Kelly is a licensed professional counselor with nearly 20 years of experience in the mental health field. A native of Wisconsin, she graduated with Bachelors and Masters degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to specializing in OCD and anxiety disorders, she worked with children and adults in a variety of settings, including outpatient, school-based therapy, and in-home therapy. Kelly views this early experience as an asset, helping her to hone the skills to connect, support, and build resilience with clients coping with major life stressors and crises. Additionally, she treated clients at the intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization level, with a specialized focus on patients with depression and anxiety disorders such as OCD, social anxiety, panic disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Kelly’s practice is informed heavily by Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), which focuses on finding balanced and effective behaviors while validating how very difficult that can be! Kelly loves to encourage people to get a little more curious about finding the function of their behavior, and to come up with ways to get those goals met in a healthy way. Kelly is highly skilled in using exposure based therapy (ERP) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to address anxiety and problematic avoidance behaviors. She has a knack for encouraging patients to try things they never imagined they could do, using humor and honesty along the way. In addition, Kelly is an approved LPC supervisor, and enjoys helping other therapists grow in their skills and confidence. Currently, she supervises prelicensed counselors as well as graduate school interns.
Kelly is always working to balance her work with the needs of her three energetic young boys and equally energetic husband. When not at work, you can find her on a sports field, at a park, catching some live music, or making ANOTHER grocery store run.
What Her Colleagues Say About Her: Quick-Thinking, Knowledgable, Resourceful, Funny, Validating, Resilient, "Super Mom!"
