Kelley Gunter is an internationally acclaimed inspiring speaker, life coach, and number one Amazon bestselling author of the compelling memoir, You Have Such a Pretty Face. Gunter, who describes herself as a, “survivor, emotional warrior, and connoisseur of comfort food,” says that her, “painful journey to find peace and self-worth began with a 243-pound weight loss, included many dark moments of despair, and eventually brought me to my knees.” In a message that is particularly resonant in these trying times, Gunter says, “When the world says, ‘give up,’ Hope whispers, “try it one more time.’”
She graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master’s degree in counseling, and has been a licensed social worker for 28 years. She is now pursuing her Doctoral degree in Counseling - Traumatology. Following a lengthy career in social services, in 2017 she began writing and speaking full time. Gunter speaks candidly about the numerous addictions she developed as a result of the unhealed trauma she suffered from a childhood riddled with sexual abuse. She digs into the correlated shame that she states, “strangled the hope out of my life.” Those feelings of shame and powerlessness contributed to not only her initial weight gain, but the cross addictions she developed following her initial weight loss and 19-year successful maintenance of that loss.
Sober now for five years, Gunter applies her vast therapeutic knowledge to the painful reality that weight loss doesn't heal the trauma that contributed to the initial weight gain, nor does it systematically prevent the high likelihood that cross addictions can and may develop in patients who don't acknowledge that trauma. Shame is the core of all addictions and Gunter addresses that shame and the addictions she suffered. She provides not only professional insight into how crucial it is that we begin to address our inner pain, but also provides the compassion that can only be given from one who has walked the path and experienced the darkness herself. She acknowledges that without her strong faith in God, she wouldn’t be here today. A self-proclaimed, “Weapon against the darkness,” her message is clear: In spite of trauma and pain, peace and happiness do exist; healing and faith are the bridges that connect the two.
Her story of survival and writing have been featured internationally, being spotlighted on both The Daily Mail TV Show and The Daily Mail Website, featured in Recovery Today Magazine, Love What Matters, Thought Catalog; making the Australian National News, trending in London, and was also featured on the cover of People Magazine in South Africa. She has made appearances on LA Talk Radio, Good Morning Cincinnati and Living Dayton. She is a co-creator of the Binge-Free Babes Project, creator of the Facebook group, The Trauma Tribe, an administrator in the Facebook group, Victims of Violent Crime, and author of the popular blog, Ramblings from the Homecoming Queen of Crazy Town. She is currently finishing her second memoir, The Homecoming Queen of Crazy Town.
She can speak on a variety of topics including, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), weight loss, addictions, trauma, sexual abuse, motivation, and faith. She has spoken to large and small audiences live and virtually.
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Kelley Gunter Biography
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