Meet Kristen
Kristen Harris, MSW, LMSW, CAADC, ADS, EMDR
Hello, my name is Kristen!
Therapeutic Style and Approach
If you’re looking for a therapist that just nods and asks: “How do you feel about that?”, then you better keep on looking. I have an interactive no BS and no sugar-coating approach that all my clients state has been extremely refreshing and welcoming to them in the therapeutic process. Self-empowerment, radical acceptance, and authentic human connection will be the cornerstone of our work. I utilize strength based, solution focused, and neuroscientific theory to guide us in your journey. Therapy is about you—your stories, successes, traumas, hopes, and infinite wisdom! Sometimes we’ll laugh. Often, we’ll cry. But you won’t be alone on this journey of self-discovery.
Break-ups are soul-crushing. Trauma is dehumanizing. Loving and trusting ourselves sometimes seems exasperating. I love working with clients who struggle with self-esteem, anxiety, relationship issues, life transitions, mood disorders, shame/guilt, self-sabotaging patterns, college age students, eating disorders, co-dependency, and trauma.
In sessions we will utilize a holistic collaborative approach together, (meaning I am super interactive) where you’re the expert in yourself and I will be there to help navigate you through all the hurt, pain and trauma. I am also trained in EMDR as a neurological treatment approach to treat past trauma and resolving negative maladaptive memories that could be holding you back.
Work Experience, Education and Certifications
I am a graduate of Western Michigan University and have my master’s degree in Clinical Social Work and have also earned a graduate certificate in the Speciality Program in Alcohol and Drug Abuse (SPADA). I have my Certified Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor (CAADC) certificate that I earned after graduation with my masters degree, while working in a substance abuse facility. I have worked with a variety of conditions at both the inpatient and outpatient sector with varying populations. I enjoy helping clients to reach their interpersonal goals so they are able to live their life to its fullest potential.
I am also certified by NADA as an Acudetoxification Specialist and offer Auricular Acupuncture during session as an added service to help with many mental and physical aliments.
I am trained in EMDR as a neurological treatment approach.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences. Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma. When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound. If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain. Once the block is removed, healing resumes. EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes. The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.