Ashley Buckner is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist serving clients in Utah and California. Her path as a therapist began with a passion for supporting at-risk youth, which grew into a career dedicated to trauma healing. Today, she specializes in Brainspotting and provides care for adults, teens, and families, with a focus on trauma, anxiety, depression, and faith transitions. She is also passionate about creating safe, supportive spaces in her community.

What happens when you build a life outside your religion and hometown—then choose to go back? In this episode, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Ashley Buckner shares how moving from small-town Mormon Utah to Los Angeles, then unexpectedly back to Utah, shaped her healing and her work with trauma, faith transitions, and family systems.

Ashley talks about growing up in Cedar City in a mixed-faith home, the culture shock of landing in LA at 18, and how her years in California ultimately led her to specialize in trauma-focused therapy and Brainspotting. She also reflects on returning to Utah in 2018 to start a family, how that move reactivated religious wounds, and why living back inside the culture that shaped her became both deeply difficult and profoundly reparative.

In this conversation, we explore:

1. What Brainspotting is and why “where you look affects how you feel” can be so powerful for trauma, anxiety, and depression
2. How growing up in a high-demand religious culture impacts nervous system regulation, identity, and self-worth
3. The complex mix of grief, confusion, and relief that can come with faith transitions and religious disillusionment
4. Why going back to a triggering environment can sometimes open the door to unexpected healing
5. How Ashley now creates safe, supportive spaces for adults, teens, and families navigating religious trauma, mixed-faith relationships, and evolving beliefs

Want to know how you can begin your journey to hope and healing? Visit Elevated Life Academy for classes and free resources for personal development and healing.

Resources:

CherieLindberg.com

ElevatedLifeAcademy.com

Guest Links:

Instagram: ashleyb_therapy

website: ashleybucknerlmft.com