After years in another career, I chose to retrain for helping others through mental health challenges. Trauma counseling and marriage and family therapy were areas of focus for me. Life experience, good training, and expert supervision combine to enable me to be effective with a wide range of mental health concerns. My clinical experience includes working a year with men in substance addictions and their families.

How do I view mental health? We are all impacted by the systems of which we are a part (family, friends, work, neighborhood, etc.). Trauma can have a long-lasting impact on our lives. We are all spiritual beings, regardless of which faith system we endorse. Everyone's struggles make sense and are a produce of what happened to them and the choices they made.

Your mental health challenges probably impact every area of your life. Let me help you make sense of them and find ways to flourish in life. I am accepting new clients (individuals, couples, and families) for in-person and virtual sessions.

In my role as counselor I am honored to support individuals who are struggling with various aspects of life. Perhaps dealing with strong anxiety or depression, negative self talk, relationship issues, work or school pressures, unhealthy habits and poor self care. Does any of this sound like you? I will work with you to understand what is happening, design strategies to address your specific issues, and work step by step with you as we remove the barriers and build new and better ways of being you. Healthy, happy and connected to the world around you.
Encompassing compassion and practicality, I use cognitive behavioral, mindfulness, and short-term solution-focused therapies, often in my practice. I am EMDR trained, but prefer to use EFT (a cognitive somatic tapping technique), shown to help individuals integrate and heal from past traumatic events, life experience, difficult memories, present food cravings, stress, anxiety, and phobias. I also use cognitive behavioral therapy to help clients process certain issues and find solutions. My blending of cognitive and mind-body practice creates a unique healing experience for clients.
I am eager to help you thrive in all areas of your life, and will offer you the tools to make effective and lasting changes. I look forward to working with you towards the peace and health you desire. For clients who prefer speaking Spanish, I have a good command of the language. I am licensed in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Maryland and Vermont.

Kristina desires to join with others in their path to greater healing and wellness. She specializes with Maternal Mental Health (infertility, pregnancy, prenatal, and postpartum,) trauma, attachment disorders, anxiety, and depression. Her therapeutic approach is person-centered, working with the client to establish feeling seen, understood, and supported within the therapy relationship first and foremost. Kristina often includes approaches such as EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing,) IFS (Internal Family Systems)/ego-state work, narrative therapy, education to facilitate a better understand how your brain and body process stress, and body-based approaches based upon training as a Trauma Conscious Yoga Instructor. She also has thorough training and experience with integrating the Christian Faith in the counseling process.

Katie Blum is a Licensed Professional Counselor who earned her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Katie holds an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from North Central College. Her training experiences include the assessment and treatment of children, adolescents, and adults with a wide range of presenting concerns including anxiety disorders, depression, ADHD and behavior concerns, anger, academic difficulties, interpersonal and relationship issues, self-esteem, executive functioning difficulties, and sleep troubles. She has experience providing psychotherapy services in person– both individually and within group therapy settings– in schools, and via tele-psychology platforms. Katie uses empirically supported assessment and treatment modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), working alongside clients as they integrate new tools and strategies into their everyday life.

Katie’s approach to therapy focuses on meeting clients where they are at and helping them reach their self-determined goals. She does this by focusing on helping clients define their strengths while providing proven strategies to build resilience and strengthen everyday coping. Additionally, Katie values well-rounded, individualized care by coordinating with outside entities including schools, primary care providers, and psychiatrists.