Meet Katie Stone of Katie Stone Wellness

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katie Stone.

Hi Katie, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
My story really starts with my own mental health journey. I developed an eating disorder in high school, which I can now understand as an attempt to control how I was perceived by others and to cope with how deeply sensitive and painfully self-aware I was from a young age. I’ve always been someone who felt things intensely and was endlessly curious about people—why we do what we do, how we adapt, and what shapes the ways we move through the world.

Growing up, I was high-achieving and did very well in school, but a lot of that success came with an invisible cost. I was working incredibly hard behind the scenes through constant studying, tutoring, and pushing myself to keep up with expectations. It wasn’t until I nearly failed out of college after being a straight-A student throughout high school that I realized something deeper was going on. Eventually, I discovered I had ADHD, and that understanding became a major turning point in how I saw myself.

For a long time, I coped by trying to change myself to better fit what I thought was desired or expected of me. That strategy brought a lot of external success, but also a lot of silent turmoil. My own healing came through years of personal therapy, studying psychology and neuroscience, learning to accept both my body and my neurodivergent brain, and making intentional choices to build a life around people, environments, and values that felt aligned with my authentic self.

I majored in both art and psychology because I’ve always loved the intersection of science and creativity, and I still believe that combination is one of the most powerful assets we can bring into both life and work. Over time, it became glaringly obvious that I was meant to pursue a career in psychology. After undergrad, I briefly worked in marketing, but it never felt meaningful or fulfilling in the way I wanted my work to feel. Eventually, I made the risky decision to quit my job, pack up my life, move to Los Angeles, and go into a frankly outrageous amount of debt to attend graduate school and become a psychotherapist.

That path ultimately led me to founding Katie Stone Wellness, where I now get to do work that feels deeply aligned with both my lived experience and my values. Today, I specialize in helping people heal from eating disorders, trauma, body image struggles, anxiety, and the long-term effects of living disconnected from themselves. I also work with many neurodivergent clients, which feels especially meaningful given my own journey. At the heart of all of it is a desire to help people feel less alone, less ashamed, and more empowered to build lives that actually fit who they are.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not at all. A lot of my journey has involved learning how to build a life and career that actually fit me, instead of constantly trying to force myself into versions of success that looked good on the outside but felt unsustainable internally.

For a long time, I was high-achieving and outwardly functioning well, but struggling privately with an eating disorder, undiagnosed ADHD, perfectionism, self-pressure, and a deep habit of trying to change myself to be more acceptable or successful. That created a lot of burnout, shame, and internal disconnection over the years.
Professionally, there were challenges too. Graduate school was both deeply meaningful and financially overwhelming, and building a private practice from the ground up required me to grow in ways I didn’t fully anticipate. I had to learn how to be not just a therapist, but also a business owner, leader, marketer, and decision-maker—all while continuing to do my own healing and unlearning along the way.

One of the biggest lessons has been learning that success doesn’t have to come at the cost of my well-being. A lot of my path has been about learning to trust myself more, work with my brain instead of against it, and create a life and career that feel aligned, sustainable, and authentic.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Katie Stone Wellness?
Katie Stone Wellness is a boutique psychotherapy practice based in the South Bay of Los Angeles, serving individuals, couples, and families both in person and virtually throughout California. At its core, the practice was built around the belief that healing happens most meaningfully in spaces where people feel safe enough to be fully human.
We specialize in working with eating disorders, trauma, body image concerns, anxiety, neurodivergence, and relational struggles. Many of the clients we support are people who appear high-functioning from the outside, but internally feel overwhelmed, emotionally exhausted, disconnected from themselves, or stuck in patterns rooted in shame, survival, and chronic self-abandonment. Our work is centered on helping people move beyond simply managing symptoms and toward creating lives that feel more connected, embodied, and aligned with who they actually are.
What sets the practice apart is its integration of trauma-informed, body-inclusive, relational, and neurodivergent-affirming care. We approach therapy with a lot of depth and nuance, and we place a strong emphasis on understanding the full context of a person’s experience—including their nervous system, attachment history, identity, environment, and the systems they’ve had to navigate or survive. We also know that many people have had experiences in therapy, healthcare, or recovery spaces where they felt misunderstood, pathologized, or unseen, and we care deeply about offering something more compassionate, collaborative, and genuinely affirming.
Brand-wise, I’m most proud that Katie Stone Wellness feels like an authentic extension of both my clinical values and my lived values. It’s a practice that prioritizes depth, warmth, integrity, and humanity, while still offering strong clinical care. In addition to therapy services, I also provide clinical supervision, consultation, and training for other therapists, which has become an especially meaningful part of the work.
More than anything, I want people to know that our practice is for those who are tired of trying to “hold it all together” while quietly struggling underneath the surface. Healing doesn’t have to mean becoming someone more acceptable or more performative—it can mean coming back into relationship with yourself.

Do you any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
One of my favorite childhood memories is spending time outside, especially near the water or in nature. I was always someone who felt deeply connected to the outdoors, and I think some of my earliest experiences of calm, freedom, and joy happened there. In fact, one of the phrases that showed up repeatedly on my elementary school report cards was “excels in outdoor play,” which honestly still feels very on-brand.

I remember being really aware of small details—the way the air felt, the sounds around me, the light changing—and feeling a sense of presence that I didn’t always feel in other environments. Looking back, I think those moments were some of the first times I felt truly connected to myself. That sensitivity has stayed with me and, in many ways, continues to shape both who I am and the work I do today.

Pricing:

• 50-minute Individual session fees range from $170-$275
• 50 minute Couples and Family session fees range from $185-$300
• We do not accept insurance, but provide Superbills for insurance reimbursement
• We offer sliding scale pricing based on financial need
• $100+ for 50-minute 1:1 clinical consultations and training for clinicians

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.katiestonewellness.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katiestonewellness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/katiestonewellness
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiestonewellness
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/katie-stone-wellness-hermosa-beach
• Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/profile/733049