Brittany Purrington, MA, LMHCA, LPC, CIT
If you’ve ever experienced relationship anxiety, you’ve probably tried focusing on others’ wants, needs, and expectations at the expense of your own. It makes sense, especially if you grew up learning that centering others kept you safe. But now, you’re struggling with walking on eggshells to not upset your partner and building resentment because your needs and wants go unmet. You might be wondering, is there more out there for me?
Let’s set your compass north and find out together.
I’m a licensed psychotherapist that loves helping people find their inner north star (hint: their authentic self!) and orient their lives in that direction.
My approach
My approach to therapy is relational, depth-oriented, and grounded in curiosity about the inner world. Together, we pay attention to the patterns, emotions, and early relationships that continue to shape how you experience yourself and others. I draw from parts-based work to help you understand and soften inner conflicts, while staying attuned to the body, felt sense, and present-moment experience. Therapy may include reflection, creative expression, mindfulness, or gently noticing what unfolds between us in the room. At its core, my work is insight-oriented and humanistic—centered on honoring your wholeness, supporting self-trust, and creating a space where meaningful change can emerge over time.
You might hear my work described as:
Internal Family Systems (IFS, parts work)
Attachment-based and relational therapy
Depth-oriented / psychodynamic psychotherapy
Somatic and body-aware approaches
Expressive arts therapy
Mindfulness and process-oriented therapy (Gestalt therapy)
I understand personal healing as inseparable from the relational, cultural, and social contexts we live within. My work is grounded in a commitment to human rights and in standing against systems of oppression and violence that impact mental health for both individuals and the collective. This commitment informs a trauma-informed, culturally responsive approach that remains attentive to power, identity, and lived experience. As a licensed therapist, I believe in supporting your agency, dignity, and wholeness.
In practice, this means our work is collaborative, paced, and responsive to what you need in each moment. Therapy isn’t about fixing or pushing for change before you’re ready—it’s about creating enough safety to explore honestly. We may notice patterns as they arise, listen to emotions and body cues, use reflection or creative expression, and attend to what unfolds in the relationship between us. Over time, this process can support deeper self-understanding, steadier self-trust, and new ways of relating—without asking you to abandon parts of yourself to get there.
My practice
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Kansas (04961), a Licensed Mental Health Counselor Associate in Washington State (MC61458958), and a counselor in training in Missouri. I am under the clinical supervision of Rosalie Salazar, LMHC (LH6118078) in Washington State and of Marrissa Rhodes, LCPC (03351), LPC (202001839) in Kanas and Missouri. Northbound Therapy Studio, PLLC operates in Washington State and Kansas. I am a contracted therapist at gokc Healing Center, LLC in Missouri.
My education
I am a Level One IFS trained therapist by the IFS Institute. I earned my Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and Expressive Arts Therapy in 2021 at Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology with a minor in Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies in 2017 at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Both educational experiences brought me into contact with performance art, and my graduate thesis was about how performance art can be healing for the individual and the collective.
Before becoming a therapist, I had 10 years of experience in social services, which included settings of nonprofit organizations, nursing facilities, and schools. My clinical internship was at Boston Post Adoption Resources in Brookline, Massachusetts where I received additional educational training around the attachment-based therapy and impact of relinquishment and adoption for those in the triad. As a therapist, I have worked in schools, outpatient community mental health, and private practice.
You may find some of my past writings here:
Adoption-Competent Therapy: What It Is, Why It Matters, and How to Find It, June 2022
Understanding White Privilege, March 2021