Collaborative, optimistic, non-judgmental, strength-based, empowering—these are terms that express my work in individual therapy. I create a compassionate, safe environment so clients  can express suffering, experience relief from suffering, and chart new pathways. This approach allows individuals to gain insight, and to learn new patterns of behavior and thinking, improved self-care, and positive relationship skills. The ultimate goal is the removal of barriers to fuller self-expression and fulfillment.

Coaching is a positive, uplifting service focused on sparking change to promote health and wellbeing.  Clients participate in coaching without receiving psychiatric diagnoses or behavioral health service codes.  (I am experienced with, and happy to talk with you about, psychiatric symptoms, diagnoses, and treatment if you so choose).  Coach and client actively collaborate to meet goals by meeting at a pace – weekly, monthly, episodically—that best suits your needs.  

My eclectic approach draws from a wide variety of therapeutic traditions and life experiences.  I am passionate about reducing and ending suffering, whether from depression, anxiety, losses, and/or adjustments to change.  You deserve to feel better promptly. 

I work with individuals of all ages, and with families, however you define family.  From early development and self- regulation to managing challenging family transitions, with kindness and empathy, I serve as your ally in every sense of the word. 

My style of coaching is proactive, imaginative, and solution focused, more active than passive, encouraging without pressuring.

Experiential learning is powerful.  I guide you to stretch just the right amount without overwhelm, so that you can make the changes you wish to make at the pace you choose. 

  
When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid. 

–Audre Lorde
 

Coaching for Families

Whether it’s a trip to the dentist, potty learning challenges, preparing for middle school, applying for college, a death in the family, or just complicated busy schedules, even the strongest families can enjoy learning fun tools to help navigate stressful times.

I am available to meet with families to address: stress and coping, schedules, calendars and family meetings, conflict resolution, improving communication, and incorporating mindfulness into daily life to promote well-being and strengthen family connections.

After a visit with a family of five, this mother says:

“In just the couple of hours Kristin spent with my family thinking about ways to reduce stress in our shared life, I was surprised and pleased by many things. One, how my three very different children all became comfortable and contributed to the conversation, in both light-hearted and serious ways. Two, how much Kristin affirmed and built on our strengths while taking an honest look at our challenges. And three, how much the experience of talking about “our family” strengthened our sense of being a unique family that we are each happy to be part of. We appreciated the practical skills and advice we got from the time, but even more we ended up appreciating the process itself.

I would love for every family to have a Kristin!”

The words we speak become the house we live in. 

–Hafiz (1315-1390)
 Persian Mystic Poet

I enjoy sharing my knowledge and skills with others and serving a variety of audiences from first-graders to social work clinicians and psychiatrists. Since, as Gail Godwin observes, “good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater,” I often make use of props such as foam balls, Velcro stress thermometer, and 3-D posters to demonstrate the concepts I teach. This also allows learning to take place on multiple levels—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.

Here is some feedback from a first grader after I visited the classroom as an expert during the Healthy Bodies project:

“She told us about how our minds and bodies work together, and how exercise makes the brain grow more brain cells and helps them talk to each other. She brought pictures of brain cells, and she had a poster of Healthy Henrietta with Velcro running shoes and a jump rope.  We learned about how you can choose what to think about to help yourself feel good.”

Feedback from a Duke Child Psychiatry Fellow after my training on play therapy strategies:

“Thank you for teaching us about getting down on the child’s level. Since your workshop, I have been getting down on the floor when I meet with my patients, and it works! From the beginning, it puts them at ease and really helps communication. I also make sure there are play materials in the room since, as you said, ‘Play is the language of children’.”

Out of clutter, find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.

–Albert Einstein