Two women. One mission.
A mother's lived experience and a licensed therapist's clinical expertise building the space healing mothers deserve.
Ashley's Story
Co-Founder | Mother & Writer
"I co-founded this movement because I know what it costs to love your kids and still be afraid of yourself."
I'm Ashley.
A mother, survivor, and writer who built this movement from the middle of my own healing. I came into this work carrying wounds I hadn't fully named yet, trying to build something safe for my children while my own nervous system was still in survival mode.
For a long time I thought the problem was me. It took a long time and a lot of hard, unglamorous work, to understand that I wasn't a bad mother. I was a traumatized one.
Trauma Mama Rising is the space I needed and couldn't find. If you're doing the work and some days the work is just not making things worse...you are in the right place.
"Some days the bravest thing I did was stay in the room with my kids instead of disappearing into my own survival."- Ashley Keel
Karli's clinical services are offered independently through her private practice. The content she contributes to Trauma Mama Rising is educational in nature and does not constitute a therapeutic relationship.
Karli Ortmann
LPC & Co-Founder
The clinical expertise behind the movement.
I'm Karli.
A Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) specializing in trauma-related disorders, anxiety, mood disorders, and culturally-competent, evidence-based care. I have deep experience in trauma-informed treatment, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), and sex therapy. I approach every person I work with by meeting them exactly where they are.
I graduated from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
But I'm also a mother doing my own healing work. I'm not standing on the outside of this movement looking in...I'm in it too. What drew me to co-founding Trauma Mama Rising is the same thing that drives my clinical work: the belief that connection is medicine, that healing doesn't require perfection, and that every person deserves a space where they are fully seen without judgment.
"When our lives become difficult, it can cause us to feel disconnected from those around us and our intrapersonal sense of being. Finding a connection can be scary, but also as simple as reaching out." — Karli Ortmann, LPC
"When our lives become difficult, finding a connection can be scary, but also as simple as reaching out."
Your past shaped you. It does not get the final word.
Breaking cycles is brave, exhausting, holy work.
Trauma may explain your reactions, but healing still requires responsibility.
Repair matters more than perfection.
Mothers deserve healing for themselves not only for their children.
What we believe here.
An Invitation to Rise Together
You don't have to carry the weight of your story alone. Join our community of mothers who understand that healing is honest, unglamorous, and better together.