I have over 16 years of combined therapy experience at the professional level and believe in the profession that I am licensed in which is social work. I believe in a client-centered perspective and derive my approaches from a variety of treatment modalities. Cognitive behavioral is a significant framework that I utilize but I believe that other approaches are also effective as sessions need to be tailored to the unique needs of the individual or clientele being served. I believe in true empathy, truly trying to understand my clients' perspectives and their insight into their lives. Each person I have done therapy with over the years and will be doing therapy with has inherent worth, dignity and I believe in their abilities to improve in areas of self-direction and self-efficacy. Therapy is all about the client who is reading this right now, the therapist is simply a conduit to improve a person's ability to reorganize their life, to improve their internal locus of control, to help a client engage in goal-oriented behavior and be conscientious of the choices one is making in life on a regular basis. Cognitive behavioral methods consider irrational thought paradigms and help to counteract these cognitions or thoughts with more rational, counterbalancing, self-esteem enhancing thoughts and help a person to see the connections between thoughts, feelings, and behavior.

I am a licensed professional counselor in the State of Missouri, and I have been practicing for six years. I typically work with adolescents and adults, and I have experience treating a broad range of concerns. These include anxiety, depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder, spiritual crises, organizational skills and goals, communication, and relationships. I also have experience with grief and trauma, as well as abuse. Finally, I have also worked with couples and pre-marital counseling. I utilize multiple different approaches, depending upon the context and the client's specific needs. For instance, I often utilize cognitive behavioral therapy, logotherapy, narrative therapy, and existential approaches. I appreciate the complexity of individual's and the variability each person's unique set of circumstances bring to the table. Hence, my approach reflects these observations, as I aim to avoid over-simplistic or reductionist views of people and their concerns. Life can easily become overwhelming, as our daily experiences present us with a staggering amount of complexity and stress. It's not reasonable to assume that we can, or even should, handle these things on our own. We are social creatures, and thriving in the world requires us to take hold of those who have extended themselves to us. That is what it means to make the choice to speak to a counselor. It is the acceptance of an invitation to walk together, with someone, through a season of life. It is one of the most human things we can do. I greatly anticipate walking alongside you, as you take the first steps to address and overcome the obstacles in your path.

Hi, I am Karen Memhardt, MA, Med, LPC, a Licensed Professional Counselor and Psychological Examiner. I have master’s degrees in Professional counseling, School counseling, and Psychological Examiner and teaching. I have certification in hypnotherapy, EMDR Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing, Psychotherapy, Christian counseling, CCTP Treating Complex Trauma. I have been practicing for fourteen years. My goal is to provide a safe supportive environment where clients can explore issues that prevent them from enjoying life to the fullest. Treatment is approached from a holistic spiritual basis to treat the whole family environment. Psychodynamic psychotherapy and educational counseling principals are integrated with various techniques and therapies to discover the cause of the psychological or behavioral disturbance, incorporating modalities of individual, family, and group counseling therapies to relieve stress and anxiety to a level of comfort desired in your family, work or school environment. Working together, we find the internal and external stressors and eliminate them or find ways to make them manageable for a successful life as measured by you. I use psychodynamic psychotherapy, a form of depth psychology, with the primary focus to reveal the unconscious content of your psyche in an effort to alleviate psychic tension. In this way it is similar to psychoanalysis. It also relies on the interpersonal relationship between client and therapist more than other forms of depth psychology. In terms of approach this form of therapy tends to be more eclectic, taking techniques from a variety of sources, rather than relying on a single system of intervention. It is used in individual psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, family therapy, and to understand and work with institutional and organizational contexts. CBT, Cognitive Behavioral and Neo Cognitive behavioral therapy is used to help you reframe thoughts to more effectively manage feelings and behaviors, and to restructure negative thoughts into a positive thought process to improve self-esteem and self-motivation. Brief therapy is used to address a specific issue in eight to ten sessions. I would ask you to participate in your therapy by asking you to do homework in-between sessions. For example I would ask you the following questions to prepare for our first session: Have you been to a counselor before? A counselor can be a useful tool. I would hope we can build a relationship that you would be able to trust in to discuss your feelings, hopes and goals to help you move forward with a new plan for your life. If you can use me as a sounding board, and use me to help you make some important decisions, this will help you have an easier time with all of your life issues. I am here to help you figure out what is best for you moving forward. What we discuss is confidential. What would you like to discuss with me today? What would you say is the main reason you are wanting to talk today? What are your long term goals for your living arrangement, relationships and your career? Do you have any techniques for helping you to relax? How are you feeling today? For a Brief therapy session I would ask you to imagine you go to sleep tonight, and while you are sleeping, a miracle happens so when you wake up tomorrow morning and everything in your life is exactly how you want your life to be, what would it look like?

