ABOUT THE THERAPIST

Kelsey Piller, M.A., is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Addiction Counselor in Colorado.

Kelsey purchased and redesigned the Jung template for her practice. Below is an interview with Kelsey where she shares about her practice, her passion for therapy, and her experience with Therapist Site Toolbox.

Q&A with Kelsey

Where are you located? Where do you serve?

Hi there I'm Kelsey Piller. I'm a licensed professional counselor and licensed addiction counselor working with clients in Colorado.

I first considered becoming a therapist after learning about the statistics on veteran suicide. I know that having validating support and being taught skills to deal with our internal experience effectively can be life-changing. It bothered me to know that so many people were in need, but a lack of providers and systemic issues kept them from being able to gain support.

Luckily during my graduate school experience, I had the opportunity to work with the VA and Mt.Carmel, a local nonprofit for service members. Those experiences, in combination with being the partner of a service member, really helped me to better understand the unique challenges service members and their families face. I went on to work at a community mental health agency, and later at a group practice that focused on evidence-based care. Both of those experiences have allowed me to work with clients from a broad range of backgrounds and presenting concerns. I consider myself lucky to have worked with so many people, and to be able to build my own practice now.

Who do you serve?

I work with people 13 and older living in Colorado, most often Military-connected clients. The majority of my clients come to me wanting to deal with their lives more effectively. I most often work with clients in the contemplation stage of change, who want things to be different but aren't sure exactly what they want or how to get there. I work with my clients using ACT, DBT, and relational-theories to help them gain clarity on what isn't working in their life, how the context of their past connects to this, and to help them learn skills to move forward with purpose.

What is your favorite part of working with clients or the process of therapy?

My favorite about working with clients is helping them to feel valid in their concerns and their experiences. So often people experience invalidation from the people they care about, and it leads to them constantly questioning themselves. Helping clients learn to accept that their internal experiences happen for a reason, they are understandable given their context, and that they can experience them without becoming taken over by them is my favorite part of therapy.

What do you specialize in?

I specialize in working with military-connected clients (service members, partners, children), and working with high-functioning anxiety, perfectionism, and trauma.

What are you passionate about?

I'm passionate about blending evidence-based approaches like Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Dialectic Behavioral Therapy (DBT), with psychodynamic, attachment, and existential theories. I love ACT and DBT because they help clients better understand how their brain works, and how to gain some sense of control back over their lives. However, I also love using more relational theories like the psychodynamic approach because so many people get stuck wondering why they are a certain way. Those theories often help clients feel more valid in their experience, even when their whole lives people have told them they shouldn't feel a certain way.

I'm passionate about helping clients explore the various factors that helped shape who they are, and ultimately to help them come to a place of increased self-acceptance. That said, I think it's important to help clients recognize the dialectical nature of the self. Some of our "parts" can be both extremely helpful but also very damaging if left unchecked. For example, perfectionism often allows people to accomplish great things - but at the cost of never feeling good enough. I love helping clients find a more effective relationship with the different parts of themself, and ultimately find more of a sense of balance in life.

What sets your practice apart?

I designed my practice for motivated clients who are genuinely looking to get past the factors holding them back from engaging in their lives and having a life they find meaningful. My clients are motivated, intelligent people that are looking for tangible takeaways they can apply to their lives. Not just venting, or a therapist who gives more advice than they listen. I wanted to focus on what value effective therapy can bring to their lives. Finding clarity, meaningful direction, self-validation, balance, and flexibility, all of these are efforts worth investing in. My clients realize they're worth investing in themselves, even if they don't feel that way all the time. That's what set's my practice apart, my clients know they want something different from the "typical experience". They don't want to go to an agency and be just another number. They don't want to trust someone with a cliche, vague site that is full of "wellness" and "mountain journey" photos. They want a practice that shows them they understand their concerns, and can help them take the first step to address them well.

To connect with Kelsey, you can check out her website https://www.optimalmhealth.com/ or follow her on Instagram

Please share about your experience with Therapist Site Toolbox.

Using Therapist Site Toolbox took what I thought would be a hugely complicated process and made it easy. I've told all of my clinician friends that will listen that this is the way to go. You pick out the template that works best for you, and within a day or two you have a customizable site ready to go. The branding and web-site copy guides that come with the purchase really help add value to the package. Those are major places where people get stuck, and the guides make it easy to help you flesh-out your business vision.

Which template did you choose and why?

I chose the Jung template because I love how clean, simple, and modern it looks. I wanted a site that felt luxurious and that set me apart from my competition visually. The color pallet, font, and style, all fit what I was looking for. It's also very functional, when I imagine myself as a client, the Jung template is easy to navigate and it has space for all the information I'd be looking for.

We're so honored you chose Therapist Site Toolbox's templates to create your website. What prompted you to choose our templates over others?

All of Therapist Site Toolbox's templates have a clean, modern, and professional look. The templates are user-friendly for clients, but also easy to set up for the business owner. Many templates have a cookie-cutter approach, so no matter what you do they all look the same. I loved the Jung template, so I didn't end up changing it much. But I'm glad that I have the option to if I chose to take my branding in a different direction.

How does it feel to have your website launched?

It feels unreal to have my website launched, so much thought was put into the decision to start my own practice. To be able to look at my beautiful site, it helps remind me how far I've come from when I first graduated.