LMSW-C, 10 years of experience
Hi there, I'm Kristen! As an LCSW practicing in both Michigan and California, I have 11 years of experience helping women and young adults navigate anxiety, imposter syndrome, and unprocessed trauma before burnout takes over. I’m passionate about creating a space where you feel seen, supported, and empowered—whether you're managing high expectations, healing from past wounds, or struggling in your faith journey. I offer evidence-based therapies alongside nondenominational faith-based counseling for those who want to incorporate their Christian faith into their healing. I welcome and respect all belief systems, providing a compassionate, nonjudgmental space for growth and healing.
When establishing my practice, I was driven by the desire to integrate insights gleaned from previous experiences. Many clients express frustration with traditional talk therapy that lacks a clear plan or focus. Recognizing the importance of your time, energy, and resources, our initial session is dedicated to compassionately exploring your goals and needs. From there, I develop a personalized treatment plan, and we regularly touch base on the tools we are aiming to provide you with. Each session incorporates a mix of hands-on nervous system regulating techniques, skill-building activities, and processing. Additionally, I provide resources and feedback between sessions so you are supported in between appointments!
Over the past decade, I've come to deeply appreciate the wisdom behind the saying 'the more you learn, the less you know.' As a therapist, my greatest strength lies in recognizing that we're both individuals on a journey to explore what brings fulfillment to your life. I offer compassion without judgment, refraining from imposing my personal opinions. Instead, I empower you to utilize skills and tools to make decisions aligned with your best interests. I understand that not every session is about change; it's about accepting who you are and what you want, while creating a nurturing environment to shape your life according to your desires. My greatest asset is truly the ability to model to you what it looks like to accept you without judgement, while also helping you to make meaningful changes in your life.
I love working with individuals who pour their hearts into doing what's best for themselves and others, often finding themselves overwhelmed and burnt out in the process. These beautiful souls tend to be overthinkers and overuse logic. Many of my clients seek support when they're feeling stretched too thin, yearning for significant changes but feeling daunted by the process. They struggle with setting boundaries and often cope alone. Balancing their needs with others' is a constant challenge, and they could benefit greatly from tools to reconnect with their body, mind, and soul. I often witness these remarkable individuals resorting to self-soothing through overworking, substances, or ineffective coping mechanisms, as being still in their body can feel overwhelming. It's awesome to see the transformation when clients are provided with safe somatic tools to reconnect with their bodies, alongside practical skills to manage their relationships and life stressors.
Are you a young adult looking for a safe space to explore your spiritual journey without fear of judgment? Whether Christ is the center of your life or you're struggling with your faith, Christian counseling can offer a supportive place to grow and heal. I provide Christian counseling in a welcoming, non-denominational space where all faiths are respected. While I don’t offer religious advice, I’m here to walk alongside you—whether you want to integrate your beliefs into therapy or are wrestling with questions about faith. You’ll find a safe, loving space where you’re met with kindness, understanding, and zero judgment paired with evidenced based therapies to help you grow. No matter where you are on your journey, you are seen, heard, and supported.
With postgraduate training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), Somatic Experiencing, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Gottman methods, I'm dedicated to the idea that true healing starts from within. These evidence-based therapies aren't just techniques; they're powerful tools to fast-track your journey to wellness. DBT provides practical skills for a balanced and fulfilling life. Its four components—mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, and interpersonal effectiveness—help manage emotions, handle challenges, improve relationships, and stay present. Mastering these skills can make life feel more stable and meaningful.
We all have many parts, and IFS helps us to understand and embrace them. By nurturing self-esteem, fostering self-integration, and guiding trauma healing, it creates a supportive space for exploring and integrating these aspects of ourselves. Through this process, we cultivate greater self-awareness, inner harmony, and resilience.
Gottman is a great evidenced based therapy for couples struggling with relationship stress, intimacy, repair after infidelity & communication. It helps to provide you with evidenced based skill to help you be more effective in building a stronger and happier relationship with your significant other. Gottman tools can also be helpful for individual therapy to aid with processing relationship stress and exploring needs in relationships.
Somatic experiencing aims to help regulate the nervous system to help you heal and move through traumatic experiences. In sessions we explore hands on experiential body based techniques to help reduce stress, trauma symptoms and anxiety in the body.