, decide to specialize in practicing sex therapy? Because we need to talk about it,” Thomas said. He is passionate about reducing shame around sexual issues and normalizing these conversations in order for patients to live their healthiest sexual lives.
At this time, Refuge offers telehealth appointments only in order to protect immunocompromised patients and counselors, but they plan to move to a physical location in the future.
“We’re up and running and willing to be a support to anybody who needs companionship while navigating these issues,” Bradley said.
In addition to Bradley and Thomas, two other providers, Ashley Phillips and Becca Clay, offer counseling through Refuge.
To learn more about the counseling services Refuge Counseling offers, visit their website, call 419-922-9696 or email info@allrefuge.com. They are now accepting new patients.
