McKenna Walsh, Ph.D., MFT
Head of Research | Clinical Associate
About Dr. McKenna Walsh
Dr. McKenna Walsh (AMFT #161353) is a psychotherapist and Research Lead specializing in couples, families, developmental trauma, executive leadership, ADHD, suicidality, trauma, and resilience. Working under the clinical supervision of Rebecca Turner, LMFT, BCN, Dr. Walsh brings a warm, thoughtful, and deeply relational approach to therapy. Her work is grounded in a systemic and trauma-informed lens, helping clients better understand how early experiences, relational patterns, stress physiology, and family systems shape emotional well-being, identity, communication, and connection.
In therapy, Dr. Walsh works with individuals, couples, and families navigating developmental trauma, relational distress, emotional dysregulation, eating disorders and disordered eating, grief and loss, neurodivergence, ADHD, life transitions, and the cumulative impact of chronic stress. She brings warmth, curiosity, and clinical depth to the therapeutic space, creating an environment where clients can feel heard and understood while making sense of patterns that may no longer be serving them. Together, she and her clients build new pathways for communication, emotional regulation, connection, and resilience that support meaningful change both within themselves and in their relationships.
Dr. Walsh has a particular passion for working with couples and families. Drawing from her training in Marriage and Family Therapy and Medical Family Therapy, she approaches emotional and behavioral concerns within the larger context of relationships, family systems, health, culture, and lived experience. Rather than viewing challenges in isolation, she works collaboratively with clients to understand what is happening within the individual as well as between the people who matter most to them. This systemic perspective allows her to support couples and families in recognizing entrenched relational patterns, strengthening communication, navigating conflict, and creating greater connection and understanding.
Dr. Walsh also has a specialized interest in executive leadership and high-performance environments, supporting leaders, founders, creatives, and professionals as they navigate the emotional and relational demands of responsibility, visibility, decision-making, burnout, and organizational stress. Her previous career in innovation, technology, and media gives her a lived understanding of many of the environments her clients are navigating. Her therapeutic work helps clients strengthen emotional flexibility, deepen relational insight, and develop more sustainable ways of engaging with both their personal and professional lives.
Dr. Walsh holds a Ph.D. in Medical Family Therapy from Saint Louis University’s Department of Family and Community Medicine and an M.A. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Syracuse University, where she specialized in Trauma Studies. Her doctoral research examined the epidemiological impact of media on behavioral health, with particular attention to trauma, systemic health disparities, and the ways digital narratives shape mental health outcomes. This research background informs her clinical work, allowing her to hold each client’s story within a broader understanding of individual experience, relationships, culture, community, and the systems that shape our lives.
In addition to her clinical work with Dr. Kate Truitt & Associates, Dr. Walsh serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at Saint Louis University School of Medicine. She is also the Research Lead for the Truitt Institute, where her research interests include trauma, suicidality, resilience, applied neuroscience, behavioral health, and the NeuroTriad Model. These academic and research roles complement her work as a therapist, bringing an ongoing engagement with emerging behavioral health research into the thoughtful, individualized care she provides her clients.
Before transitioning to therapy and research, McKenna built a successful career at the intersection of innovation, technology, and media. She was a prominent writer on Quora and contributed to publications including Forbes, Adweek, and Inc., offering insights into venture capital, media, and emerging technologies. Her early interest in behavioral health and media led her to executive produce and host The Failure Project for Refinery29, a series exploring resilience, growth, and the human experience of navigating adversity. As a sought-after speaker, she has shared her expertise at global events including CES, SXSW, and Cannes Lions.
Across her work, Dr. Walsh brings together the relational heart of psychotherapy with the perspective of a researcher and the real-world experience of someone who understands complex, high-demand environments. At the center of that work is the person, couple, or family in front of her—and the creation of a therapeutic relationship where clients can feel supported as they better understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, and move toward meaningful and sustainable change.