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The Inked Therapist

The Inked Therapist

By: Soma Roots Therapy LLC
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This is a podcast about slow, embodied, liberation-rooted healing — for people the mental health system was never quite built for.

Hosted by Del Knight, PsyD, LPC, LMHC, CCTP-II (they/them) — licensed psychotherapist, Certified Body Trust Specialist, and co-founder of Soma Roots Therapy — The Inked Therapist is a show for queer and trans people, neurodivergent people, trauma survivors, and anyone who has ever left a therapy session feeling like they performed something rather than healed something.

Each episode is a deep dive: clinically grounded, politically honest, and delivered in a voice that doesn't mistake detachment for professionalism. No optimization hacks. No toxic positivity. No pretending that healing is faster or tidier than it actually is.

Topics include the nervous system and why your body isn't broken, body liberation and the Center for Body Trust framework, the difference between single-incident and complex trauma, what "trauma-informed care" actually requires versus what it's being used to sell, neurodivergent-affirming therapy for ADHD and autistic adults, queer and trans-affirming care beyond the rainbow sticker, and slow therapy for people who are exhausted by the hustle version of healing.

Solo deep-dives alternate with guest conversations featuring clinicians, researchers, and advocates doing work worth amplifying.

This is not a show about fixing yourself. It is a show about stopping the war long enough to actually listen to what your body has been trying to say.

Del practices at Soma Roots Therapy (somarootstherapy.com), a somatic, queer and trans-affirming, neurodivergent-affirming telehealth practice serving adults in Oregon and Washington.

New episodes every two weeks.

Del Knight Hygiene & Healthy Living Psychology Psychology & Mental Health
Episodes
  • What Makes Therapy Actually Trans-Affirming: Not Just 'Safe Space Sticker' Affirming

    What Makes Therapy Actually Trans-Affirming: Not Just 'Safe Space Sticker' Affirming
    Jun 19 2026

    Episode summary: In the final episode of The Inked Therapist's nervous system arc, Del Knight gets specific about what trans-affirming therapy actually means — not the sticker in the window, but the real thing. Five concrete clinical practices, a deep dive into somatic work with trans clients, a direct address to trans and nonbinary listeners about what they're allowed to expect, and an honest note to clinicians about what this work actually requires.

    Topics covered: Willing vs. affirming · Minority stress · Gender euphoria · Anti-gatekeeping · WPATH-informed care · Somatic work with trans clients · Political neutrality in therapy · Trans flourishing

    BuyMeACoffee Link: Support the Soma Roots Therapy Access Fund — monthly or one-time

    Links: Soma Roots Therapy Website · Blog companion post · Reach Out & Get Started

    Next episode: Episode 5 — 'It Could Be Worse' (outside the nervous system arc)
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    39 mins
  • Slow Therapy for Exhausted Humans: What It Actually Means to Heal at Your Own Pace

    Slow Therapy for Exhausted Humans: What It Actually Means to Heal at Your Own Pace
    Jun 5 2026

    In Episode 3, Del Knight answers the question that Episodes 1 and 2 were building toward: what does healing actually look like in practice? The answer — slow, titrated, body-centered, at the client's pace — is unpacked across four clinical pillars, a direct address to the people this approach is built for, and a personal account of why Soma Roots Therapy was built the way it was.

    Topics covered: Productivity logic and healing · Titration · Integration · Autonomy in therapy · Complex trauma · Nervous system pacing · Soma Roots practice philosophy · Anti-hustle healing

    BuyMeACoffee Link: Support the Soma Roots Therapy Access Fund — monthly or one-time

    Links: Soma Roots Therapy Website · Blog companion post · Reach Out & Get Started

    Next episode: Episode 4 — 'What Makes Therapy Actually Trans-Affirming'
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    33 mins
  • Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted

    Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted
    May 23 2026

    Episode summary: In Episode 2 of The Inked Therapist, Del Knight goes deeper on the nervous system arc — unpacking what 'adapted' actually means, why the story of dysfunction causes additional harm, why insight alone doesn't shift nervous system patterns, and what the foundational shift from combat to curiosity actually makes possible in healing.

    Topics covered: Nervous system adaptation · Dysfunction language and its costs · Prediction machine model · Individualizing systemic harm · Neuroplasticity · Why 'just relax' doesn't work · Somatic healing frame · Curiosity as a clinical starting point

    Links: Soma Roots Therapy Website · Blog companion post · Reach Out & Get Started

    Next episode: Episode 3 — 'Slow Therapy for Exhausted Humans'
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    33 mins
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