About Me
Kristen Morefield, MFT
As a former elementary school computer lab instructor I found that my teacher friends needed support as much as my student friends. Over the years I felt drawn to explore the link between mental health and the environment of education. Would support for teachers result in more connection in classrooms? Would focusing on the emotional wellness of a whole school campus reduce stress, depression and self-harm? The answers are yes. Activities that acknowledge and address emotions foster greater mental, social and emotional connection in any environment.
I help clients to develop emotion management techniques and to increase acceptance of their feelings. I utilize a humanistic, experiential approach informed by CBT training to support goal development and achievement. In sessions we aim to integrate all of the aspects of self and to increase resilience. We may practice mindfulness, develop behavioral modification techniques, explore creativity, or connect with spirituality. We will find what works best for you.
Why I work with trauma
When I was very young, my family was involved in a car accident. The tragic losses of that day shouldn’t have impacted me because I was pre-verbal… or, at least, that’s what I told myself. But the effects of those losses cannot be denied. While I don’t have cognitive recall of the events, my body remembers. My body flinches, hurts, flushes, recoils, and startles at certain sights, sounds, and sensations. I even find that my mood shifts around the anniversary, even more than four decades later. And there is little I can do to control it.
As a person and a clinician, I am deeply curious about the body’s reaction to trauma. I talk about "Big T” Trauma and “little t” trauma as two distinct categories. “Big T” Trauma includes accidents; witnessing tragedy, death, or crime; surviving disasters; a difficult birth; being a first responder or working in certain environments, such as an emergency room; physical, sexual, and emotional abuse; and childhood neglect, among others. “Little t” trauma can include your parents’ divorce; your own divorce; miscarriage; infertility; the loss of a friendship; bullying, social, or cultural rejection; an alcoholic parent or partner; narcissistic abuse; betrayal; immigration. And the list, sadly, goes on. A lot of what makes something traumatic is our reaction to it, and our reactions can be deeply subjective. Factors like personality, resilience, and life experiences impact how we handle T/trauma.
My passion is helping people heal their traumas. I am trained in several research validated trauma therapies, including Attachment Focused EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Super Resourcing (SR), Family Systems Trauma (FST), and the Safe and Sound Protocol (SSP). Additionally, I use trauma-informed practices in sessions and support clients to build somatic awareness and self-compassion.
