I’m Kate, I’m an LA-based therapist, specializing in trauma. I learned early on in my career that being a human first allows me to connect with each person, within their own ecosystem, so I've carried the lesson of leading with humanity and authenticity with me throughout my career. So many of us didn’t learn to accurately read emotions as young people. It probably wasn’t modeled for us–and that is a huge part of WHY I show my emotions as a therapist. Modeling emotions can be a reparative experience for clients if their emotions were ever invalidated or dismissed. It can also be incredibly validating if they’ve been through something difficult or traumatic (and especially if they struggle to see it as such!) That validation contributes to the therapeutic process, and allows clients to feel safe and work towards healing with me as their therapist. I’m pretty radically open with my clients; I do this for a number of reasons, and I put a lot of thought and intentionality into it. The topic of authenticity does often come up in session, and in those conversations it isn’t uncommon that clients share how my openness as a therapist impacts their ability to show up for themselves in and out of session. I’ve done a lot of work to connect to my own authenticity unapologetically, and this is something I strive to pass along to my clients.

What can clients expect to take away from sessions with you?

Lots of talking from you, lots of listening from me! I interject and ask questions when helpful. Think of this first session as you bringing in an extremely heavy, overstuffed suitcase and simply emptying the contents. The rest of therapy is about sorting through what's inside, deciding what you want to keep or not.

Explain to clients what areas you feel are your biggest strengths.

I’ve found that clients most appreciate me being my whole, human self in session. I use the idea of “human first, therapist second” as a guidepost when I think about how I want to show up in sessions. My intention is always to meet my clients with deep empathy, a sense of humor (usually dark and dry), and a hell of a lot of encouragement. This is really rooted in the way that I try to exist as a human (and friend, wife, and mother) and I pride myself on running my practice like an extension of that as much as possible.

About Kate Mink