Kristen Smith, LMHC

Kristen Smith is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) practicing in Florida with 27 years of experience. She focuses on helping people who feel stuck by listening, asking clear questions, and offering realistic steps forward. Kristen emphasizes the client's own strengths and works alongside them to make change more manageable.

Many people come to her for help with addiction concerns, relationship and intimacy issues, trauma and abuse, depression, anxiety, grief, and sleep or eating struggles. She also supports those facing career stress, parenting pressures, compassion fatigue, ADHD, and life transitions. Her approach adapts to the problem at hand rather than using a one-size-fits-all method.

Kristen draws on Client-Centered Therapy to keep sessions grounded in what matters most to the client. She uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to identify unhelpful thinking patterns and build new behaviors. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) skills are offered when emotion regulation and stress tolerance are the focus.

In sessions she balances practical skill teaching with attentive listening. Expect straightforward guidance, goal setting, and homework when useful. Kristen helps people break big problems into small, doable steps so progress feels visible.

She works with a broad range of life concerns including abandonment, attachment issues, caregiver stress, and family of origin difficulties. If someone wants to start, Kristen supports them in naming a goal and planning the next step toward it.

How Kristen’s Approaches Guide Online Work

Client-Centered Therapy focuses on the person’s experience and priorities, offering a listening approach that centers the client's goals and values. It helps when someone needs space to be heard and to shape their own path forward.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, looks at the links between thoughts, feelings, and actions. It teaches practical strategies for changing unhelpful thinking and building new habits, which can help with anxiety, depression, and behavior changes like breaking addictive patterns.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy, DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal skills. It is useful when strong emotions or relationship conflicts make it hard to move ahead.

Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist will talk with the client about their needs, goals, and preferences and recommend which methods to try first. Plans are adjusted over time based on what works for the person.

Confirm current session options before booking since formats are not specified here. Online work can make it easier to fit sessions into a busy week, reduce travel time, and allow shorter check-ins when needed. It can also support continuity of care during life changes, while the clinician and client decide together which session rhythm suits their goals.