Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristina Delhomme.
Hi Kristina, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My name is Kristina Delhomme and I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Professional Counselor. I’ve been in practice since 2010 and throughout my career worked with a variety of presenting concerns and all ages of people. My journey to this finding career started at a early age when my parents divorced. I was three years old and my parents struggled to navigate the co-parenting relationship for most of my childhood due to their own hurts and the challenges that come with a divorce and children being involved. As I grew older, I found myself exhausted and frustrated acting as a mediator, visitation coordinator and caretaker to my younger siblings while my mother worked. I made the decision around fifteen years old that I did not want others to struggle in the same way myself, my siblings and my parents had. I believed that if people had a supportive and validating outlet to express their feelings then people, most importantly children, wouldn’t be alone carrying around hurt and pain while simultaneously trying to live in the present or figure out the next phases of life. From that point, my desire to be a mental health therapist never wavered.
Since 2010, I’ve worked as a therapist at a non-profit agency and group practice. In 2013, I started work at a community mental health clinic providing therapy to adults, families and children and was promoted to clinical director. In the director role, I continued my work as a therapist but also got the opportunity to supervise and train an amazing team of therapists and start a new therapy team that exclusively provided telehealth services. After eight years in community mental health, I decided to leave my position and opened my own private practice, Ascending Light Counseling. In my private practice, I continue to provide therapy services to adults, families and couples and additionally provide supervision to provisionally licensed therapists.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As a therapist, I firmly believe the road of life is similar to Houston in that there’s always some part of the road that is under construction. Some parts are minor bumps in the road, some parts seem to be a constant work in progress that you must learn to live with and other parts are complete detours that ultimately lead you in a path you might never think is possible. For me, some of the bumps include failing pre-calculus in high school and initially being denied admittance into the only graduate school I applied to. I was heartbroken with no sense of direction since therapy was my only plan since childhood and I obviously struggled with math. Thankfully, I received a call from the program director a few days later asking if I was still interested in joining the family therapy program. Of course, I said yes and continued on a smooth road all the way through graduate school.
Five days prior to graduation, I was hit by the largest unexpected construction project: the death of brother. He was involved in a drunk driving accident and I was scheduled to start work immediately following graduation at what was then called the Council on Alcohol and Drugs. I had no idea if I could do the work of listening to other people’s problems when felt like my own life was in shambles, little less do it for those who struggled with very substance I blamed for killing my brother. At the time, I had an amazing clinical supervisor who offered empathy, validation and support as I struggled to cope and weigh my decisions about the future. She told me, “Each and every day, you can either do the work or you can’t and both are okay. Your brother’s death will always be part of your story but you get to choose how the next pages are written”. I’m proud to say I continued to work in that position for the next two years, being mindful of which clients I could and couldn’t work with due to my history, taking crying breaks when needed and growing personally and professionally in the process. Ultimately, the position detoured me away from working solely with families and substance use to specializing in anxiety and trauma.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
As I mentioned, I am licensed both as a professional counselor and a marriage and family therapist and specialize in working with individuals, families and couples struggling with anxiety and the various types of trauma.
The foundation of my work and approach to healing utilizes systems theory which means I believe the various systems in one’s life impact their overall functioning or the idea that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Such systems or parts include one’s physiology, past and present experiences and relationships, community and even generational patterns of connection, disconnection and trauma. Much like a car that has a flat tire, when a particular system is impaired, challenged or even dysfunctional, it limits the person’s ability to perform at their best. My work is derived from helping others examine, understand and overcome the negative or challenging systems such as childhood abuse, anxiety, low self-esteem or relational distress to create an ideal present whole. I incorporate multiple types of therapy to assist in this work including attachment, cognitive behavioral therapy, strengths-based, motivational interviewing, somatic therapy and eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR).
I am most proud of the opportunity to share in other people’s journey towards healing. It takes incredible courage to acknowledge some things aren’t working in your life and I am humbled every day that people trust me to walk with them on that journey. I believe my relatable personality and collaborative approach sets me apart from other therapists in addition to my efforts to incorporate alternative and creative means to facilitate healing including pulling in references from art, music, sports and pop-culture. One of my favorite experiences was using a 17 years old‘s pet bearded dragon to facilitate a conversation regarding the nervous system and draw similarities between his and the dragon’s bodily responses to a perceived threat. Other forms of imagery, metaphors, in-session guided practice of skills in addition to possibly tying your personal experiences to characters from the Marvel Universe are common practice in many sessions regardless of your age or presenting concern.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
For those interested in becoming a therapist, I would say do your own work and take the opportunity to sit on the couch. We all have our “stuff” and I promise you that stuff will come out in the therapy room. There is no shame in those things but you need to be aware of what can and will ultimately impact you and your ability to support others. Part two is making sure you have a strong self-care routine that allows you to turn off the therapist part of yourself. The stories you hear and the space you need to hold for the clients can be taxing and, at times, limit your ability to be present with family and friends outside of the therapy room. Having a routine or ritual to close the day supports work-life balance, reduces compassion fatigue and prevents burnout.
Pricing:
- Individual session: $135-150
- Couples and Family sessions $150-165
Contact Info:
- Website: www.ascendinglightcounseling.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ascendinglightcounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ascendinglightcounseling
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/kristina-delhomme-atascocita-tx/931162?preview=1&return_to=https%3A%2F%2Fmember.psychologytoday.com%2Fus%2Fhome&_ga=2.135611697.1660065204.1659366035-1080568829.1641139419
