About Kody Garis, LPC
I believe that healing happens best when you don’t have to leave parts of yourself at the door.
Outside of my work as a therapist, I’m a person who loves cozy routines, good stories, creative or nerdy projects, and spending time with the people and animals I love. I live in Norman with my husband and our two dogs, who keep life playful and chaotic.
While therapy is always centered on you, I also believe it can be helpful to know there’s a real person sitting across from you — someone warm, curious, grounded, and human.
At the core of my approach to therapy is a belief that change begins with compassion, curiosity, and honesty.
Therapy with me…
I don’t believe therapy should feel like you’re performing emotional insight and doing all of the heavy lifting while someone quietly and nods at you. In our work, I want you to feel heard, understood, and cared for—and I also want you to leave with something you can actually use. Sometimes that’s a skill, sometimes it’s a new way of understanding yourself, and sometimes it’s language for something you’ve felt for a long time but couldn’t quite put words to.
I tend to be active and honest in session. I’ll ask questions, offer reflections, explain what I’m noticing, and help you make sense of the patterns showing up in your life. I also value psychoeducation, so part of our work may include learning about why your brain, body, relationships, and protective habits respond the way they do. My goal is for things to feel less mysterious, less shameful, and more workable overall.
At the same time, therapy with me is not just about learning coping skills or “fixing” yourself. It’s also a space to be vulnerable, curious, emotional, and human. We’ll make room for your stories, your humor, your hard truths, as well as the parts of you that may not feel welcome everywhere else.
I want therapy to feel warm, real, and useful—a place where you can understand yourself more deeply and begin practicing something different.
Where I do my best work:
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You deserve therapy where your identity is affirmed, respected, and never treated like the problem. I work with LGBTQIA2S+ clients navigating identity concerns, relationships, family dynamics, religious or cultural harm, trauma, and the general exhaustion of having to explain yourself everywhere else. We may be a good fit if you’re looking for a space where all of you is welcome, without needing to shrink, translate, or defend who you are.
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I work with individuals and partnered systems practicing or exploring consensual non-monogamy, polyamory, open relationships, and other nontraditional relationship structures. Whether you’re navigating communication, jealousy, agreements, attachment, identity, or relationship transitions, therapy can be a space to slow down and sort through what’s actually happening underneath the surface. We may be a good fit if you want support that is affirming, curious, and free from assumptions about what your relationships “should” look like.
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People-pleasing often looks like being easygoing, helpful, and “fine” while quietly feeling resentful, anxious, disconnected, or exhausted. I work with clients who are learning to notice their needs, set boundaries, tolerate guilt, and stop measuring their worth by how comfortable they make everyone else. We may be a good fit if you’re tired of being the peacekeeper, the fixer, or the “therapist” friend.
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Sometimes thinking becomes a way to stay safe: analyzing every feeling, explaining every reaction, and understanding your pain without actually feeling connected to it. I work with clients who are insightful, self-aware, and often very good at talking about their experiences while still feeling stuck. We may be a good fit if you’re ready to gently move from “I know why I do this” toward actually feeling, trusting, and caring for yourself in new ways.
(My “specialties”)
Therapeutic approaches:
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Internal Family Systems (IFS), is a way of understanding the different “parts” of you — the protective parts, the anxious parts, the people-pleasing parts, the angry parts, the tender parts, and everything in between. Instead of trying to shame or shut those parts down, we get curious about what they’re protecting and what they might need. This approach can be especially helpful if you feel pulled in different directions, stuck in old patterns, or disconnected from the version of yourself you’re trying to become.
Learn more about IFS here. -
Attachment-based therapy looks at how your relationships, especially early or meaningful ones, have shaped the way you connect, protect yourself, and respond to closeness or conflict. Together, we’ll explore patterns around trust, boundaries, intimacy, fear of abandonment, people-pleasing, or shutting down. This approach can be a good fit if you find yourself repeating relationship patterns and wondering, “Why do I keep doing this?” or “What’s wrong with me?”
Learn more about ABT here. -
Somatic therapy helps bring the body into the healing process, because stress, trauma, and emotion don’t just live in your thoughts. In session, we may pay attention to body cues, nervous system responses, grounding skills, breath, tension, or the ways your body has learned to protect you. This approach can be helpful if you often feel stuck in your head, overwhelmed by your body’s reactions, or like you understand things logically but still feel them physically.
Learn more about Somatic Therapy here.
(Types of therapy I bring to session)
Background & qualifications:
Education:
I earned both of my degrees—a Bachelor’s degree in Language Arts Education with an emphasis on postcolonial literature and a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling—from The University of Oklahoma.
Licensure:
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Oklahoma, having completed the education, clinical training, supervision, and examination requirements for independent practice.
My license number is: LPC-12431