Our clinicians offer a wide range of strategies to help you manage symptoms of anxiety that might be disrupting daily functioning. Please take a moment to read through common qualities of an anxiety-based diagnosis and reflect on whether these symptoms may apply to you.

First, there are two “umbrella” types of anxiety – trait and state. Trait anxiety is more hardwired into a person’s life and can feel like a state of being, rather than something that’s transitory. State anxiety, on the other hand, is often not internalized and is associated with events or circumstances that facilitate feeling anxious. Whether you are “naturally anxious” or experiencing a stressful event, common symptoms of anxiety include: rapid heart rate or chest pain, shortness of breath, muscle tension, headaches, or uncontrollable trembling, upset stomach, cramps, nausea, sweating, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts, freezing up, a sense of dread, panic, or irritation, persistent worry, avoidance, restlessness, or sleep disturbances.

While anxiety might be disruptive to your daily life, you may also be experiencing high functioning anxiety. While not an official diagnosis, high functioning anxiety may look “fine” on the outside, but inside you might be experiencing perfectionism, overpreparation, people-pleasing, or decision paralysis.

Rest assured that no matter what symptom you’re experiencing or what type of anxiety is presenting for you, our clinicians can assist. We strive to access training and ongoing education in the most effective strategies for helping our clients with anxiety. Currently, we utilize the following modalities to help you manage symptoms of anxiety:

Psychoeducation - Out of all the therapeutic interventions for anxiety, psychoeducation is the most valuable. It provides the foundation for all other techniques. We inform clients about the functions of the sympathetic (fight or fight) and parasympathetic (rest and digest) nervous systems, normalize the role of uncomfortable emotions as a human experience and not inherently dangerous, and provide a clear rationale for all other strategies used. We firmly believe that knowledge is power and that giving clients agency and empowerment reduces the effects of anxiety. We’ll never ask you to use a strategy or skill that you’re not clear on or don’t think will be helpful. We encourage you to ask questions and be informed.

We also use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to treat anxiety, which helps you identify and reframe negative thought patterns and behaviors that trigger anxious symptoms. In addition, we also incorporate Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which focuses on developing psychological flexibility, allowing clients to accept difficult feelings without judgement and act in alignment with their values. Lastly, we consider ourselves a DBT-informed practice, meaning we all have some training in DBT and incorporate the foundational skills into our work. Mindfulness based strategies help clients stay present and manage racing thoughts and physical symptoms of anxiety. You can also expect somatic interventions, such as deep breathing and body scans to be used in conjunction with these treatment interventions.

If you’d like more information about anxiety treatment, we encourage you to reach out to us directly or build your knowledge through a trusted source such as The Center for Treatment and Study of Anxiety at Penn Psychiatry

There are multiple different diagnoses that include depressive symptoms. Some common diagnoses include Major Depressive Disorder (intense sadness/loss of interest lasting 2+ weeks), Persistent Depressive Disorder (chronic, milder symptoms lasting 2+ years), and bipolar disorder (fluctuating depressive mood and manic episodes). Other recognized types include Seasonal Affective Disorder (depressive symptoms change with the seasons) and Postpartum Depression (depressive symptoms after pregnancy), and PMDD (a severe form of premenstrual syndrome). Although this article is not intended to provide any type of formal diagnosis, our clinicians would like to share how they approach depressive symptoms in session and how that could look for individual treatment.

Typically, depressive disorders share common symptoms which have emotional, cognitive, physical, and behavioral signs. Please remember that context is important and symptoms can vary widely person-to-person, especially if we consider their age, developmental stage, and the systems in which a person lives. Symptoms can include: persistent sadness, tearfulness, emptiness, and hopelessness, loss of interest or pleasure in previously enjoyed activities, irritability or angry outbursts, difficulty thinking or concentrating, recurrent thoughts of death or suicidal ideation, headaches, cramps, or body aches, fatigue, sleep disruptions, changes in appetite, slowed thinking and speech, social withdrawal, increased high-risk behaviors, and increased substance use or self-harm.

If you’ve looked at our treatment pages, you may notice that several symptoms of depression overlap with other diagnostic symptoms. This is normal and can result in multiple diagnoses to capture a person’s symptoms. As with all mental health challenges, when the symptoms you’re experiencing are noticeable enough to affect your daily functioning, that’s often a sign to seek extra support.

