Kardia Collective offers counseling, coaching, and training in the greater Memphis area.
03/10/2026
Wanting to understand who you are is deeply human.
Questions about identity—where you came from, what you mean, how you belong, and where you fit—are not weaknesses. They’re core longings shared by everyone.
But in today’s culture, those longings are often shaped by social media in ways that can feel urgent and constricting. Instead of exploration, there can be pressure to declare. To grasp for a label that says, “This is who I am,” or “This is who you are.”
The problem is that labels can’t hold the fullness of a person.
Each of us is nuanced, layered, and constantly unfolding. Reducing identity to a single category or name can feel clarifying at first—but over time, it often becomes limiting. What was meant to bring understanding can end up narrowing curiosity and self-compassion.
You are more complex than any label.
Your story is still being written.
And your identity is bigger than what can be named quickly.
There is space to discover who you are slowly, honestly, and with kindness—without rushing to define yourself in ways that leave parts of you behind.
Many clients are expressing a growing sense of digital exhaustion—not only from work demands, but from the constant stream of information they absorb throughout the day. The human nervous system was not designed to continuously process global events, notifications, and content, especially late at night. Yet this pattern has become normalized.
This constant intake often shows up as disrupted sleep, heightened anxiety, and a persistent sense of heaviness or fatigue. While there is a fear of missing out that keeps people engaged, the cumulative effect is widespread burnout at a deep, soul level. Compounding the issue, modern systems—particularly marketing and media—are designed to compete for attention, making it difficult to disengage.
True rest and rejuvenation require more than short breaks; they call for a meaningful shift in how individuals relate to information, technology, and rest. When intentional boundaries are introduced, people often rediscover a deeper sense of calm, presence, and renewal.
Where did you grow up? It’s a common question. We hear it often, especially when first meeting someone. “So where did you grow up?” And we usually respond with the name of the city or town, the state, or if we grew up in a rural area, we might say “the farm” or “in the country.”
When we say ‘grow up’, we usually mean where we were either born or lived during our early life until we finished high school or turned 18, or left home for whatever reason. But the idea is that we generally have an idea of the place where we grew from infancy to adulthood.
How do we know we have truly grown up?
When we are 18 years old? If we’ve graduated from college? When we are married or have a job and pay our own bills?
For example, by the time I was 21, I was working, married and well into fully supporting myself, but I had certainly not ‘grown up’. I had so much growing yet to do. My body had matured, but my heart and mind had a long way to go.
I was self-centered, insecure, and seriously co-dependent.
I wore my heart on my sleeve and was constantly comparing myself with others, especially other men.
It took a long time, with the help of a couple therapists, my wife, and many other providential acts of God’s loving intervention to effect my growth. And on the process goes, even into my late 60’s.
Maybe it’s worth rethinking the question the next time someone asks where you grew up. It’s ok to accept that growing up is a life-long process. It isn’t a category you walk into or a line you cross. It’s really about staying open to what it means to continue on the path of becoming the person God wants you to be; the person God is making you into.
02/12/2026
Elisabeth Collier has completed her graduate work, including her practicum and internship with Kardia Collective. After successfully completing all of the requirements and tests, she has received her temporary licensure from the Tennessee Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and is launching her private practice with Kardia Collective!
Elisabeth welcomes the privilege to meet with anyone for whom that resonates. Her particular passion is to help children and teens and their families navigate life’s challenges with compassion and understanding, utilizing an integrated approach and an array of engaging and playful therapy techniques. She encourages exploring practical solutions as well as looking at the deeper struggles that exist. She is also certified in trauma-informed care for both children and teens.
Elisabeth graduated from the University of Memphis with a degree in Psychology and a minor in Child Development before pursuing her Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She grew up in Texas and loves it, but Memphis has been her home and dear to her heart for over 20 years. She deeply enjoys being a mother to her four teenagers—except when they are learning to drive.
When she’s not counseling (or busy with her second job chauffeuring to school/ballet/softball/theater/basketball/youth group) she loves to explore interior design, pursue strength training and Pilates, and spend time with friends of all ages and stages of life.
Disconnection and apathy don’t look the same for everyone.
But there is a common place to start noticing them.
Pay attention to where you run when you’re not feeling okay—when life feels heavy, relationships feel strained, or something inside feels off. What do you reach for in those moments?
Often, disconnection shows up through quick comforts. Things that offer temporary relief or distraction. They may meet a version of the need for connection, but only briefly—and without the depth your system is actually longing for.
Those comforts can look different for everyone. There’s no single behavior that defines disconnection. What matters is balance.
Most people can recognize moments when those patterns increase—when reaching for quick relief becomes the default instead of the exception. That shift is often a signal, not a failure.
A signal that something deeper needs attention.
Noticing where you run isn’t about shame.
It’s about awareness.
And awareness is the first step toward reconnecting—with yourself, with others, and with what truly restores you.
