A little bit about me....

Hello! My name is Kenia, I'm a mental health counselor associate in NC and I work with children as young as 3 years old all the way up to 18 years of age. I'm from El Salvador and immigrated to the United States as a young child. My passion in life has always been to help people, this passion led me into my first career as a Law Enforcement officer working with the Community-Policing Crisis Response Team (CPCRT), and later into the field of mental health counseling and play therapy. I see myself as someone with a compassionate heart, a resilient attitude and a positive mindset. I love helping people but especially small children and teens because I believe in the power of early intervention. I believe that it's crucial to help children as early as possible following a traumatic experience or the onset of symptoms to reduce the likelihood that they will be negatively impacted later in life. As a bilingual therapist, I am honored to provide therapy services to my clients in either Spanish or English, whichever  language they are comfortable expressing themselves in.  Lastly, I’m Married and have two crazy little dogs (Bubba and Gigi) that fill my days with joy and laughter.  

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My Philosophy on Children’s Mental Health…

Just as plants need nutrient rich soil, water, and sunlight to grow, children also need the right environment (soil), proper nutrition (water), and nurturing (sunlight) from the adults in their lives in order to grow and flourish. As a therapist, my goal is to provide caregivers with the right support and tools to ensure that their children are getting all the essential requirements that it takes for them to grow up into healthy regulated adults.  I also believe that it's important for children to receive therapeutic intervention following a traumatic event, in order to decrease the chances that it will negatively impact them later on down the line.

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Educational Background...

I obtained my Master's in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and certificate in Play Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.  During my graduate experience I interned at an elementary school in Salisbury providing play therapy to students, in addition to conducting school-based therapy at various elementary schools in the Charlotte area.