Meet your Therapist
Kristina C. Faulkner, NCC, LCAS-A, LCMHC
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Certified Personal Trainer
Certified Nutrition Coach
Hi I’m Kristina. I’m a licensed health professional specializing in disturbed eating habits, unhealthy body image, anxiety, depression, low self-worth, and strained relationships. In addition to being a therapist, I am also a certified personal trainer for over 20 years and group fitness instructor.
My love for exercise began as a teenager as my mom would take me to her gym and we would exercise as our mother-daughter bonding. I believe this time with my mom is one of the many reasons I chose to work with teens and young adults.
During those crucial years,
I learned how to listen to my body
How to develop skills by finding healthy and effective ways to deal with the stressors of being in high school, exercise being my main source of coping
And most importantly, found a way to talk with my parents even when it felt uncomfortable.
Now a mom of three children, two in high school, I share this with you to know how important, more than ever, that we implement these skill sets into our children. I’m not going to pretend to understand what its like to be a teen at this age. As a mom of high schoolers and a teen therapist, this is biggest differences I’m seeing the most…
Growing with video games (well I had an Atari if that counts)
Access to an endless amount of information at my fingertips, overstimulating my mind not allowing it to ever shut down
Social media sites like Instagram and Tik Tok constantly comparing one body type or “perfect” lives to another
Even with the healthy coping skills I did have, I wasn’t immune to my own struggles with insecurities about my body, especially when I got older and realized what society deemed as the “perfect body” and knowing that I didn’t match those standards. I couldn’t imagine having social media then and having to navigate through my feelings and thoughts. How confusing! As parents, we have to accept that we are doing the best we can when we are trying to parent in a world that is throwing a lot at our kids.
Teens today have it so much harder than I did so I learned to validate their experiences by not pretending I get it or dismissing that its just all part of growing up, but by truly listening to their experiences as they all have their own individual paths to cross growing up in this beautiful and complex times of their lives.
I also understand that there is not a one size fits all when it comes to therapy. Your teens therapy experience is all their own and they need to discover what they need to find joy in their everyday, to love their changing body, to feel purposeful, and to feel alive again. The good news is they don’t have to do it alone. That’s what I’m here for.
