About Groundwork Trauma Education
Groundwork Trauma Education was created for therapists ready to practice in a way that actually feels like them.
Most trainings teach you what to do. Groundwork is about how you show up.
This is a space to slow down, think clearly, and develop the kind of clinical confidence that comes not from memorizing protocols — but from learning to trust yourself in the room. At some point in your work, things start to click. You realize you know more than you think you do. You stop trying to do therapy the right way and start responding to what is actually happening in front of you.
Groundwork exists to support that shift.
We Do Things Differently
This is not about abandoning training or structure. It is about loosening the grip of rigid ways of working that keep therapists disconnected from their own instincts, their clients, and the work itself. Because the truth is, much of what has shaped this field was not built with flexibility, creativity, or client-led work in mind. And many therapists feel it.
Here, we do something different. Groundwork is a space where curiosity matters more than certainty, where your voice and your way of working are not only welcome but necessary — and where you are supported in growing into the kind of therapist you know you are capable of becoming.
Meet Our Team
Groundwork Trauma Education is led by Melanie Reese, LMFT, and brings together a community of skilled trauma-focused clinicians who teach continuing education courses throughout the year. Each instructor is selected for their clinical depth, integrity, and commitment to advancing trauma-informed care. Together, we offer trainings designed to support therapists at every stage of their professional growth.
Melanie Reese, LMFT, CCTP
Founder - Groundwork Trauma Education
Certified Clinical Trauma Therapist I Certified Brainspotting Consultant I AAMFT Approved Supervisor
Melanie Reese is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, AAMFT Approved Supervisor, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional with over fifteen years of experience specializing in complex trauma and nervous system-informed care. She is the founder of Trauma Therapy of Nashville and the creator of Groundwork Trauma Education.
Melanie is trained in EMDR, Brainspotting, Parts Work, Somatic Therapy, and Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy, and serves as a Brainspotting Consultant. Her work centers not on any single modality, but on how therapists think, track, and respond in real time — and what it takes to move beyond protocol-driven practice into work that is truly attuned, flexible, and grounded.
She is known for helping clinicians step out of the pressure to get it right and into a deeper level of clarity and confidence in the room. Her teaching challenges the idea that effective therapy comes from following a formula — emphasizing instead clinical discernment, nervous system awareness, and the ability to stay present in complexity.
Her approach has been shaped by years of direct clinical work, sitting with clients in the nuance and unpredictability of trauma healing. The work that cannot be scripted. The work that asks the therapist to think, not just apply.
Through Groundwork Trauma Education, Melanie is building a community of therapists learning to practice with more depth, more intention, and a stronger connection to their own clinical voice.
Amanda Kimbrell, LPC-MHSP
EMDR Certified Therapist I EMDRIA-Approved Consultant I Clinical Supervisor
Instructor
Amanda Kimbrell is a trauma-focused psychotherapist, EMDR Certified therapist, and EMDRIA-Approved Consultant with deep expertise in helping adults heal from the lasting effects of childhood trauma, chronic stress, anxiety, and complex PTSD. Her clinical work is known for its depth, attunement, and compassion, qualities she brings into every training and consultation room as well.
In addition to her clinical practice, Amanda provides consultation and clinical supervision to therapists who want to deepen their trauma skills and build greater confidence in their work. She is the founder of Inward and Onward Therapy and Elevated Growth Collective, where she fosters a collaborative professional community for therapists, and she is a sought-after public speaker on topics related to trauma therapy and private practice for clinicians.
Amanda holds a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology from Tennessee State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology from Vanderbilt University. She is honored to teach with Groundwork Trauma Education, where she offers continuing education designed to help therapists meet trauma and dissociation with both skill and presence.
