About Kristen Swart, MSW, LSW

Hello and welcome! Thank you for stopping by to find out more about me and see if we are a good fit. When you step into my office, you will discover my love for Paris and all things vintage and perhaps little Parisian vintage? I find that it helps us to have some way to connect with one another when I can share little pieces of myself that I enjoy. So, Bonjour! Bienvenue! (Hello and Welcome!)

I truly enjoy getting to know my clients and their stories. Hearing your stories is how we start getting to know one another and determine if we will work well together. I take the first 2 to 4 sessions, depending on how much you have to share with me, to do an assessment. I will ask about you, your parents, your grandparents, your siblings, and other relationships you might have had. Doing this gives me a broad picture of who you are and how you interact in relationships. I use this information to inform us about what is going on right now and how the past is informing the present. And find places where we might need healing, or change.

Once the assessment process is done, I offer a feedback session to clients. What this means is that I take all the information you have given me, and I sit and try to see what it’s like to be in your shoes, what was it like for you growing up, what is your life like now, etc. Usually, we can’t see this for ourselves because we are living these relationships every day. I try to offer a non-biased, objective look at what is going on because each of these daily moments are also being informed by our past. The more heaviness of the past we are able to release; the more calmness we can have in our life, regardless of the storms of life swirling around us.

However, this is not an easy journey to take, but despite where you are in your journey, it may be worth it to take a chance on yourself because who knows? You might actually like what you find.

Areas of Practice

I work with individuals and couples to help them find and accept all of who they are, and ultimately to find peace. I use a few theoretical approaches to inform my practice, including Bowen Family Systems, Internal Family Systems, and Brainspotting (Phase I & II), among small pieces of others. I try to individualize my approach with each client. I can help you work through many different issues, including:

• Spirituality

• Trauma Recovery

• Counter-Dependency and Co-Dependency

• Family of Origin Work

• Fertility Issues

Personal

One of my favorite things to do (besides getting to know myself) is to spend time with my family playing board games (yes, the nerdy kind-think LOTR LCG, Warhammer Quest, Relic, Grizzled, Raptor-kind of games, as well as more mainstream games like UNO, Rummy, Euchre, or Sorry), playing video games, or playing at the park. I also enjoy reading, writing, photography, and quilting.