Kelsey Moffatt LCSW

I work with my clients as a team to develop therapy goals since clients are the experts of their own lives and experiences. I believe the goals should emerge from my clients and be something they desire to work on. At the beginning of therapy, I will do a holistic assessment to determine areas of challenge within your life and explore your desired outcome of treatment. My role within this process is to come alongside you, provide words to describe your experiences, and build treatment goals with you based on your unique strengths. The therapy goals will structure our time together and will be continually reviewed to ensure my intervention is both effective and helpful for you.

There are a lot of barriers that effectively block people from pursuing therapy - cost, time, stigma, finding a provider, previous negative experiences either personally or from someone we know. However, drawing on my work with clients and my own personal community, I think the greatest reason people do not pursue treatment is fear. Fear can manifest in a lot of different ways - fear tied to the therapy process in general, fear around whether or not therapy works or is effective, and fear about opening up to someone you do not know to discuss your private pains and struggles. What I want you to know is that I absolutely understand those fears - it takes A LOT of courage to start therapy and its a big deal for a lot of people. Please know that I understand what a vulnerable decision this is and I honor this risk you are taking. What I want you to know is that you as the client have the power to choose who you want to be your therapist - you hold the reigns and I (and other therapists) want you to make this decision. We want you to find someone you feel comfortable with and desire to work with. While we ultimately hope you choose us, we more deeply desire that you find a therapist who is the right fit for you. If you are feeling any fear about starting therapy, please know this is normal. I understand these feelings and part of my job is coming alongside you to dismantle this fear and help you feel safe. I am happy you are here.

I think a key component to the therapeutic relationship is safety. From both my personal and professional experiences, I can tell you that while relationships can be our greatest source of love, belonging, and joy, they can also be our greatest source of pain, exclusion, and trauma. One of my primary responsibilities as your therapist is to help you feel safe in our relationship through slowly building and earning your trust, ensuring your sessions are private and always confidential, and letting you know I genuinely care about you as a human being. As safety begins to be built, I believe the therapeutic relationship has the power to help heal past wounds and create a template for future healthy relationships.

• Texas, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 65959

My career as a therapist started 5 years ago when I had the opportunity to work as a social work intern in a psychiatric hospital serving individuals who were experiencing severe and persistent mental illnesses, including depression with suicidal thoughts, generalized anxiety, and personality disorders. During my time in this role, I had the opportunity to see first hand the brokenness of the mental health care system in the United States through bearing witness to the barriers individuals encounter when attempting to bounce back from adversity. In 2017, I had the chance to work at an Advocacy Center where I provided counseling services to children, adolescents, and adults who experienced various types of abuse, neglect, and traumatic experiences. This role spearheaded my passion for working with individuals who experienced trauma because I had the chance to see firsthand the brain's ability to grow from hardship and the resiliency all people posses in the context of a healing, therapeutic relationship. Over the past 3 years, I have had the opportunity to provide school-based individual and family therapy to children, adolescents, young adults, and families experiencing depression, anxiety, ADHD, PTSD, grief, life transitions, and stressors. During my time in this role, I have developed a suicidal ideation policy for a public charter school district, educated teachers on the identification of mental illness and trauma in school-age children, and walked alongside school administrators to encourage a social-emotional, trauma-informed lens when working with kids who come from hard places. These opportunities, combined with my therapy experiences, helped refine my therapeutic approach that includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR) Therapy models within the context of a strong therapeutic relationship and a strengths-based treatment focus.