Kristy Kitchens, LCSW, CACC II, AADC

Kristy Kitchens is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Certified AADC – Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She attended four years at Augusta State University and received two bachelor’s degrees – one in Psychology and one in Anthropology. She then pursued her Masters Degree in Social Work at the University of South Carolina, Columbia.

Upon completing graduate school, Kristy went directly into the United States Army where she served for four years. While on Active Duty, she treated many individuals with mental health disorders including combat stress and Post post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, as well as other disorders related to combat and Army life. Kristy also specializes in treating marital issues that result from combat deployments, and in general, military life. Being on Active duty has made her well-rounded and able to identify with military life and the challenges that military personnel face daily.

Kristy has been a practicing clinician for 19 years, predominately in outpatient settings. She is well-versed in recognizing, diagnosing, and treating behavioral health disorders. She treats adults, individuals, and couples. Kristy has worked with domestic violence victims and offenders, victims of childhood and adult trauma, mood disorders, personality disorders, grief and loss, and struggles with general life transitions, family discord, and all other issues that threaten the integrity of the family unit. Although many therapeutic styles are used by Kristy, her primary treatment technique is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy because most internal conflicts – unhappiness, anger, depression, etc. – are created by one’s perception of what is happening in their lives, not the specific event/situation that activates the thought and feelings

Kristy believes in a Systems Approach to therapy because clients are affected but their social environments and issues like culture, race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, discrimination, oppression, socioeconomics, and impoverishment all significantly impact a client and their sense of empowerment or lack thereof. To holistically treat a client, all of these factors must be considered, and if clinically appropriate, must be factored into a client’s treatment.