Today we’d like to introduce you to Angie Galyean.
Hi Angie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve known I wanted to be a therapist since I was in seventh grade. I was always the person friends felt safe coming to, the one they trusted with the hard stuff. At the same time, I was navigating my own mental health challenges, which deepened both my curiosity and my compassion. Just like today, I loved creating a warm, safe space where people could talk honestly and start making sense of what they were carrying.
After earning my bachelor’s degree in psychology, life took me in a different direction for a few years. I worked in another field for about four years, but the pull toward therapy never really went away. Eventually, I made the decision to go back to school for my master’s degree. I worked full time while attending school part time, which made the process long and demanding. It took about four and a half years to finish, and halfway through the program I became a mom. There were many moments when it felt like it was taking forever, but I kept going. I truly couldn’t have done that season without the support of God, my husband, my daughter, my family, friends, and coworkers who believed in me and carried me through it in ways both big and small.
After graduating, I began contract work running a women’s domestic violence support group and later moved into a role as a crisis therapist. That work included safety planning, orders of protection, and advocacy with law enforcement and the courts. It was challenging in ways I hadn’t fully anticipated. I saw firsthand how systems don’t always work the way outsiders assume they do, or the way survivors expect or need them to. I also learned how complex and deeply individualized survivor support really is. No two people’s stories, needs, or access to resources look the same.
After about two years in that role, I transitioned to Hope House, providing similar support to crime victims who were also living with HIV and experiencing poverty. In 2022, I was promoted to Director of Social Services, where I now oversee crime victim services, mental health services, and housing programs. Alongside that work, I opened my own private practice last year, where I provide virtual mental health therapy to clients across Tennessee.
When I look back, what ties all of it together is my respect for people’s stories and my belief that real support only works when it’s grounded in safety, dignity, and meeting people where they are.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Pursuing a master’s degree is a significant commitment. It demands a huge amount of time, focus, and emotional energy. When I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant during the program, it added an entirely new layer to the experience. There was a constant internal dialogue of wondering whether I could actually do this, whether I would make it to the end, and whether I would be a good therapist once I got there.
The work was challenging in more ways than one. Beyond the academic demands, the training required me to look inward and confront parts of myself that I hadn’t fully acknowledged or worked through before. That combination made the process both intellectually demanding and emotionally stretching at times. There were moments it felt heavy, but those challenges ultimately shaped how I show up for my clients today.
As you know, we’re big fans of Renovated Heart Counseling, LLC. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
My work sits at the intersection of trauma-informed mental health care and relationships. Through my private practice, I provide virtual therapy across Tennessee, with a clinical focus on trauma, unhealthy and abusive relationships, coercive control, and the long-term impact of chronic stress and relational harm. I often work with people who are high functioning on the outside but feel stuck, overwhelmed, or disconnected from themselves and others.
I’m known for meeting people where they are, without judgment. I’m willing to go into the dark or uncomfortable places with clients, and I take a grounded, practical approach that blends honesty and directness with compassion and humor. We talk about nervous system responses and attachment, but we also focus on boundaries, relational patterns, and the real-life dynamics clients are navigating every day. My background in crisis work and advocacy deeply shapes how I show up with clients and how I hold complexity without rushing solutions.
I also love group therapy which many therapists shy away from. Groups are louder, messier, and more alive. They allow relational dynamics and attachment patterns to play out in real time, create opportunities for repair in the room, and lean into peer insight rather than placing everything on one clinician. That kind of work is energizing for me and often creates depth and momentum that individual therapy alone cannot.
This year, I’m launching a structured series of therapy groups that mirrors how people actually move through complicated relationships and relational healing. The series begins with an awareness stage for those stuck in the question of whether to stay or leave, focusing on patterns, ambivalence, and red flags without pressure to make immediate decisions. From there, the work shifts into guilt, boundaries, and emotional detachment, followed by reconnecting with identity, values, and self-trust. The series ultimately supports participants in building healthier future relationships with greater clarity, discernment, and attachment awareness, moving from survival and confusion toward autonomy and choice without forcing timelines or outcomes.
Alongside client work, I’m also expanding into clinician support through a domestic violence consultation group for therapists. This group is designed for clinicians working with complex DV dynamics who want thoughtful clinical guidance, ethical grounding, and space to think critically about risk, safety, and relational patterns. The focus is on strengthening clinical confidence, navigating nuance and liability, and supporting therapists in work that is often isolating and emotionally demanding.
I chose the name Renovated Heart Counseling because it reflects how I truly see healing. I don’t believe people are broken or need to be fixed. Most people are doing the best they can with patterns that once helped them survive. Renovation felt like the right word because it’s about slowing down, looking honestly at what’s there, and making intentional changes without tearing everything down.
That idea really guides my work. I care a lot about doing this work with integrity and clarity. My approach is trauma-informed and ethically grounded, and it’s focused on helping people move out of survival mode and into lives that feel more stable, empowered, and aligned with who they are. At its core, the name is a reminder that growth doesn’t mean starting over, it means strengthening what’s already there and building something healthier on purpose.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The most important lesson I’ve learned is that healing doesn’t come from pushing harder or fixing faster. It comes from slowing down enough to understand why patterns exist in the first place. Earlier in my journey, I believed progress meant endurance and figuring things out quickly. What I’ve learned instead is that meaningful change happens when people feel safe enough to be honest, especially about the parts that feel messy or uncomfortable.
I’ve also learned that healthy relationships are the catalyst for growth. Change happens in spaces where conversations are honest, compassionate, and focused on growth rather than blame. People share their deepest struggles only when they feel genuinely safe, and it’s within that safety that insight turns into movement and lasting change.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.renovatedheartcounseling.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/renovatedheartcounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Renovated-Heart-Counseling-LLC/61578569099742/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/angie-galyean-53ba10205/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@therapist_angie_galyean
