About

Leslie J. Chesshir

LCSW, SEP, LMT, EMDRIA Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant

Leslie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), EMDRIA Certified Therapist and Approved Consultant, Licensed Massage Therapist and Bodyworker, and a Certified Safe and Sound Protocol Provider. She has accumulated over 800 hours in additional, advanced education in trauma resolution/renegotiation, somatic psychotherapy as an SEP, and training with the Embodied Recovery Institute for somatics and Eating Disorders. She has a decade of experience as an EMDR therapist, and provides consultation to providers for EMDRIA Certification and for Consultants-in-Training, along with special issues in treating Complex/Attachment/Relational Trauma, and Dissociative Disorders secondary to advanced consultation and training in Ego State Therapy and is IFS informed (“Parts Work”). Leslie is also a training assistant for the Somatic Experiencing Institute, and is a Trainer-in-Training for EMDR Restorative Consulting, LLC where she assists with EMDR Basic Trainings and provides On Demand, Advanced EMDR trainings as a credit provider for EMDRIA.

Leslie began her work with people in the non-profit sector in the early 2000s and completed graduate school in 2008 where she began her career working with acute and chronic trauma, adjustment to illness, and grief and loss at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. She served as Faculty at the School of Social Work at UALR and provided mental health care to Veterans at the Residential PTSD program at CAVHS. After serving at the VA, Leslie started her own private practice in 2017 and has devoted her professional career to the study and treatment of Complex Trauma, Dissociative Disorders, and the intersection of these presentations with Eating Disorders.

Leslie enjoys gardening, spending time with friends and family, eating good food, and hanging out with her beloved English Bulldog, Watson.

About Our Practice

The best result of my work is to see people heal from their trauma and go live the life they were destined to. The wonderful side effects of this are seeing people seek help, and in turn be able to help others in their lives and live at their full capacity. It’s a beautiful thing to witness.

My personally philosophy is to create a safe space for my clients – free of judgement and accepting them as they are.

Many of my clients have symptoms of trauma presenting in their life, may have grown up with difficult family dynamics, known eating disorders, and/or have experienced hardship from identifying as a member of the LGBTQ community.

I created Rising Lotus Therapy to be the safe place to come for support and healing.

After working as a victim advocate for domestic violence victims, and working for decades as a therapist in a clinical role, I followed my calling to being Rising Lotus Therapy and to support individuals in a way that was custom to their journey.