Borderline Personality
Kristen Kern
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, MSW
It takes courage and strength to reach out for support in life. I believe providing a caring professional environment where individuals feel comfortable and can be themselves is key to healing and growth.
I am a welcoming, supportive, and empathetic therapist who collaborates with each client to help them make positive changes in their lives. I specialize in providing client centered therapy for adults, seniors, and their loved ones.
I use a variety of evidence-based therapy techniques to support individuals facing the challenges of depression, anxiety, grief and loss, and other life transitions.
I focus on supporting each client in managing symptoms and improving their quality of life. I have over 15 years' experience helping adults and seniors learn the skills to make positive improvements to their overall health and wellness.
Emily Currier
Supervisee in Social Work, MSW
Creativity and a passion for nature were fundamental in my upbringing as a native Virginian. I attended Emory University in Atlanta and received my BA in Anthropology and Creative Writing. After roughly a decade spent pursuing a wide variety of interests and positions, I enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Master of Social Work graduate program because of my interest in social justice and creating equitable access to mental health resources.
For my clinical field placement, I worked with children and adolescents from 5 to 18 years old and discovered a love for play and art therapies. I believe art and creativity to be therapeutic for people of all ages, unlocking feelings and memories that people may otherwise struggle to verbalize. Along with a strengths-based perspective, I strive to create a supportive environment in which clients feel comfortable expressing themselves.
I admire the courage and resilience it takes to seek help when you are unwell, suffering, or feeling out-of-sorts. I am committed to celebrating client’s strengths and triumphs as well as acknowledging and working through their hard days and challenges.
Tiffani Ashland
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, LCSW, MSW
I personally understand what it feels like to lose your way, lose people you love, or just to lose hope altogether. I've been there.
I strive to create a therapeutic space that is authentic, non-judgmental, flexible, and prioritizes each client’s individual needs and safety. I am an active therapist who values compassion, humor, and challenging clients in an empathetic and supportive way.
I use a holistic & strengths-based approach, drawing from mindfulness, solution-focused & cognitive behavioral therapies.
I am experienced in treating older adolescents & adults with a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, mood disorders, trauma, ADHD, OCD, grief, and all types of relationship issues.
I am a sex-positive therapist, experienced in helping people form and nurture healthy relationships with self and others.
This may include support with sexuality, gender identity, monogamous and non-monogamous, and open or polyamorous relationships.
I am trained in evidenced based interventions such as Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Dialectial Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and use these in my work when appropriate. My main focus is in DBT, an approach that can increase mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness. I am also certified in EMDR, a proven trauma treatment that can help build a sense of safety, identify and change beliefs that are harmful, and to become less stuck in past pain.
Amy Kennel
Licensed Professional Counselor, LPC, MS
I joined Lifeworks Professional Counseling in May 2019 to help and support people going through a variety of problems. Since 2005, I have worked in community mental health settings where I did individual and group counseling, and conducted intake assessments. I received a BA in Art Therapy from Arcadia University in Glenside, PA. I received my MS in Mental Health Counseling from Longwood University in Farmville, VA, with honors from the Counseling and Education departments. I was also a member of the Chi Sigma Iota Honor Society for Counselor Educators.
The foundation to transformation and healing in therapy relies on mutual trust and respect. My past work experience with people in crisis honed my skills in holding space for difficult experiences and painful emotions. I provide encouragement, empathy, understanding, attention and acceptance, and give honest and caring feedback.
Through our work together, you can expect to establish goals and work
meaningfully towards achieving them. Our work may also include challenging
unhelpful thoughts, building and increasing a sense of safety, finding meaning
and purpose, improving your communication and connection with others,
recognizing unhealthy patterns, fostering hope and nourishing change, practicing
new skills, and adopting new habits. You may also notice an improvement in
understanding yourself and expressing your feelings, managing emotions, problem solving, and an increased sense of resilience.