Kirstin Carl (she/her)

I am trained in Pia Mellody's 5 Core Areas of the Self as a treatment model for codependency. These areas are: Boundaries, Self-love, Self-care, Owning your reality (thoughts, feelings, & needs), & Expressing your reality moderately (without shutting down or anger outbursts).

For the past 15 years, I have worked extensively with survivors of childhood sexual abuse. One of my training sites was Valley Trauma Counseling Center. I incorporate aspects of Attachment-Focused EMDR, Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. I am an expert in empowering survivors to kick shame to the curb, listen to their gut instincts, and stop re-creating the trauma in their present-day relationships.

I firmly believe that the best therapists do their own work. Doing our own work allows us to examine our countertransference, & embody the ideas we convey to our clients. If we embody & model these ideas, rather than just provide book knowledge, clients will have a much deeper experience. Shame about colleagues knowing we are struggling personally is a huge barrier to clinicians finding their own therapist. I'm passionate about deconstructing this stigma.

I firmly believe that the best therapists do their own work. Doing our own work allows us to examine our countertransference, & embody the ideas we convey to our clients. If we embody & model these ideas, rather than just provide book knowledge, clients will have a much deeper experience. Shame about colleagues knowing we are struggling personally is a huge barrier to clinicians finding their own therapist. I'm passionate about deconstructing this stigma.

I firmly believe that the best therapists do their own work. Doing our own work allows us to examine our countertransference, & embody the ideas we convey to our clients. If we embody & model these ideas, rather than just provide book knowledge, clients will have a much deeper experience. Shame about colleagues knowing we are struggling personally is a huge barrier to clinicians finding their own therapist. I'm passionate about breaking through this barrier.

I firmly believe that the best therapists do their own work. Doing our own work allows us to examine our countertransference, & embody the ideas we convey to clients. If we embody & model these ideas, rather than just provide book knowledge, clients will have a much deeper experience. You feeling seen & heard is crucial. Shame about colleagues knowing we are struggling personally is a huge barrier to clinicians finding their own therapist. I'm passionate about breaking through this barrier.

I firmly believe that the best therapists do their own work. Doing our own work allows us to examine our countertransference, & embody the ideas we convey to clients. If we embody & model these ideas, rather than just provide book knowledge, clients will have a much deeper experience. You feeling seen & heard is crucial. Shame about colleagues knowing we are struggling personally is a huge barrier to clinicians finding their own therapist. I'm passionate about breaking through this barrier.

To put it simply, this means I recognize & help you see the patterns you play out again & again in relationships. The feelings that come up when you try to get close hold the clues to the puzzle you’ve been trying to solve. I’ll help you uncover how early relationships influence your present day life. When you understand the origins, you can begin to free yourself up to create new ways of relating. We will figure out the reasons you are scared to get close, even though you want to so badly.

Emotionally focused therapy is amazingly effective in helping you break out of the 'bad dance' of unhealthy relational patterns. We will take apart the layers of your consciousness in relating to others: your behaviors; your thoughts & beliefs; your protective emotions; your vulnerable emotions; & your core unmet attachment needs/traumas. You will learn how your behaviors trigger others' traumas, & vice-versa. You will learn how to be seen & heard relationally, & how to see & hear others.

So often, clients come in to work on depression, anxiety, & relationship issues. And once we start looking beneath the surface, we discover trauma is at the root of these. With wisdom & gentleness, I will help you make sense of your experiences, & how they have shaped you. We will unpack the years of pain & hurt that have been weighing you down. I am here to help you write a new narrative of your life. Let’s ditch the old lies you’ve been believing, & create new beliefs about yourself.