Hi, I’m Dr. Katie Carhart, a licensed clinical psychologist. My goal is helping people better understand their brain, body, and nervous system, so they can build lives that work with them, not against them. My approach to education is neurodivergent-affirming and trauma informed.
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🪴 Work With Me Directly:
I provide therapy for adults, couples and adult family members, as well as intensives and ADHD evaluations through my practice Align & Empower Therapy, which is a private-pay telehealth practice for adults in PSYPACT states.
📩 Subscribe to The Capacity Project :
The Capacity Project is an educational platform designed to make psychology, nervous system health, and sustainable change feel more accessible, practical, and human. It currently lives on Substack, where I share articles, tools, reflections, and resources related to burnout, neurodivergence, trauma, capacity, and emotional wellbeing.
When you sign up, you’ll receive a welcome email with a few free tools and resources to get started. From there, you’ll get updates whenever new articles, worksheets, or offerings are released, along with news about future expansions of the platform such as workshops, courses, and other educational content.
What You'll Receive When you Subscribe to
The Capacity Project
Subscribe to receive practical psychology-informed tools, including:
✓ Do I Need Active or Passive Rest?
✓ Nervous System Check
✓ Quick Capacity Check
✓ Polyvagal infographic
✓ Executive Functioning Planner Template (2026)
✓ And more!
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Delivered to your e-mail instantly when you subscribe to my Substack.​​​​
Tool Preview
Executive Function Planner: Designed for the neurodivergent mind. Tab for each week, which includes daily to-do lists, daily schedule, ongoing to-do list. You can check off tasks for a quick dopamine boost and copy/paste easily when plans change.
Polyvagal Theory Infographic: Quick reference guide to nervous system stages- fight/flight, fawn, freeze and connection. Includes updates after the 2026 published critique.
Do I Need Active or Passive Rest?
Learn what kind of rest your system may actually need.
Nervous System Check
A quick guide for noticing what state you're in and what may help.
Capacity Check
A simple check-in when everything
feels like too much.
What this project is...
A different way to understand yourself.
We often assume we should be able to push through, do more, or simply try harder.
But many struggles make more sense when we understand capacity, what your brain, body, and nervous system are carrying, what they need, and how to build a more sustainable way forward.
The Capacity Project explores burnout, neurodivergence, nervous system health, psychology, and what it means to live in a way that feels more aligned.
Meet Dr. Katie Carhart
Clinical psychologist, educator, and writer exploring the intersection of psychology, nervous system health, burnout, ADHD, and sustainable living.
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My work is rooted in evidence-informed psychology, nervous system awareness, and helping people better understand themselves with more compassion and less shame. It is neurodivergent-affirming and trauma-informed.
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Recent Media & Writing
On my blog and through the media, I also share reflections on mental health, social policy, burnout, neurodivergence, and nervous system regulation, especially for people who carry deep care for the world and community around them and are still trying to tend to themselves.​
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Recent Media Quotes...
I was recently consulted by Real Simple on whether canceling plans to stay home is always self-care or could be a sign of avoidance, and how to tell the difference.
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Recent Blog Articles...
Here's my most recent article on how to cope with news anxiety, how it can impact us (via vicarious trauma, secondary trauma or moral injury): https://www.alignandempowertherapy.com/post/news-anxiety-empathy-fatigue-vicarious-trauma
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Recent Podcast Episodes...
In this episode of The Higher Self Hotline, I sit down with Zoey Greco to talk more about the current news cycle, empathy fatigue, burnout, alignment, polyvagal theory, nervous system regulation and more!
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🎙 Media Inquiries
Available for podcast interviews, expert commentary, and speaking requests.
Join The Capacity Project!
Get practical tools, thoughtful reflections, and psychology-informed insights delivered to your inbox.
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My approach to explaining mental health is rooted in evidence-informed psychology, nervous system awareness, and helping people better understand themselves with more compassion and less shame. It is neurodivergent-affirming and trauma-informed.​​​​​​​​​​​
If you're interested in working with me directly for therapy, intensives or ADHD evaluations...
Website Disclaimer
The information provided on this website, including blog posts, downloadable resources, and external links, is for educational and informational purposes only. It does not constitute psychological treatment, diagnosis, or individualized clinical advice. Viewing this site, Subscribing to The Capacity Project Substack or contacting Align & Empower Therapy, PLLC does not establish a psychologist–client relationship. Clinical services are provided only after completion of appropriate intake procedures and mutual agreement to treatment. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, please call 911 or 988, or go to your nearest emergency room. Services are offered via telehealth to adults located in PSYPACT-authorized states where Dr. Carhart is legally permitted to practice.​​​​​​​​
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Privacy Policy can be found here.
Accessibility Information can be found here.