Kathy Tompkins Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate

Kathy Tompkins, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate, A18040 is practicing under the supervision of LeAnn Meckley (North Carolina, LCMHC-S, S7802) at Rosenberg Perinatal Psychotherapy.

Please, note: A clinician listed as being “clinically supervised” is completing clinical hours toward their licensure. They have one or more fully licensed clinical supervisors that often have special training to become supervisors. They consult with their supervisor(s) on all of their cases, which means that, when working with them, you are getting the time and expertise of multiple therapists in your treatment.

I am a warm, genuine person. I lead with compassion but carry a healthy dose of humor with me as well. This informs my approach to therapy because I believe that the therapeutic relationship is the mechanism through which all other counseling approaches succeed or fail. Certainly, there is something to be said for choosing the right therapeutic models for each client, but outside of a trusting, genuine relationship, these models won't function correctly. I am genuine by bringing my whole self into each client session. I may not share many details about my personal life, but I am still the person I present to you in all other areas of my life. I am affected by our relationship and I hope that our relationship can impact you as well as we experience authentic engagement in a compassionate, supportive environment.

Collaboration with other mental health, medical, and community-based partners is so important to offering good treatment. For me, personally, as a therapist, I have to recognize my own limitations of knowledge, experience, or just where I'm missing a piece of the puzzle. Through supervision and consultation, I find new approaches to conceptualizing client struggles and personal encouragement for myself as I collaborate and connect with other mental health practitioners. I seek this type of support through regular supervision, consultation within the group practice, and monthly virtual consultation meetings across the nation with Postpartum Support International. Additionally, perinatal client care is often enhanced when I can engage with a client's OB/midwife, psychiatrist, or even other supports such as support groups or doulas. Often this is done between providers with a release of information to collaborate on client care and offer multi-dimensional support. Other times this is done by sharing resources with clients about extra support spaces and checking in with clients as they enter those new relationships. So even though I am not directly communicating with the providers, I have to network, engage with, and be aware of what support exists and how to prepare the client for entering into that new supportive space.

In 2017 when I graduated with my Master's in Counseling, I started seeing individual clients through a private practice and also leading DBT groups through a local practice that offered Dialectical Behavior Therapy in St. Louis, MO. In both of those spaces I gained valuable skills and experience and honed my practice niches. I received specific training in DBT skills, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders (PMADs) and trauma. In 2019 I stopped client work due to family crises and the need for reliable health insurance through work. After that, I moved to North Carolina and had a baby early in the pandemic. Now, in 2022, I am so excited to reenter the therapeutic space, offering services to those seeking perinatal support, which includes perinatal and postpartum depression, anxiety, OCD, intrusive thoughts, birth trauma, fertility struggles, and miscarriage or pregnancy and infant loss, and partner adjustment. I feel a special connection with clients experiencing grief around birth and fertility and am engaged in deeper training about these particular forms of grief. I also work with parents struggling to figure out their new roles as they process family of origin history and trauma. Additionally, I assist clients, especially ex- or current missionaries, pastors, and evangelicals in processing their religious/spiritual abuse or trauma and/or their deconstruction journeys.