At our practice, we see you holistically as a person, not just a set of symptoms within the DSM. We know that treating depression effectively is often a mix of therapy, medication, and lifestyle changes. Because everyone’s brain and situation respond differently, the right treatment plan is best determined in close collaboration with skilled medical and mental health professionals in a treatment team. Many of our clinicians experience depression themselves, and while this will never be heavily disclosed in treatment, it does help us relate to our clients and offer empathetic perspective taking.

Therapy is often considered the first line of defense for depression, especially for mild to moderate symptoms. We use a mix of evidence-based practices, pulling interventions from CBT, DBT, and interpersonal therapy to help clients identify ineffective patterns and replace with more balanced behaviors and ways of thinking. Additionally, we focus on helping clients resolve interpersonal conflict and improving communication skills and relationships. Please note that we will accurately describe each treatment intervention we’re using in session and will ask you questions regarding consent and your understanding of the intervention before proceeding. You can always say no if something feels too overwhelming.

We might have a conversation with you about medication to manage to your depressive symptoms, but you’re under no obligation to seek medication management and we don’t prescribe meds in house. We would refer you to a trusted and psychiatrist. Please note that SSRIs and SNRIs are not seen as a “fix all,” but just another tool to manage symptoms.

Lifestyle enhancements and changes are also helpful in managing depression. Skills like behavioral activation, which involves acting first before waiting to feel motivated, help us build small, meaningful activities over time that provide pleasure, boost mood, build mastery, and improve social connection. Behavioral activation can help us access daily routines that improve our functioning, including movement, sleep hygiene, hydration, and mindfulness activities. I know these things often sound cliché and annoying to participate in, however, these routines really do make a difference in managing depression.

If you’re struggling to manage symptoms of depression, or are interested in exploring this topic further, please reach out to us. This article from the Mayo Clinic also provides a standard overview on depression.

Therapy for women’s mental health issues typically provides culturally responsive support to help navigate biological, societal, and relational challenges. At our practice, we understand the difference between sex and gender, with sex being biologically determined and gender being societally constructed. Any individual who identifies as a woman is a woman and can participate in therapy specifically designed to address women’s mental health. We also acknowledge that transgender affirming therapy can be a separate therapeutic topic entirely. Please see more about this on our LGBTQIA+ services page.

Key focus areas for women’s health include: reproductive and hormone health, life transitions and identity, relational dynamics and boundaries, trauma, mood disorders, self-confidence challenges, and body image concerns.

Many of our clinicians operate from a systems approach, meaning we know that women born into the American system of Western capitalism are subject to subsidiary systems of white supremacy and patriarchy. With your consent, we will often bring the challenges of women living in these systems of oppression into the session, linking these systems to gender-based trauma that many of us experience. Additionally, women often have societal expectations placed upon them that differ from the societal expectations placed on men, which can lead to struggles with cultural identity associated with family planning, motherhood, and undue emotional and mental labor.

Many women grow up receiving explicit or implicit messages that their worth is tied to caregiving, appearance, self-sacrifice, emotional labor, or meeting the expectations of others. These messages can make it difficult to prioritize personal needs, establish healthy boundaries, advocate for oneself, or navigate experiences such as career transitions, family planning, motherhood, caregiving responsibilities, relationship changes, infertility, menopause, or loss. Therapy offers a space to better understand these experiences, strengthen self-compassion, build confidence, cultivate healthier relationships, and develop ways of living that are more closely aligned with your values rather than external expectations.

As a practice staffed solely by women, we understand that while every woman’s experience is unique, many of us have navigated similar societal expectations, gender- based stressors, and life transitions. We recognize that each person's experience of womanhood is shaped by culture, family, identity, and lived experience. Our clinicians use validation, self-compassion, mindfulness, empowerment, and relational therapeutic approaches to help women better understand themselves, strengthen their relationships, reconnect with their authentic identities, and create meaningful, lasting change. If you’d like more information related to therapy for women’s mental health, we encourage you to contact us using the information on our contact page.

Therapy for men’s mental health issues provides supportive, culturally responsive care to help navigate the biological, societal, and relational factors that influence psychological well-being.

