Erin Kelly, M.A.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist – MFC 46710
Coordinator of DBT Training & Program Development
For over ten years, I have been helping children, adolescents, young adults, and families develop the skills they need to reduce their suffering and lead more fulfilling lives. I have a passion for helping girls and young women navigate social, emotional, and societal challenges. I have worked extensively with adolescents, young women and their families to create space for alternative perspectives of self, others, and situations.
Since training intensively in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), I look at therapy as a balancing act—simultaneously accepting what is and asking for needed change. This parallels a common challenge in families; one person may be pushing another to change while the other person is asking to be accepted. In coming to a place of balance, I have found that many families and adolescents increase their abilities to effectively communicate, negotiate, and engage with one another. When there is space for this, many problems are solved. I value and practice the tools of mindfulness that DBT incorporates in both my personal and professional lives.
Specialties:
• Transitioning from adolescence to adulthood
• Healing from the effects of trauma
• Coping with anxiety and depression
• Reducing and eliminating self-harm
• Developing a preferred identity and way of being
• Building self-confidence and self-efficacy
• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), a skills-based treatment modality for difficulties with emotion regulation
Additional Information about my Specialties:
I have extensive experience addressing issues related to self-injury and suicidal ideation. Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a modality of treatment that addresses these issues directly and assists clients in building a life worth living. I use DBT for this purpose as well as working to help clients:
• overcome various types of anxiety, including social anxiety, through exposure-based techniques
• move past depressive symptoms through behavioral activation and cognitive modification
• increase experiences of joy and fulfillment through mindfulness-based practices
I consider myself to be a mindfulness-based therapist and a lifelong student of mindfulness.
Coordinator of DBT Training & Program Development:
As Coordinator of DBT Training and Program Development, I assist the Institute’s DBT Team in fulfilling their training, education, and program goals. I work directly with the team to assess training needs, provide supplemental training as needed, and support the implementation of evidence-based findings into the structure of the ever-evolving DBT Program.
Presentations and Workshops:
• DBT Overview: for Marriage and Family Therapy Students as part of Gonzaga University’s MFT Program.
Articles:
• Listen for Love’s Sake
• Seven Action Steps to Take When the World Overwhelms
• How to Tame Comparing Mind
Advanced Training:
• Shari Manning—Exposure
• Shari Manning—DBT Case Conceptualization
• Charles Swenson and Kelly Koerner
• DBT Intensive Training
Other Current Professional Activities:
• Consult with Dr. Charles Swenson once a month with DBT Team
• WAMFT member, attend local WAMFT trainings and events
Prior Experience:
• Optimum Performance Institute, developed residential DBT-based program for young adult women transitioning to independent living
• The Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic, Outpatient Department
• Optimist Youth Homes & Family Services
• Quest Camp, a summer program for children diagnosed with ADHD
Education:
• Phillips Graduate Institute, M.A. Psychology, Emphasis in Marriage & Family Therapy
• Occidental College, B.A. Psychology
Mission: My mission is to foster an environment where girls and women work collaboratively to discover and support one another’s unique strengths and gifts, passions and values – to help create a sense of being fulfilled, empowered and whole.
Email: EKelly@IFGD.care
Phone: 626-585-8075 ext. 104
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