I am a therapist licensed in the State of Missouri as an LCSW ( Licensed Clinical Social Worker). I have been a therapist for approximately 30 years working in various settings including a psychiatric hospital for almost 20 years, private practice and various mental health agencies. My specialties include treating depression, mood disorders, anxiety, phobias, anger, ADHD, relationship and self esteem issues. I have worked with individuals, couples and families. I utilize cognitive behavioral therapy with a systems approach considering structure, boundaries, communication, and various family dynamics. I am non-judgmental is my approach with an emphasis on "seeing" your issues through your eyes. My goal is to demonstrate that I am listening and thinking about your feelings and concerns with an attempt to assist you with healthy options and solutions. I focus on Strengths not weaknesses, and consider it a strength that you sought counseling with a therapist. I believe mental health is as important as physical health and applaud you for seeking to improve your mental health. My entire career has been about mental health and believe I have learned as much from my clients as I have from books. So, here is to learning more about you.

Hi, my name is Jean. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Missouri and a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor in the state of Kansas. I have 30 years of counseling experience? I have worked with clients from the age of two to ninety nine. I have a wide variety of experience in counseling. I started my career in counseling on an inpatient psychiatric unit. I worked at a shelter for women who had experienced physical abuse or were working on addiction issues as a children’s therapist. Currently I am an elementary school Counselor. I have also done individual outpatient mental health counseling in a variety of settings. I have experience in grief work, anxiety and depression, family/relationship conflicts, life transitions, complex trauma/abuse, physical/sexual abuse, codependency and adult children of alcoholics. I use person-centered, holistic, multicultural, and integrative approach to therapy. I believe in starting where you are and helping to establish a treatment plan that is tailored to you. I work to be sensitive to how your individual cultural identities and lifestyle choices impact your experience. I primarily use evidence-based techniques including, but not limited to, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mindfulness, motivational interviewing, and solution-focused counseling. My style is warm and supportive. I will help you address your struggles head-on. I believe one of the most important aspects of successful counseling is collaboration. I will work with you to establish concrete goals and plan for you to overcome your problems. I am not a quick fix Counselor. My experience has taught me that it takes time to work through problems. I look forward to walking this journey with you.

Hello, my name is Karen Kavaloski and I am a LPC in New Mexico, North Carolina and in Missouri. I was originally licensed as a counselor in 2009 while working in Arizona by the State of North Carolina after making a career change from a almost 30 year history in nursing. My passion since I was a young adult was counseling and it took me almost 30 years to achieve my goal of becoming a counselor. I was a Marine wife for almost 30 years and have traveled allot, I have 3 children and 5 grandchildren. My youngest, a son, and one of my grandchildren are severely autistic so I can identify with the stress and struggles some families have with managing special needs within their family. I am also a cancer survivor. I believe we all have an ability to heal the body, mind and soul and I consciously strive daily to be an active participant in my life and support and encourage others to do the same. My education beyond my nursing and counseling includes a Masters in Business Administration and a Doctorate in (Christian) Ministries. I have worked primarily over this past 17 years with trauma and substance abuse in the adult population with about 3 years working with the teenage population in these areas. I also have worked about 5 years total with prison reentry and counseling individuals and families with histories of incarceration in state and federal prison. I believe in working with individuals and families to achieve their highest goals. I believe the client is the expert in his/her own life and I fully encourage one to strive to work towards building a strong foundation within themselves and their families whatever that looks like to them, to that end I use focused solution therapy, internal systems therapy, mindfulness/compassion therapy, cognitive and cognitive behavioral, dialectical therapy, emotional freedom techniques and/or neurolinguistic techniques . I am also the author and publisher self help books under my Sacred Self Workbook Series Outside my therapy practice, I spend my leisure time reading. meditation/praying and gardening. I do light exercise daily.

