Kristen Kelly
FOUNDER, Imagine Recovery Counseling
The first thing you need to know about me is that I am not your Traditional Therapist (I’m an EMDR and DBT nerd and super passionate about what I do!) and everyone that works for me is an extension of me and my values. I value both the science and the art, creative, and personalized experience of therapy. I value both ethical practice and the need to adapt the science that I have to fit the needs of the human being sitting in front of me.
My values regarding client care:
Trauma is something that happens to you, it’s not part of your identity. I work with trauma because I believe people can change and heal from their experiences. I seek to empower people to heal and grow and I truly believe you can. I have lived experience in most of the conditions that I treat or I have worked with them for a long time and have extensive training. You will not intimate me with your experience. I often tell my clients, “If I don’t know something, I will find out”. Many of the clients that come see me have had a prior therapy experience that did not go well. While I always remain humble in what I do and let folks know “You are in the driver’s seat”, I want to make it clear that I have 18 years of experience in what I do and I’m always learning and consulting with experts to be the best version of myself for my clients and my staff. I go to my own therapy and work on my own stuff. Lastly, it is part of my professional and personal ethics to respond to all client referrals within 24 hours. I feel strongly that if you reach out, I will respond. I keep our wait list intentionally low because I do not feel it’s ethical for folks to wait a long time to get help.
My values regarding my group practice:
I worked in community mental health and government for 17 years. Many times, I was working in a toxic, oppressive workplace and was extremely burned out. It is highly important to me to provide a healing and safe environment for my staff. I pride myself on hiring folks that are deeply aligned with my values, highly skilled and trained (it’s not always about years of experience!), and have the self respect to expect to be taken care of by their boss. I believe it’s important to always be learning. I teach my staff everything I know and provide them with free consultation and training. It is the privilege and a responsibility of a boss to take care of their people. If you work with my therapists, please know that I am taking care of them so they can skillfully take care of you! A lot of folks that come to work with me have been burned out by their previous employer and want something more. I value providing a safe, comfortable, trauma sensitive, diversity/inclusive, employee centered working environment. Burnout will be assessed and taken seriously and consultation support is provided. It’s so important to me, I write this language into my contracts.
What is healing from trauma?
“Trauma Recovery is a Call to Action. My mission is to build empowerment, autonomy, healing, and lasting change for folks that I’m honored to serve. I aspire to help and guide the healing of generational trauma wounds. My passion is to provide validation to those wounds and empower folks to feel they have safety and choice in doing something different. I believe that people can change and we can all change habits and patterns together. ”
— Kristen Kelly
Kristen's Bio
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Kristen's Bio *
LPCC-S, LICDC, CTTS, RYT200, EMDR Certified Consultant and Facilitator, eMBER trained, iREST Level 1 Practitioner, REIKI Level 2
Kristen Gidel Kelly is a Supervising Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the Ohio State University and a Master’s Degree in Clinical Counseling from the University of Dayton. Kristen holds a license in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Chemical Dependency Counseling, and a certificate in smoking cessation therapy.
Kristen has worked in a variety of settings in community mental health and substance use treatment. Her passion is trauma work and helping clients recover from trauma related to Mental Health and Substance Abuse issues. She specializes in serving populations to include: Adults over the age of 18 (although I work with kid parts!) looking to cope with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Personality Disorders, and Dissociative Disorders; Neurodivergent Clients (especially ADHD, AuDHD, and Subtle Autism); formerly incarcerated populations and court ordered clients, and Veteran and Military Service Members. Kristen is passionate about helping individuals, loved ones, and families who struggle or live with addiction. She has experience working with the court system and is able to provide court ordered alcohol and drug assessments. Kristen also really enjoys helping to empower current helping professionals care for their own mental health needs so that they can be healthier therapists. She strives to be an ally to unserved populations and is an avid on-going student of anti-racism. Kristen has basic cultural competencies with the LGBTQIA+ population; these clients are always welcome and she strives to provide a non-judgmental and culturally sensitive environment.
Kristen’s primary therapeutic approach is Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and she is Certified with EMDRIA. Kristen is also an Approved Consultant and Facilitator for EMDRIA. Kristen uses EMDR to target symptoms related to trauma, depression, anxiety and phobias, substance use, and behavioral addictions. Her other therapeutic processes include Ego State therapy/Internal Family Systems to treat Dissociative Disorders, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for personality disorders and trauma, and Collaborative Assessment for Managing Suicide. Kristen specializes in CBT for substance use disorders. She is also trained in smoking cessation therapy. I am an EMDR and DBT nerd y’all 🙂
Kristen is an Approved Consultant and Facilitator with EMDRIA; she is now offering individual and group consultation! She also is a huge advocate for the Counseling discipline and is able to provide Supervision for CT’s, LPC’s and LPCC’s pursuing supervisory designation.
Kristen believes that change starts with the therapeutic relationship and this is her top priority. Kristen encourages the client to feel empowered to use their voice and express preferences in their treatment. Her mission can best be described with this quote from Maya Angelou: “People won’t remember what you said, people won’t remember what you did, but people will remember how you made them feel.” She looks forward to working with you! Kristen is on a permanent wait list at this time, however prioritizes cases for DID, DBT, SUD, and Military Veterans. My other therapists are wonderful and are deeply aligned with my beliefs and are highly skilled and trained. Please consider them as alternative options.
In Kristen’s free time, she loves to run, garden, bird watch, spend time at the lake or ocean, paint, go to concerts, and practice yoga, meditation, and REIKI.
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