Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaylee Criswell.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
“The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I change.” This thought-provoking quote by Carl Rogers, a pioneer in Humanistic psychotherapy, is one that defines both my personal experiences and the work that I do in the counseling room. My desire to help this truth become the lived experience of the men and women I work with is the defining feature of my work as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Nationally Certified Counselor. In 2014, I graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science in Development and Family Studies and minors in Spanish and Counseling. During the year between my undergraduate and master’s programs, I completed a secondary teaching certification and was hired as a teacher at Keller High School to teach Counseling and Mental Health courses and other Family Consumer Science courses.
Teaching at Keller High School while completing my master’s degree was a time of tremendous growth, challenge, and excitement. I had the support of some incredible mentors at Keller High School, who helped me manage the various obligations of being a full-time teacher while completing my internship in the clinic on campus. Part of my story is the tremendous gratitude I have for the people who invested in me and provided opportunities to help me get to where I am today. Learning in this environment exposed me to the intricacies and unique pressure experienced by the adolescents of today, the expectations placed on adolescents by self, family, and society, and the remarkable impact that a healthy system can make on the development of young people.
It was during my graduate studies that the conservative philosophy of my upbringing was challenged against the modern struggles of a 21st-century world, leading me to the development of a cohesive worldview that informs the work I do as a therapist. The moment of change for me was the realization of the immense amount of privilege that I have as a heterosexual, middle-class, white woman in modern America and the decision that I would use my privilege to investigate and advocate against the systems in place that encourage oppression.
As a product of my experiences, today, I am a therapist who passionately seeks to understand my clients by continuously adding new knowledge to my practice. I continue to evolve to better understand the pain others are experiencing and better connect with people in their most vulnerable moments. I collaborate with my peers regularly to gain other perspectives and approaches in the work and better hone my craft. I am also constantly studying the work of pioneers in the field to emulate their approaches. I value people and am honored to know people in the intimate ways afforded me as a therapist.
In 2021, I opened Luxx Therapy, and owning and operating the practice with my incredible team has been one of my greatest joys. I can’t wait to tell you about it below!
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?
Getting to where I am today has been a road full of personal growth and learning through experience. While I am proud of where I am today, largely because of the meaningful nature of my work, I am keenly aware that my story is one of opportunity and privileges that have not been available to some of my colleagues and friends. So, in that sense, the struggles that have come my way have been quite manageable. Having been a practitioner in DFW for a few years, I think one of the struggles for mental health professionals in our city is the somewhat disjointed nature of the mental health community. As a practitioner in private practice, I know that for some it can be easy to fall into the trap of only seeing clients and becoming isolated from the professional community. To offset this challenge, there are community leaders who have developed different Facebook networking groups, which helps practitioners feel more interconnected. In the future, I hope to be able to work to be part of the solution surrounding developing a user-friendly system in which referrals, requests for collaboration, mentorship, and supervision can all be easily communicated.
Mental health care accessibility is also a challenge for therapists to consider. Though taking insurance as a therapist typically means more work and less pay, I believe in making mental health care as accessible as possible, meaning we take all major insurance panels and offer a sliding scale when needed.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Luxx Therapy?
Luxx Therapy is a dynamic group practice with multiple therapists dedicated to serving diverse clients using evidence-based practices. Luxx Therapy serves clients struggling with depression, anxiety, relationship concerns, body image issues, substance abuse, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, ADHD, and more. Luxx Therapy is accessible to many members of the community by our employment of therapists with differing areas of focus; we serve clients ages 6-100. We pride ourselves on best practices, continuing education, collaboration, and community, to ensure that our therapists are delivering best practices at all times. We regularly consult with other mental health professionals, staff cases in HIPAA-compliant fashions; we believe that we work best together.
Luxx Therapy is a people-centered therapy practice in North Richland Hills. Our philosophy is that when clinicians are taken care of in the ways that they need, they are then able to deliver high-quality services to clients. Clients are why we are here, and they deserve to have the highest quality services available at an affordable price. This translates to clients in the form of educated clinicians, who are able to be mentally present in session because they are trusted to do what is right for their clients. This means clients have access to clinicians who are used to applying their theoretical orientation regularly, meaning that things said and done in the therapy room are purposeful and meaningful. This means clients are able to explore the deepest parts of themselves with the confidence that their therapist will be with them in the ways that they need. We also have dynamic specialties amongst our team, so it is likely that we will have a therapist on staff to address your unique needs. To us, it is the only way to run a therapy practice.
Lux, in Greek, means light. At Luxx Therapy, we want our clients to leave our office feeling more and more connected to the light that is in them; the light that is in us all. It is light that gives life, and there is nothing we want more than our clients to feel alive in all the ways they desire and deserve. At the end of the day, we want our clients to feel seen and cared for, capable of shining their light a little brighter in their communities and families.
What’s next?
Change can be exciting, and Luxx Therapy is always looking forward to growth. For us, our currently growth plans look like continuing to develop our therapists on staff in ways that best serve our clients. We want to continue personal and professional growth in each of our clinicians to reach the highest level of expertise possible, and that looks like continuing to hone in on our skills. We have therapists interested in advanced certifications, and we support those endeavors, as it allows us to better serve clients. We want to help our therapists reach their professional goals while supporting those goals financially, which makes the future of Luxx Therapy even brighter! Another change we are excited about is the possibility of adding to our already highly qualified team. If you are interested in joining yourself to a cohesive group of therapists who focus on best practices, we encourage you to reach out!
Pricing:
- $125/ session with LPC
- $85/ session with LPC Associate
- We accept most major insurances.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.luxxtherapy.com
- Instagram: @luxx_therapy
Image Credits
Lindsey Rabon Photograpy
Eclectic Creative