The road to licensure is long, and we are excited to celebrate Keri Blair’s completion of a monumental step in her journey. After completing her graduate program and her practicum and internship with Kardia Collective, she has now received her temporary licensure from the Tennessee Board of Licensed Professional Counselors! She has excelled as an intern, and she is now beginning her private practice with Kardia Collective. Here is a little bit more about Keri—
Keri believes every person deserves the opportunity to heal, grow, and find balance—especially when self-awareness brings grief not only for what was lost, but for what was never received. After spending 17 years in a highly competitive sales career with national recognition and titles, Keri ultimately realized that success and civic leadership roles alone could not bring wholeness. True restoration began when she surrendered her own efforts to fix her life and instead leaned into God and a path of intentional healing.
Today, Keri brings both clinical insight and deep empathy to her work with clients. Her approach is trauma-sensitive, attachment-informed, and faith-integrated when desired. Research on attachment consistently demonstrates that when early emotional needs are unmet or secure bonds are disrupted, individuals may carry patterns of emotional dysregulation, relational insecurity, and unresolved grief into adolescence and adulthood. Many children grow up navigating circumstances they did not choose—such as family stress, loss, trauma, learning challenges, or instability—which can shape how they understand emotions, relationships, and their sense of safety in the world. When children are exposed to environments beyond their control without consistent, safe spaces to explore emotions and form healthy attachments, these early experiences can influence their outlook and relational patterns over time. Counseling provides a supportive, nurturing environment where children can begin to make sense of their feelings and experiences in developmentally appropriate ways that support healing, resilience, and healthy relationships across the lifespan.
Keri integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), mindfulness, and attachment-based interventions to help clients understand how early relational experiences influence current thoughts, behaviors, and emotional responses. She works with children, adolescents, adults, and couples, to increase self-awareness, strengthen emotional regulation, and build healthier, more secure relationships. Through compassionate counseling, Keri walks alongside clients as they process pain, release shame, and reconnect with a sense of meaning and identity. She believes purpose is not found in titles or perfection, but in cultivating authenticity, self-acceptance, and hope—and that no one is ever too far gone for healing, grace, or repair.
When anxiety shows up, your body is speaking first.
You might notice your breath getting shallow or fast.
Your heart may be racing.
Your body may feel restless, tight, or on edge.
Rather than pushing those sensations away, the invitation is to pause.
Slow down for a moment.
Sit still, if you can.
Gently notice what’s happening inside your body without judgment.
This isn’t about fixing anything right away. It’s about awareness.
Anxiety lives in the nervous system, and the first step toward settling it is helping your body feel seen and safe. When you take a moment to notice your breath, your heartbeat, and your physical sensations, you begin to reconnect with the present moment.
That simple act of paying attention can create space.
And in that space, your body often starts to soften on its own.
Listening to your body is not weakness—it’s wisdom.
01/27/2026
When anxiety shows up, it often makes itself known through the body first.
You may notice a faster heartbeat, quicker breathing, or a sense of being revved up inside. That’s your nervous system doing what it was designed to do—preparing you for action. The goal isn’t to shut that down, but to help your body safely release and regulate that energy.
One gentle way to do that is through movement.
When anxiety brings adrenaline online, moving your body can help process it. A short walk, stretching, yoga—anything that allows your body to move intentionally—can help settle your nervous system and create emotional release.
Sometimes, though, movement isn’t an option. You might be in a classroom, a meeting, or a public space. In those moments, breathing and focus can help.
Start by noticing where you feel anxiety in your body—often the chest, stomach, or shoulders. Then gently steady your breath. Box breathing can be especially grounding: slowly inhale, hold, exhale, and pause for equal counts. As you breathe, let your eyes trace a square or rectangle in the room—a doorframe, screen, or window—moving slowly around its edges. This combination of breath and visual focus can calm the nervous system and bring you back into the present moment.
Another supportive practice is writing.
Setting a timer for 10 minutes and writing freely—without editing or judging—can help externalize anxious thoughts. Putting feelings on paper often creates just enough distance to reduce their intensity and help your mind feel less crowded.
There’s no one right way to respond to anxiety. These are tools—not rules.
What matters most is learning to listen to your body with care and responding in ways that help you feel safer, steadier, and more supported.
01/20/2026
Many people quietly ask this question:
Why do I feel so disconnected when I have so many friends or followers online?
It’s especially common among teens, but adults experience it too. Social media can create the appearance of connection without the experience of being truly known. There’s no number—no amount of followers, likes, or contacts—that guarantees real relationship.
In fact, the more connections there are to manage, the less space there often is for genuine connection.
When energy goes toward managing an image or keeping up appearances, it leaves little room for being seen as you really are. And without that kind of seeing and knowing, relationships can start to feel hollow—even when they look full on the surface.
Social media isn’t all bad. It can help people stay in touch across distance and time. It can support community in meaningful ways.
But it can’t replace what the human heart actually needs.
Lasting connection grows in spaces where you’re known, not just followed. Where you’re seen, not just observed. And when that kind of connection is missing, it makes sense that loneliness shows up—even in a crowded digital room.
