Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelsey Haka
Hi Kelsey, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My passion for psychology and counseling started as a seed of interest while I was in high school. I went to Texas Tech University for my undergraduate degree where I majored in Psychology. While I loved my psychology classes, I was drawn to more of the clinical counseling courses where I was able to picture working 1:1 with individuals and seeing positive change in people’s lives right before my eyes.
I have an older sister, Kristin, who was a few steps ahead of me and already in her Majors degree program for Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Kristin was such a help in my professional journey because I was able to see what came next in the process to become a therapist and she was always very honest about the pros and cons.
I chose to attend The University of North Texas in Denton and enroll in their Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. At the time, my primary focus was working with children. I was so excited to hear that University of North Texas had the largest play therapy training program in the world. I still look back at my time in graduate school as a time that stretched and grew me into the person and therapist that I am today through all those self-reflection activities and papers, which I dreaded at the time, but I am now very grateful for.
I worked at Children’s Health hospital during my graduate program to gain clinical experience. I worked on a variety of their units, including their eating disorders unit, behavioral unit, suicide prevention unit and outpatient unit. This is when I learned that I not only enjoy working with children, but I also enjoyed working with teens and parents.
After graduate school, I worked to complete the required 3,000-hour “internship” to obtain my Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). I completed these hours at Eating Recovery Center in Plano. This is a treatment center serving teens and adults who are struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating. This is where my passion for helping individuals navigate negative body image and eating disorders really took off. I paired working at the treatment center with a group private practice where I was able to learn more of the business side of this field.
In 2017 I opened the doors to White Rock Creek Therapy LLC, a private practice in Plano supporting children, teens, adults and families through the hardships and stress that life can bring us. I am so proud of how much this small business has grown over these past 7 years and the impact it has had on our clients and community.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The road to become a therapist is a long road. It took a lot of patience out of me. It takes about five years after undergrad to become fully licensed.
In my story this looked like working during the day and attending classes in the evening, driving home and repeating the same process the next day. It included unpaid internships and working multiple jobs at once to gain clinical hours. In any field I think there is an aspect of “paying your dues” when early in your career. I tried to keep this headspace to normalize what I was feeling, but I won’t deny that it was hard at times. I just wanted to be at the “finish line” of being fully licensed and doing what I was passionate to do, but I had to be patient to get there.
There were many people in my life cheering me on in these years. My fiancé at the time and now husband of 8 years, Drew, my sisters Kristin and Kaylin, my parents, and countless friends who were in my graduate program or working with me at the hospital. They all helped me remember my reasons “why” on the days that I needed reminding.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about White Rock Creek Therapy?
I opened White Rock Creek Therapy LLC in 2016. There are now three therapist that work at this practice who are all passionate about helping others heal and grow. We understand that life can get hard and hope to help our clients through life’s struggles by providing a place to process emotions and learn individualized skills to help cope.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor (LPC-S), Registered Play Therapist and a National Certified Counselor. My LPC-S status allows me to supervise other therapists working on their LPC credentials. I am passionate about helping the next generation of therapists increase confidence in their work before they become fully licensed.
As a practice, we are primarily known for our evidenced-based treatment modalities using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) when it comes to treating individuals with negative body image, eating disorders or disordered eating. We believe we can help the individuals who feel most stuck make moves in their recovery. We also are known for providing Play and Activity Based therapy for our younger clients. We work closely with parents to give them tools and techniques to use at home to help make parents feel empowered in a situation that may be difficult for them to navigate.
My role as the therapist is to provide structure, validation and techniques needed for change so the client can discover personalized solutions to the concerns that are currently affecting their lives.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
This is a hard question because there are so many people to thank!
First that comes to my mind are my parents. From a young age they encouraged me to follow my passion and told me to trust that the job and income would follow. I truly look forward to work each day and I feel like I have this advice to thank for that. I plan to give my daughters (and son who is due early next year!) this same advice.
My sister, Kristin, for always answering my calls for big or small questions about our field. It has been so fun sharing this interest and bond with you. I know it has brought us closer together and I am grateful for that.
My fellow therapist friends, you know who you are! Our job can be heavy at times, and I cannot thank you enough for the comfort, laughter and motivation you give me. You are all wonderful humans and I’m proud to know you.
My favorite professor in my graduate program turned into my LPC-Supervisor and now has turned into a great friend of mine, Laura. Your realness and encouragement made me believe in myself even when I had doubts. You modeled the life that I wanted to live by working in private practice and this inspired me more than you know. I love our coffee dates and staying in touch after all these years.
And of course – my clients. I sometimes have to pinch myself that I get to do this as my job and how blessed I am to be excited for work every day. You are the reason for this!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://whiterockcreektherapy.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whiterockcreektherapy
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whiterockcreektherapy
