4 therapists in Virginia matching your needs

Hi, My name is Kristel. I am an LCSW who provides talk therapy via Telehealth. I am a multifaceted individual with a deep well of life experiences that inform my perspective. As a former military brat and spouse, I've intimately understood the complexities of life's transitions. My journey has taken me from being a stay-at-home mom to transitioning back into the workforce, granting me a unique appreciation for both roles. I'm a devoted mother of two children, and my path has been marked by significant challenges, including the struggle with infertility and profound grief. I proudly identify as a feminist and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. These aspects of my identity deeply influence my approach to life and work. With a background in working with families, individuals, and children, I bring a wealth of experience. My personal journey has shaped my empathetic, compassionate, and inclusive perspective, which I offer as a source of support and understanding to those I work with.

“Taking refuge” is a phrase in Buddhism that serves as an invitation to our world-weary self to find relief. From the confusion of life’s dramas and the inevitable pull to get swept up in them. Loving relationships can offer that kind of relief, those in which one feels accepted and seen. And meditation, too: the mind slowing down and opening to its inherent spaciousness. Taking refuge requires building trustworthiness, through a softening and strengthening that happens over time in relationship. That is one of the reasons psychotherapy is effective: The trustworthiness that therapist and client build together allows for a depth of self to be known and expressed. Such encounters with self in turn build trustworthiness within oneself, for as our capacities enlarge, we enlarge. In coming to find safety and solace within, one learns to live less fearfully, participate in relationships with greater authority and ease. As a graduate of Naropa University and longtime Contemplative Psychotherapist, I see psychological healing through a Buddhist Psychology lens: as we open our hearts to ourselves through compassion and insight, we are able to shift and find more flexibility in our conditioned patterns of relating to ourselves and others. To facilitate that opening, I draw from a variety of psychotherapeutic practices and philosophies—Jungian Psychology, Gestalt Psychology, Object Relations Psychology, Rogerian Psychology, Internal Family Relations, and many mindfulness-based interventions such as Hakomi and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I seek to create a warm and compassionate space in which you can explore, understand, and transform your life.

As a licensed professional counselor with over a decade of experience, my work revolves around helping individuals overcome addiction, emotional challenges, and mental health disorders. I employ evidence-based interventions and a holistic approach to provide clients with coping mechanisms, relapse prevention strategies, and a supportive environment. My focus includes anger management, helping clients understand triggers, challenge negative self-talk, and develop emotional regulation skills. Additionally, I work with individuals with mental health disorders, creating a safe space for healing and using evidence-based treatments. Beyond individual therapy, I actively engage in community outreach programs to raise awareness about mental health and addiction. My aim is to provide compassionate care and a healing space for individuals seeking support.

If someone asked you not to think for 10 minutes how hard would that be? Is overthinking about the “What Ifs” driving you to relentlessly check things over and over again? Are you determined to find certainty in an uncertain world? Do you frequently ask others repeatedly if something or someone is going to be OK? No matter how much you do a task or say a particular thing does peace of mind elude you? Does the compulsion to handwash, re-read, double check, pray, or re-arrange items never provide lasting relief? Do you find yourself burdened by intrusive thoughts that strike against your will and preoccupy your mind for hours a day? OCD is characterized by unabating obsessions matched with intense mental or behavioral rituals to relieve the anxiety provoked. It is not treated by “talk therapy” but with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Through customized gradual exposures, ERP is an evidence-based method of intervention to reduce the severity of OCD symptoms. ERP is a collaborative and creative approach to learning new skills and strategies to become comfortable with uncertainty and more confident in your ability to handle life’s unexpected challenges. My style is compassionate, client centered, and culturally sensitive. What to do if you’re nervous about sharing your thoughts with me in therapy? If you're too embarrassed to share something, you can write it down, you can use visuals, you can type it. We can work around this to find other ways that you can deliver the communication. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, Hawaii, Indiana, Massachusetts, Nevada and Virginia. Registered Out-of-State Telehealth Provider in Florida, South Carolina, and Vermont. My treatment focus is on neurodivergent issues, gifted learners, managing life transitions, women’s mental health issues around shifting roles in family and career, and immigration/re-entry adjustment stressors.