01/15/2026
Help us welcome Jane Mims to the team! She is continuing her Internship with us this semester. Here’s a little bit about Jane:
Jane Mims is a counseling intern who specializes in trauma, anxiety, perfectionism, chronic stress, and identity-related challenges. She works with individuals who feel overwhelmed by old patterns, internal pressure, or a persistent sense of falling short — helping them build emotional steadiness, self-awareness, and practical tools that support lasting change. Whether someone is processing trauma, navigating stress, or feeling stuck in survival mode, Jane offers a grounded, compassionate space for healing and growth.
Jane’s clinical approach integrates EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), attachment theory, and trauma-informed care. She is deeply passionate about the nervous system’s capacity to reorganize and recover, and she uses evidence-based methods to help clients process unresolved experiences, regulate overwhelming emotions, and shift entrenched thought and behavior patterns.
01/13/2026
What a Session Is Like (and What to Expect)
A LENS session begins with being listened to.
You’ll have space to ask questions, share what’s been hard, and feel cared for as a whole person—not a problem to fix.
Small sensors are gently placed on the scalp to read your brainwave activity. Using specialized software, LENS mirrors your brain’s own unique patterns back to itself. The feedback lasts only seconds per area and is completely painless.
Many people are surprised by how subtle the process feels—and how meaningful the shifts can be.
Some feel calmer or more focused right away.
Some notice reduced anxiety or physical tension.
Others feel a bit tired afterward as the brain opens pathways that haven’t been active in a long time.
Responses vary because brains are unique. Changes can be immediate or gradual, subtle or noticeable. Most people report meaningful shifts within the first few sessions.
This is a gentle, non-invasive, FDA-approved approach that works with your nervous system—not against it.
If you’re curious, the next step is simple: complete a few brief intake forms so care can be thoughtfully tailored to you.
You don’t have to force healing.
Sometimes the brain just needs the right signal.
And you don’t have to walk this alone.
01/08/2026
Help us welcome Emma Kathryn Carpenter to the team! She is beginning her Practicum with us this semester. Here’s a little bit about Emma:
Emma Kathryn is a Memphis native currently completing her counseling degree at the University of Memphis. Her counseling philosophy brings a collaborative approach to the client-therapist relationship, where she aims to support clients through anxiety, depression, perinatal and postpartum issues, trauma, life transitions, and family of origin issues.
Emma Kathryn is driven by a desire to provide a safe space for people to be truly themselves, no matter their circumstances, and places an emphasis on the kind of authenticity and self-knowledge that can lead to healing and transformation. She hopes to see clients gain an empowering understanding of their own narrative while equipping them with practical tools to support them in their day-to-day lives.
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2011 will forever be the year that reset the calendar of my life. It was a year of loss, a year of transition, a year of mourning, a year of hoping. After a miscarriage, failed adoption, and major career change I had reached my limit. In my car at the intersection of Sweetbriar and Shady Grove, my chest tight, my thoughts racing out of control with anxiety and fear, I called Tim.
I barely knew Tim. What I did know was that he was a counselor and elder at our church. “Something is seriously wrong with me and I can’t fix it. I need help and I feel sorry for whoever has to step into this with me because I am a mess.” The next week I met with Tim for the first time and every week after for the next year and a half. Shortly thereafter I met Jeff Schulte via a Skype meeting. It was Jeff that further introduced me to the voice of my heart and an organization called Sage Hill in Nashville. Both men supported me and cared for me in a way I had never experienced nor knew existed. I wanted more and I wanted everyone I loved to have it too.
Tim was splitting his time teaching at Victory University and private practice. I was referring people to Tim on what felt like a daily basis. One day on the way back from a training session in Nashville I called Tim again but this time with a declaration and not a demand. “We have to multiply you!” I had become painfully aware of the desperate need for the type of care Tim could provide and simultaneously aware of the need for more effective counselors in our community. Tim and I met and dreamed of establishing a place where we could “offer effective therapy, train effective therapists, and help everyone become therapeutic.” We had no idea what it would look like, but our plans were expedited when Victory University closed.
In October of 2014 in affiliation with Chip Dodd and Sage Hill Counseling in Nashville, TN, Sage Hill Memphis was formed. First Evangelical Church graciously offered office space as we began practicing under our new identity. It wasn’t long before four incredibly gracious and gifted therapists joined us followed by a growing group of very courageous clients.
In October of 2016, just two short years later, we moved into our first office at 6363 Poplar Ave, Suite 404. In May of 2019 we opened our second office in downtown Memphis located at 240 Madison Ave.
Over the last five years we have experienced rapid growth, adding over 23 team members and opening a second location in The Commonwealth at 240 Madison Avenue this year, while serving hundreds of clients.
The mission of Sage Hill is to “Help people be who they were made to be so they can do what they were made to do.” After five years of jointly pursuing that mission in fruitful partnership and close relationship, the leadership of Sage Hill Counseling in Memphis and Nashville decided to end their business agreement and effective July 15, 2019 Sage Hill Memphis became Kardia Collective.
Kardia Collective is a community of counselors and coaches that are passionate about helping people live with hope, courage, and freedom. It is our desire to help you recover your heart, connect with God and others, and live with passion. As a result we believe you will experience deep relationships, meaningful work, and authentic faith.
