KIAI KIM, NCC, Lpcc

LICENSED PROFESSIONAL CLINICAL COUNSELOR

At the core of my work is unconditional positive regard. I am here to be a support and sounding board. From there I use different approaches based on my clients' needs and preferences. I lean towards somatic, cognitive-behavioral, and creative therapies, which have been the basis for my own healing from post-traumatic stress disorder after working as a hotline counselor after the 9/11 tragedy in New York City. Now symptom-free, personal experience has informed my theoretical orientation, which is primarily based on neurobiology. 

Nothing gives me as much joy as helping people through the therapeutic process, not even riding a motorcycle. I have worked with clients through PTSD, depression, anxiety, grief, traumatic brain injury, anger, inhibitions, emotional habits, and also work with autism. I specialize in a process I call somatic quieting where I guide the client's attention toward sensations in the body that are associated with difficult emotions, until calm is reached. This process usually takes anywhere from seconds to several minutes. I also use different approaches backed by evidence in the realm of clinical counseling, including marriage and family therapy. As a natural rationalist, I tend to be directive while looking for the most efficient way to get to point B. Clients have also described me as warm, open-minded, and flexible. 

EDUCATION

B.A. Sociology and Geography, Vassar College

M.A. Antioch University New England