Kate Polk

I am a Licensed Mental health Counselor (LMHC) in the state of Florida, and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). I received my Bachelor’s Degree from Villanova University and Master’s Degree in Counseling from Wake Forest University. I am an Army veteran and former military spouse (17 years). I know personally and professionally how devastating traumatic experiences can negatively impact one’s life emotionally, socially, physically, and spiritually, and remain passionate about assisting people from all backgrounds and beliefs to gain greater insight of how their past impacts their current emotional wellbeing and self-concept. I am genuinely interested and invested in the emotional health and wellness needs of my clients, and work to foster a healthy trust-based therapeutic relationship with them from the start which combined with research based therapeutic guidance provides the proper space, time, and support they need to explore, process, and heal from a painful past and regain renewed emotional peace and self-acceptance at present and into the future.My professional experience has been in addressing the emotional and mental health needs and concerns of indiviuals between the ages of 18-65+, for various mental health related concerns and issues across the life spectrum.

My ideal clients are amazing individuals struggling to manage life on life's terms, who find themselves challenged to cope with everyday life stress as well as manage unresolved issues from their past that also negatively impact their ability to sustain and enjoy everyday emotional health, stability, and wellness. I enjoy working with men and women of all ages, identities, spiritual practices, and cultures, my passion is in guiding the human heart and spirit to sustained wellness and contentment by healing painful issues of the past, and gaining renewed love and acceptance of self in the present and in the future.

I practice individual therapy from a Person Centered approach, where I first get to know the client and their history, learn what bothers them most, and then understand their goals for achieving emotional health and wellness. Specialty areas of concern: Anxiety, Depression, Addiction, Relationship Conflict, Self-esteem, OCD, Trauma/PTSD, grief and loss.

I practice from a very holistic, empathetic, person-centered perspective; where I am humbled and honored to be a guide for my clients in discerning who they are at the core, helping them to mindfully recognize that their experiences, as painful as they are do NOT define their identity or their future.

I often use Person Centered and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in my practice. In your first session, we'll explore what brought you to therapy and then decide the most appropriate ways to help you make progress. With CBT, we'll look at how your thoughts, relative to past experiebnces- affect your emotions, behaviors, and relationships. During treatment, I'll help you learn how to push back against those thoughts to change your feelings for the better and improve overall sustained wellbeing across all areas of your life.