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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
  • Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted

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

    Episode title: Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted

    Runtime: ~55 minutes

    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

    Companion blog post: 'Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted' — somaroots.com

    Next episode: Episode 3 — 'Slow Therapy for Exhausted Humans'
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    33 mins
  • Chronic Vigilance Is a Trauma Response (And No, It Doesn't Mean You're 'Too Much')

    Chronic Vigilance Is a Trauma Response (And No, It Doesn't Mean You're 'Too Much')
    May 23 2026

    Episode title: Chronic Vigilance Is a Trauma Response (And No, It Doesn't Mean You're 'Too Much')

    Runtime: ~50 minutes

    Episode summary: In the first full episode of The Inked Therapist, Del Knight breaks down chronic vigilance — what it is, how it develops, who carries it, and what healing actually looks like. If you've never been able to fully relax even when everything is technically fine, this one is for you.

    Topics covered: Chronic vigilance / hypervigilance · Nervous system adaptation · Minority stress · Window of tolerance (intro) · Somatic approach to healing · Titration

    Links: Website: somaroots.com · Blog companion post: https://www.somarootstherapy.com/soma-roots-therapy-blog/chronic-vigilance-is-a-trauma-response · Reach Out & Get Started: https://www.somarootstherapy.com/reach-out

    Next episode: 'Your Nervous System Isn't Broken — It Adapted' (Episode 2)
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    27 mins
  • Pilot: "Who This Is For"

    Pilot: "Who This Is For"
    May 23 2026

    The Inked Therapist is back. New chapter. Same unapologetic voice.

    In this pilot episode, Del Knight, PsyD, LPC, LMHC (they/them) — licensed psychotherapist, and cofounder of Soma Roots Therapy — introduces the show, the practice, and the specific kind of person this podcast was made for.

    Not a general wellness podcast. Not a clinical lecture series. A show for people who have been told, in one way or another, that the way they experience the world is the problem — and who are starting to suspect that maybe the world's framework was just the wrong one.

    This episode covers who Del is and why they're making this show, what Soma Roots Therapy is and what it's built around, what "slow, embodied, and rooted in liberation" actually means in clinical practice, and who this podcast is talking to directly — queer and trans people, neurodivergent people, trauma survivors, people whose bodies have been pathologized, people who have tried therapy and found it wasn't quite built for them.

    If you've ever left a therapy session feeling like you performed something rather than healed something — this one is for you.

    If you've ever been told your nervous system is broken, your body is a problem, or your identity is a clinical complication — this one is for you.

    If you are exhausted by healing frameworks that ask you to optimize and hustle your way to wellness — this one is definitely for you.

    Welcome. The door is open.

    Links: Soma Roots Therapy Website · Reach Out & Get Started
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    21 mins
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