Kelly Baas, LCPC, REAT, RPT 

I have always been drawn to supporting others in the mental health field as a supervisor and colleague. Having worked in outreach, community mental, health, therapeutic day schools, a young adult residential facility, and now group private practice my experience working within a variety of systems serves me as a compassionate and dedicated advisor. Over the last fourteen years I have supervised clinical teams, colleagues, and students. In addition to training on effective supervision and the importance of intersectionality and identity, I also have experience facilitating art making in service of clinical awareness and problem solving. I believe consultation can promote evolution and development as well as carve out space for reflection and self-care, necessities as a helping professional.

Working in community mental health I was charged with creating and leading a creative arts therapy outreach team. Eventually opening a creative arts therapy studio was equal parts dream realized and challenge. I put together the space, created programming, supervised staff/interns, facilitated community and individual creative arts therapy, hosted community events, and provided art making as a purpose driven, vocational service. This along with my consistent supervisory and leadership roles have given me a front row seat to the complex decision making that clinicians take on, not only in supporting clients but also in leading a practice of their own.

Over the course of my career I have gained clinical experience across the lifespan with children and adults struggling with social/emotional regulation and identity formation, adults with severe and persistent mental illness, and emerging young adults navigating a complicated world. Currently, my professional work centers on helping children and young people understand their worries and uncover internal resources that allow them to respond more effectively. I prioritize getting to know the unique perspective of each child so the therapeutic relationship can be a source of learning and skill building. I use play, art, movement, and words to help children explore their anxieties as well as their hopes and dreams. I am reminded again and again how a soft and reverent focus, often accessible through art making, has always been a road to expansion. When thinking grounds us, creativity allows us to expand.