EMDR
Phase-based trauma processing — and the depth to teach it beyond protocol, toward genuine clinical attunement.
About Kirsti
Depth in one model is common. Mastery across many is rare.
I've spent my career becoming fluent in the field's most important — and most siloed — approaches to healing, so I can help other therapists integrate them into work that's genuinely their own.
I didn't come to this work in a straight line. I began where trauma is most visible — child advocacy centers, sexual-assault resource centers, and domestic-violence shelters — and kept noticing the same thing: even when a child received support, the patterns rarely changed unless the system around them changed too. So I moved upstream, to parents and caregivers. Then earlier still, into perinatal mental health and the earliest moments attachment is formed. One question drove every move: where can we intervene so change actually lasts?
I earned my MA in Clinical Psychology from Sam Houston State University and my BS from Texas A&M, originally on a pre-med track — so I've always been fascinated by physiology and how the body holds stress. As I worked, I kept asking why people can understand exactly what needs to change and still feel stuck. The answer wasn't insight or motivation. These patterns live deeper than conscious thought — in the nervous system. That question led me into interpersonal neurobiology (I trained directly with Dan Siegel and Bonnie Badenoch), attachment science, somatic psychology, and nervous-system regulation. For me, therapy is where heart and science become the same language.
That path also made me a genuinely integrative clinician. I hold full certification and consultant-level credentials across EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, play therapy, perinatal mental health, and attachment-based work — a combination that's uncommon in this field, and exactly what makes real integration possible. My style is direct, warm, and clinically grounded; I care less about helping you collect more theory than about helping you think clearly, decide confidently, and trust yourself in the room.
Following that same question one step further than I expected, I arrived at the most upstream intervention of all: the therapist. A single well-developed clinician touches hundreds of lives. So today, alongside my clinical work, I pour much of my energy into developing therapists — supervising, consulting, and doing person-of-the-therapist work that supports the whole clinician, not just their technique. Great therapists aren't built through certifications alone; they're developed — through reflection, honest feedback, mentorship, and the ongoing work of integrating both theory and self. Supporting the whole therapist may be the most powerful way I know to help heal the world — and it's the work I care about most.
A rare breadth of training
Full certification across the modalities that matter most
Most therapists build depth in one approach. Kirsti holds consultant- and supervisor-level mastery across several of the field's most sought-after models — which is exactly what makes true integration possible.
Somatic Experiencing
Nervous-system and body-based work for trauma that lives below language and cognition.
Play Therapy
Child-centered and developmental frameworks — Theraplay, Adlerian, CBT, and filial models.
Perinatal Mental Health
The perinatal, postpartum, and relational identity transitions that reshape a client's world.
Attachment & Neurobiology
Interpersonal neurobiology and attachment science as the connective tissue beneath every model.
Relational & Couples Work
Emotionally focused and relational approaches for the systems clients live inside.
Holding all of this at once isn't just credentialing — it's what lets me help you weave competing models into one coherent way of practicing.
What guides the work
Principles you can feel in every hour
Warmth without compromise
Rigorous clinical thinking, delivered with the kind of care that makes hard reflection feel safe.
Depth over protocol
Going beyond checklists and fidelity scores to build clinicians who can attune, think, and trust themselves.
Integration as the goal
Helping you hold complexity — and make competing models cohere into a way of practicing that's your own.
Off the clock
A little of who I am outside the room
When I'm not working, you'll find me outside — hiking, camping, scuba diving, or in the garden — with my husband, our two children, and our goldendoodle, Gus. I keep backyard chickens, practice yoga, and love to travel.
I bring the same curiosity to the work that I bring to the rest of my life. If any of this resonates, I'd love to hear from you.
Let's connect
I'd love to hear what you're working toward.
Every strong supervision relationship starts with a simple conversation.
Schedule a consultation