At our practice, we understand the difference between sex and gender, with sex being biologically determined and gender being societally constructed. Any individual who identifies as a man is a man and can participate in therapy specifically designed to address men’s mental health. We also acknowledge that transgender-affirming therapy can be a separate therapeutic topic entirely. Please see more about this on our LGBTQIA+ services page.

Key focus areas for men’s mental health include emotional awareness and expression, stress and burnout, relationship and communication challenges, fatherhood and family roles, life transitions and identity, trauma, anger, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, substance use concerns, and self-esteem. Many of our clinicians operate from a systems approach, recognizing that men born into the American system of Western capitalism are also shaped by broader social systems, including patriarchy, rigid gender norms, racism, homophobia, ableism, and other intersecting forms of oppression and privilege. With your consent, we may explore how these systems influence your experiences, relationships, identity, and expectations of masculinity, including messages about strength, vulnerability, independence, success, and emotional expression.

Many men grow up receiving explicit or implicit messages that their worth is tied to productivity, achievement, self-reliance, or the role of provider and protector. These expectations can make it difficult to recognize emotional needs, ask for support, establish healthy boundaries, or cope with experiences such as relationship changes, career transitions, infertility, fatherhood, caregiving responsibilities, or loss. Therapy offers a space to better understand these experiences, build emotional flexibility, strengthen relationships, and develop healthier ways of coping while remaining authentic to your personal values.

Although our practice is staffed solely by women, we are deeply committed to providing affirming, respectful, and evidence-based care for men. We recognize that every person's experience of masculinity is unique and shaped by culture, family, identity, and lived experience. Our clinicians use validation, self-compassion, mindfulness, empowerment, and relational therapeutic approaches to help men better understand themselves, improve their relationships, and create meaningful, lasting change.

If you'd like more information about therapy for men's mental health, we encourage you to contact us using the information on our Contact page.

At our practice, we don’t view the loss of a loved one as something to just “get over.” We believe that once grief touches us, our job is to figure out how to best live with grief, knowing that this feeling will always be with us in some capacity. Grief is not linear, meaning some days it’ll feel large, looming, or overwhelming, other days we might not notice it all, and most days will be somewhere in the middle. Grief may be complicated and dialectical, especially if your relationship to the deceased was complex. We also acknowledge that grief comes in many different forms, not just in relation to death. We can also experience grief as the ending of an important relationship, an estrangement, the loss of things as they once were or as we hoped they’d be, or anticipatory grief of the natural process of aging and/or illness for ourselves or our loved ones. The process of grieving is deeply personal and can vary between individuals. The way we grieve is often influenced by the cultural norms or values that we’re exposed to within our family/community systems.

If you’re experiencing heavy emotional expression, avoidance of grief feelings, a mismatch of how you feel internally versus your outward emotional expression, or a blend of those feelings, we’re here to help. We use several evidence-based approaches to help you acknowledge grief and learn to live as a bereaved person, learning strategies to navigate the grieving process in a healthy, adaptative way. We tailor our approach to your unique needs. You can expect Acceptant and Commitment Therapy (ACT), which focuses on accepting difficult emotions and practicing self-compassion while engaging in activities aligned with your personal values, as well as narrative and expressive/body-centered interventions to help reduce physical and emotional tension associated with grief. Above all, we normalize the grieving process, provide empathy to witness your emotional state, help you manage triggers associated with loss, and help you build a routine to find meaning in your new circumstances. We value the important of ritual building to ground yourself when grief becomes intense or overwhelming.

Arli Necowitz, LPC, is a Certified Grief Educator, trained by David Kessler. She brings a centered, meaningful approach to working with grief, while providing insight into the physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional process of bereavement.

Emily Koppenhofer, LPC, is a trained Death Doula through the International End of Life Doula Association. She brings an existential focus to grief work, helping you manage the tension between living a meaningful life, while accepting the inevitability of death.

Jenna Moore, LAPC has training and experience with supporting individuals navigating reproductive trauma, including infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, abortion, and pregnancy loss. She has additional training and experience in working with bereaved parents and understands that every reproductive journey is deeply personal. Taking a holistic, trauma-informed approach, she provides a safe and nonjudgmental space where clients can process their experiences with dignity and care. She honors each individual's right to make choices about their reproductive journey and believes that every person and family deserves support, respect, and compassion, whether navigating pregnancy, abortion, adoption, infertility, IVF, loss, or other paths to building a family. She is committed to creating an affirming space where clients can explore their experiences, values, and choices without judgment.

