Kayleigh Ohnemus

More About Kayleigh Ohnemus

Clinical Interests:

As an outpatient mental health therapist, my interests are virtually anything and everything a client--individually, as a couple, or as a family--brings with them into session. This may include previous traumatic experiences, current stressors and struggles, and future goals. All of these have a place in therapy, and my goal as a clinician is to help my client determine what it is they want to work on and get out of therapy, then guide them through their journey.

Some examples of presenting concerns I have experience working with are trauma, various anxiety disorders, depression, student issues, divorce, guilt/shame, substance use, relationship conflicts, self-harm, suicidal ideation, anger and emotional intensity/dysregulation, system and court involvement, self-identity issues, life transitions, and parenting challenges.

Clinical Approach:

I believe the key to a helpful and productive therapeutic relationship is my ability as a therapist to meet my client wherever they are mentally, whether that's a comfortable place or not. From there, I believe it's important to work together to define what the client wants to work on and accomplish. If a client has a need that is outside my scope of practice, I will ensure I've done everything in my power to connect them with appropriate resources.

My clinical approach (i.e., what 'tools' I use) depends on the situation, but I tend to focus on exploring family and system dynamics, processing traumatic experiences, and building emotion/self-regulation skills. I believe that addressing the root cause of a problem leads to lasting change and results, but I'll only go there if and when my client is ready and willing to. Talk therapy techniques I often use are Structural Family Therapy, Bowen Family Therapy, Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and general Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). I am also trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) which is used in trauma processing. It's not quite traditional talk therapy, but more of a neurological or brain therapy that focuses on your neural pathways.

Hobbies:

My favorite thing to do is sit down with my spouse, three dogs, and a bag of popcorn and watch the latest scary movie. I also enjoy reading on my porch swing with a cup of coffee, any/every kind of pasta, and sleeping in late.