Creative Coaches
Katherine E. Standefer | Writer, Trauma Writing Doula, and Teacher
Katherine E. Standefer | Writer, Trauma Writing Doula, & Teacher
As a trauma writing doula, Kati Standefer accompanies nonfiction writers through the underworld process of extracting difficult stories from the body and building them beautifully upon the page. As a writing teacher, her unique embodied pedagogy helps writers navigate the physiological hurdles, social barriers, craft challenges, and spiritual invitations involved in telling stories about the body (specifically sexuality, illness, and trauma).
Kati is the author of Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life (Little, Brown Spark 2020), which was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Pick, one of Oprah Magazine's Best Books of Fall 2020, and one of Kirkus Reviews' 100 Best Nonfiction Books of 2020. Lightning Flowers has been featured on NPR's Fresh Air, in People Magazine, and on the goop podcast, and was shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Her other writing appeared in The Best American Essays 2016. Kati earned her MFA from the University of Arizona and teaches for Ashland University's Low-Residency MFA program. She lives on a piñon- and juniper-studded mesa with her chickens.
If writing is an act of power, anything that cages our power is a craft issue. Kati's work draws on more than 30 hours of training at the Arizona Trauma Institute, certification as a Sexologist, training in reiki and intuitive practice, and the long, brutal walk that birthed her own book.
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Trauma Writing Doula sessions:
New clients- $175 for 75 minutes
Returning clients- $150 for 60 minutes
Add on feedback- Up to 5 pages for $60; Up to 10 pages for $100; Up to 20 pages for $160; Up to 40 pages for $300.
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Find Kati's upcoming writing classes here:
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"This work has been life-changing in ways I never could have expected. I have a very different relationship to my trauma now that it exists in narrative form. I have had the opportunity to sit with it as I write, and to allow myself to have the space to feel the feelings without guilt--even if that means taking a break from the writing. This experience has been more transformative than many cumulative years of therapy and counseling. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't say it enough."
--Trauma Writing Client, Athens, OH
"This was my first writing class ever. I was nervous - unsure if I could hold my own. Kati blew away my fears with the kindest breath, welcoming my story and beckoning forth new details, descriptions and angles. It was a revelation; I thought I could only tell my story one way. Kati taught me differently - through prompts, exercises and masterful facilitation. I gained not only new skills, new friends and a new community, but a whole new way of seeing my narrative."
— Daisye Orr, illness writing and trauma writing student, Olympia, WA
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"Kati's guidance, assignments, and feedback didn’t just reinvent my approach to personal narrative; it reoriented my entire approach to my own healing. Kati’s insistence that I see my trauma healing as non-negotiably body-based, not something I could hide in the verbal or intellectual, changed the trajectory of my life. Since working with Kati, I’ve graduated from talk therapy, embraced somatic healing, and am even changing the direction of my career toward bodywork. I cannot thank her enough for acting as a model for trauma survivorship, and for showing me the true, messy meaning of wellness."
— Chrissy Tolley, creative coaching client, Tucson, AZ
As a trauma writing doula, Kati Standefer accompanies nonfiction writers through the underworld process of extracting difficult stories from the body and building them beautifully upon the page. As a writing teacher, her unique embodied pedagogy helps writers navigate the physiological hurdles, social barriers, craft challenges, and spiritual invitations involved in telling stories about the body (specifically sexuality, illness, and trauma).
Kati is the author of Lightning Flowers: My Journey to Uncover the Cost of Saving a Life (Little, Brown Spark 2020), which was a New York Times Book Review Editor's Pick, one of Oprah Magazine's Best Books of Fall 2020, and one of Kirkus Reviews' 100 Best Nonfiction Books of 2020. Lightning Flowers has been featured on NPR's Fresh Air, in People Magazine, and on the goop podcast, and was shortlisted for the J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize from Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard. Her other writing appeared in The Best American Essays 2016. Kati earned her MFA from the University of Arizona and teaches for Ashland University's Low-Residency MFA program. She lives on a piñon- and juniper-studded mesa with her chickens.
If writing is an act of power, anything that cages our power is a craft issue. Kati's work draws on more than 30 hours of training at the Arizona Trauma Institute, certification as a Sexologist, training in reiki and intuitive practice, and the long, brutal walk that birthed her own book.
.
.
Trauma Writing Doula sessions:
New clients- $175 for 75 minutes
Returning clients- $150 for 60 minutes
Add on feedback- Up to 5 pages for $60; Up to 10 pages for $100; Up to 20 pages for $160; Up to 40 pages for $300.
.
Find Kati's upcoming writing classes here:
http://www.katherinestandefer.com/calendar
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"This work has been life-changing in ways I never could have expected. I have a very different relationship to my trauma now that it exists in narrative form. I have had the opportunity to sit with it as I write, and to allow myself to have the space to feel the feelings without guilt--even if that means taking a break from the writing. This experience has been more transformative than many cumulative years of therapy and counseling. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I can't say it enough."
--Trauma Writing Client, Athens, OH
"This was my first writing class ever. I was nervous - unsure if I could hold my own. Kati blew away my fears with the kindest breath, welcoming my story and beckoning forth new details, descriptions and angles. It was a revelation; I thought I could only tell my story one way. Kati taught me differently - through prompts, exercises and masterful facilitation. I gained not only new skills, new friends and a new community, but a whole new way of seeing my narrative."
— Daisye Orr, illness writing and trauma writing student, Olympia, WA
.
"Kati's guidance, assignments, and feedback didn’t just reinvent my approach to personal narrative; it reoriented my entire approach to my own healing. Kati’s insistence that I see my trauma healing as non-negotiably body-based, not something I could hide in the verbal or intellectual, changed the trajectory of my life. Since working with Kati, I’ve graduated from talk therapy, embraced somatic healing, and am even changing the direction of my career toward bodywork. I cannot thank her enough for acting as a model for trauma survivorship, and for showing me the true, messy meaning of wellness."
— Chrissy Tolley, creative coaching client, Tucson, AZ
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Contact Kati