While Arli, Emily, and Jenna have specific training around grief, all of our clinicians are able to support you on your grief journey. 

Stress is a normal part of being human. While stress itself is not inherently harmful, chronic or overwhelming stress can begin to impact your physical health, emotional well-being, relationships, work performance, and overall quality of life. At K & K Holistic Counseling, we provide compassionate, evidence-based stress management therapy to help individuals better understand their stress responses, develop healthier coping strategies, and create sustainable routines that support long-term well-being.

Stress can arise from many areas of life, including work, school, parenting, caregiving, relationships, financial concerns, health conditions, major life transitions, discrimination, or simply trying to balance competing responsibilities. We recognize that everyone experiences stress differently, and there is no "right" amount of stress that justifies seeking therapy. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed by daily demands or navigating a significant life challenge, therapy can help you regain a greater sense of balance and control.

One of the first steps in stress management counseling is understanding the different types of stress. Our clinicians provide psychoeducation about acute stress, episodic stress, and chronic stress, as well as the ways stress can affect the nervous system over time. We recognize that stress often manifests physically, mentally, emotionally, and behaviorally. You may notice symptoms such as muscle tension, headaches, digestive concerns, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, racing thoughts, irritability, anxiety, emotional exhaustion, forgetfulness, or difficulty concentrating. Understanding these responses can reduce self-judgment and help you respond to stress with greater awareness and self-compassion.

Our clinicians frequently incorporate Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)-informed strategies into stress management treatment. Together, we identify patterns that may unintentionally maintain stress, such as perfectionism, people-pleasing, overcommitment, avoidance, difficulty setting boundaries, or feeling responsible for solving everyone else's problems. Therapy focuses on building practical skills that promote resilience, including mindfulness, grounding techniques, distress tolerance, emotional awareness, self-compassion, healthy communication, asking for help, delegating responsibilities, and creating routines that support both productivity and rest. Rather than striving to eliminate stress entirely, we help clients develop confidence in their ability to navigate life's inevitable challenges.

We also recognize that stress can present differently for neurodivergent individuals, including those with ADHD, autism, and other forms of neurodiversity. Differences in executive functioning, sensory processing, perceived urgency, task initiation, and emotional regulation can make everyday demands feel uniquely overwhelming. Our clinicians work collaboratively with clients to develop individualized strategies that honor the way their brains naturally function, including building realistic schedules, creating supportive routines, managing transitions, reducing cognitive overload, and finding organizational systems that are sustainable rather than perfectionistic. We believe effective stress management should adapt to the individual and not require the individual to adapt to unrealistic expectations.

At K & K Holistic Counseling, we understand that stress is not a personal weakness or failure to cope. Stress is often a natural response to demanding environments, systemic pressures, major life changes, and competing responsibilities. Our goal is to help clients better understand their unique stress patterns, strengthen coping skills, reconnect with their values, and build lives that feel more balanced, intentional, and fulfilling.

If you are looking for stress management therapy, counseling for chronic stress, burnout therapy, or practical coping strategies for managing everyday stress, our clinicians are here to help. We encourage you to contact us through our Contact page to learn more about how stress management therapy can support your mental health and overall well-being.

 At our practice, every clinician has some training and practical experience implementing individual and group DBT informed care. DBT, short for Dialectical Behavior Therapy, is a newer, evidenced-based therapy approach created by Dr. Marsha Linehan. Although the DBT adherent format was originally intended for the treatment of borderline personality disorder and highly suicidal individuals, over time, DBT has been effectively used to treat symptoms of anxiety, depression, addiction, disordered eating, and a variety of other symptoms. We are strong proponents that DBT skills are life skills, and you don’t need to have a specific diagnosis to benefit from learning skills. 

