For most of my life, I was the one who had it together. The dependable one. The one people turned to for guidance, advice, or emotional strength, even when I was quietly running on empty.
I knew how to achieve, perform, and show up for everyone else. But I didn’t know how to rest, receive, or let anyone see me struggle.
It took years of personal healing, professional study, and inner work to realize this truth:
We can’t think our way into peace. We have to feel our way there.
Hi, I'm Kiara.
How'd I Get Here?
Background
- IFS (Internal Family Systems) Level 2 Trained
- IFS Creating Healing Circles Level 1 (Trained under Chris Burris)
- Licensed Psychotherapist (through my therapy practice, KJ Hartwell)
- Founder of Thoughtfully Elevating: A Coaching Practice for Healing, Visibility & Impact
- Grounded in anti-oppressive, decolonized, and nervous system-aware frameworks
- Experienced in supporting BIPOC women, visionaries, and therapists worldwide
I started my career studying psychology and mental health, earning my degree and becoming a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC). I spent years working in community mental health, walking alongside people through trauma, anxiety, and burnout.
That work taught me that even the most high-functioning, high-achieving people carry invisible pain. I saw how often strength was a survival strategy and how hard it was for those same people to let their guard down enough to heal.
Eventually, I opened my private therapy practice, where I started blending deep psychological insight with trauma-informed care. Around that time, I discovered Internal Family Systems (IFS), a model that completely changed the way I understood myself and healing.
IFS gave language to something I’d always known intuitively:
that every part of us...the perfectionist, the caretaker, the inner critic, the one who shuts down, etc. developed for a reason. And each one just needs understanding, not judgment.
As I continued integrating IFS into my life & my work, I found more and more people seeking this kind of inner healing — not just in therapy, but in coaching and personal development.
That’s when Thoughtfully Elevating was born — a space for high-achievers, caretakers, and “strong ones” to slow down, meet themselves with compassion, and learn to lead their lives from within.
Today, I offer IFS Coaching and IFS Intensives to clients across the U.S. and internationally.
I also continue my work as a therapist, serving clients in private practice, while creating online spaces for healing conversations.
My online community has grown to over 10,500 people who value authenticity, depth, and self-trust. Together, we’re redefining what it means to succeed. Not by doing more, but by being more you underneath the performance and noise.
I help you:
- Identify and heal the parts that drive overwork, self-doubt, or perfectionism
- Build the internal capacity to hold peace, success, and joy — sustainably
- Align your inner system with your outer goals, values, and vision
This isn’t surface-level mindset work.
It’s deep inner expansion for the one who’s done the healing and is ready to embody it.
When I'm Not Helping People, I enjoy...
Spending time with my husband, dog (Olivia), family, and friends. I also enjoy playing tennis, photography, modeling, traveling, cooking new recipes, baking, going to the beach, kayaking, hiking, skiing, going to sporting events, concerts, live music, speakeasies, trying new restaurants, and learning/trying new things.