Hi! I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Missouri, and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in the state of Florida. I earned my Bachelor's Degree from the University of South Florida, and my Master's Degree in Counseling from Florida Gulf Coast University and have been working in the field since 2001. I have worked inpatient and outpatient hospital settings, non-profit agencies, and in private practice. My experience is extensive, having done much work with couples working to strengthen and preserve their relationship, supported clients who are healing from divorce or other traumatic life events, and worked with individuals who are struggling with depression, anxiety or chronic stress. I have worked with clients who have a significant mental health diagnosis, as well as individuals who are in crisis. You will find me to be compassionate and thoughtful as we work together to sort through your issues and experiences in order to gain a healthy perspective and healing. Please message me if you're interested in talking before setting up a session.

I am an individual and family counselor licensed in the state of Missouri. I have over 15 years of experience as a clinical therapist in both inpatient and outpatient settings along with treating both adolescents and adults. Over the years I have worked with individuals, both adolescents and adults, with a wide variety of struggles including depression, anxiety, behavior modification, relationship issues, and anger management just to name a few. My counseling style is welcoming and adaptive. I strive to treat individuals with respect, compassion, and a holistic approach without judgment or bias. I may not always tell you what you want to hear, but will always remain committed to telling you what you need to hear. I will always work to have our communication and treatment expectations adapt to you as an individual and your specific needs. It is never the easiest thing to take the first step towards change and humbling ourselves. With that in mind, I am here to help be a guide, coach, teacher, cheerleader, and a library of tools to help you tackle whatever life may throw at you. I look forward to working with you.

I am licensed in Missouri with 21 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress, anxiety, relationship issues, trauma, abuse, coping with grief, & coping with loss. I also have experience working with depression. I believe that you are the expert of your story and that you have many strengths that will assist you in overcoming things that challenge you. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!

My belief and approach to therapy begins with the idea that humans are generally self- correcting. This follows the teaching of both Carl Jung and Milton Erickson. We can get stuck for a variety of reasons and if able to get past that point, it can lead to us moving in a healthier direction. I believe that our value systems are extremely important to finding direction and solutions. I have studied comparative religions and cultures to be able to understand and work with a wide variety of people. I have worked in many different settings with a wide range of cultures and values. Currently my greatest strength is in working with individuals and couples. I started my career by creating and running an outpatient clinic as part of a runaway and homeless youth shelter. I did this for my first 18 years. We provided case management, individual and family therapy to youth and their families. We did this both in the shelter and in the community. My personal approach includes brief family therapy, problem solving therapy, structural and strategic systems theory, hypnotherapy, cognitive behavioral, communication theory and addiction therapies. I trained and supervised paid staff and graduate students. I worked in conjunction with a local university to conduct research which enabled us to improve our working therapy model and process. During this time, I completed 29 hours towards a PH. D in family therapy. I was offered a fellowship with Washington University's Ph. D program. I worked part time for New Life Christian Counseling, an outpatient therapy group, providing professional Christian therapy. I then worked 18 years for managed care helping members utilize their mental health benefits, providing phone therapy and crisis intervention. My other experiences were in outpatient office settings.

I am licensed in Missouri with 12 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with grief and loss, motivation, self esteem, and confidence, & depression. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!

I am licensed in Missouri with 20 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, coping with addictions, relationship issues, & family conflicts. I believe in treating everyone with respect, sensitivity, and compassion. I will tailor our dialog and treatment plan to meet your unique and specific needs. Taking the first step to sign up for therapy can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!

I am licensed in Missouri with 11 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, relationship issues, motivation, self esteem, and confidence, & depression. I work with my clients to create an open and safe environment where thoughts and feelings can be shared without fear of judgment. It takes courage to seek out a more fulfilling and happier life and to take the first steps towards a change. I am here to support & empower you in that journey.

I am licensed in Missouri with 15 years of professional work experience. I have experience in helping clients with stress and anxiety, relationship issues, family conflicts, & coping with grief and loss. I believe that you are the expert of your story and that you have many strengths that will assist you in overcoming circumstances that challenge you. Taking the first step to sign up for counseling can take courage and I am proud of you for getting started!