The word dialectic means that two opposing things can be true at the same time. We can feel lonely and still be surrounded by people. We can accept things as they are and still strive for change. We can do the best we can and want to do better. Multiple things can be true at the same time. DBT contains four modules all centered around the idea that we learn to live a balanced life, rather than in extremes. These modules are mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotional regulation, and distress tolerance, with many skills within each module. We are a DBT informed practice, not a DBT adherent practice. This means that we work with you as individual to assess what your goals and therapeutic needs are and teach skills accordingly, rather than adhere to a strict structure of going through every skill within DBT. DBT informed care is more appropriate for individuals with a mild-moderate level of risk, rather than higher risk individuals who would benefit from a DBT adherent structure. Put simply, we integrate DBT skills and principles into therapy, rather than provide comprehensive DBT treatment. 

If you’re interested in decreasing a feeling of emptiness, being out of touch with yourself and others, judgementalness, interpersonal conflict and stress, difficulty with change, extreme emotions, mood dependent behavior, difficulty regulating emotions, impulsive behaviors, difficulty accepting reality as it is, or willfulness, DBT informed care might be a good fit for you. We will always obtain consent and provide psychoeducation on DBT informed care before getting into skill work. You cannot fail in DBT, and we will always work at your pace. Our mission is to help you access tools to build a meaningful life. 

In DBT informed therapy, you can expect skills to be introduced with clinically appropriate, integrated into existing treatment plans, used as low-stakes, behavioral experiments, and reinforced in session. Before you know it, you’ll be using skills-based language to describe daily interactions and will be able to give feedback on which skills are effective for you and which needs to be remixed based on your circumstances. 

We are truly passionate about DBT informed care and love working with individuals and groups to teach skills. You will walk away from session with something to practice and collect data on before the next session.

Our identities shape the way we experience ourselves, our relationships, and the world around us. Identity is not static—it evolves throughout our lives as we encounter new experiences, relationships, responsibilities, and challenges. At K & K Holistic Counseling, we provide affirming, culturally responsive identity exploration therapy for individuals seeking a deeper understanding of themselves in a safe, compassionate, and nonjudgmental therapeutic space.

Identity exploration therapy can be helpful during periods of transition, uncertainty, or personal growth. You may be questioning who you are, exploring different aspects of your identity, adjusting to a major life change, or working to reconcile parts of yourself that have felt disconnected or misunderstood. Others seek therapy after recognizing that their values, beliefs, relationships, or life circumstances no longer align with the person they want to become. Regardless of where you are in your journey, therapy offers an opportunity to explore your experiences with curiosity rather than judgment.

Our clinicians approach identity from a culturally competent and trauma-informed perspective. We recognize that identity is influenced by many intersecting factors, including race, ethnicity, culture, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, religion or spirituality, disability, neurodivergence, socioeconomic status, family systems, age, body size, military service, immigration experiences, and other aspects of lived experience. We also acknowledge that systems of privilege, oppression, discrimination, and historical trauma can profoundly shape the way individuals understand themselves and move through the world. With your consent, these broader contexts may become an important part of the therapeutic conversation.

We believe that clients should never be expected to educate their therapist about their identities or lived experiences. Our role is to approach each person with openness, humility, cultural responsiveness, and a genuine desire to understand your unique perspective. We recognize that no therapist can know everything, and we remain committed to lifelong learning while centering your expertise in your own life. Therapy should feel like a collaborative partnership where all aspects of your identity are welcomed, respected, and explored within the ethical and legal responsibilities of our profession, including mandated reporting requirements.

Our work is guided by Person-Centered Therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS)-informed principles, and trauma-informed care. We understand that many people carry different "parts" of themselves that have developed to cope with difficult experiences, relationships, or environments. Rather than viewing these parts as problems to eliminate, we approach them with compassion and curiosity, helping clients understand how each part has served a protective purpose. Through this process, clients often develop greater self-awareness, self-compassion, emotional integration, and confidence in living authentically.

Identity exploration is not about finding a single, fixed version of yourself. It is about creating space to understand your experiences, clarify your values, strengthen your sense of self, and make choices that feel authentic and meaningful. Our clinicians provide an affirming, nurturing, and nonjudgmental environment where clients can safely explore questions of identity without pressure, shame, or expectations about where their journey should lead.

If you are looking for identity exploration therapy, culturally responsive counseling, trauma-informed therapy, or a supportive space for self-discovery and personal growth, K & K Holistic Counseling is here to help. We invite you to contact us through our Contact page to learn more about how therapy can support you in building a stronger, more authentic connection with yourself.

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