Katie Ploeger (she/her)

I have extensive experience working with mild - severe depression including with individuals who struggle with suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviors. If this is you, I am so sorry you are struggling right now and it is so brave of you to take this first step towards healing. Therapy with me might look like first establishing safety, then working on identifying and processing things that might trigger these feelings, and learning skills to help you get through these really hard days.

I frequently work with teens and young adults who struggle with their body image and/or disordered eating. I strive to operate from a Health at Every Size framework, with the hope that I can help each of my clients accept their own body and work towards healthier beliefs about themselves, their bodies, and their relationship with food. I have undergone some specific trainings for ARFID and have provided exposure therapy for a few clients with ARFID.

I also have extensive experience working with anxiety, or people who experience high levels of stress, perfectionism, psychosomatic symptoms and panic attacks. I frequently utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, when working with these clients with the goal of gaining insight into our symptoms and triggers, reframing worried thoughts, and learning somatic based body calming strategies to help reduce or manage anxiety symptoms.

As a therapist, I frequently use play therapy in my therapy sessions as a tool to allow clients to express themselves in ways that are not solely their words. For example, I might ask a client to show me what their anxiety feels like today in the sandtray or act out with a client how to set appropriate boundaries with a friend. These creative methods allow for clients to process and express their emotions without always having the "right" words.

I often draw pieces of DBT, such as mindfulness and the primary skills it teaches , into my practice as a therapist, especially with clients struggling with self-harming behaviors and disordered eating pattersn. DBT was originally created for clients struggling with self-harm and is still considered best practice.

A majority of my training and expertise is rooted in CBT. I often combine CBT with play therapy into my sessions, working with clients to identify their feelings, behaviors, and thoughts while noticing how they are interconnected and learning strategies to interrupt the negative patterns we might have.