Meet Kristin
Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT)
Hi! I’m Kristin. I am a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist located in Richmond, Virginia. I have 20 years of clinical experience working in the mental health field and have been a licensed provider for over a decade. I founded Sage Psychotherapy to create a grounded, relational space where healing is steady, thoughtful, and sustainable—not rushed, crisis-driven, or dependent on emotional intensity.
Much of my work centers on relational trauma—experiences where safety, attunement, or consistency were disrupted in close relationships. Over time, I’ve seen how relational trauma often shows up not as overt distress, but as people-pleasing, over-functioning, chronic self-doubt, difficulty with boundaries, and a disconnection from one’s own needs.
This understanding directly informs the Sage Integration Method™, which is built around three core pillars:
Mindset re-patterning for self-trust helps clients recognize how relational trauma shapes internal narratives and learn to make choices rooted in clarity rather than fear, guilt, or obligation.
Energetic budgeting supports nervous-system awareness by helping clients notice where their emotional energy is being overextended and practice allocating it in ways that are sustainable and self-protective.
Boundaries and attachment management focus on developing secure connection—learning how to stay connected to yourself while relating to others, without collapsing, over-giving, or withdrawing.
As my work has evolved, group psychotherapy has become the primary modality through which this method is practiced. The group offers a structured, contained relational environment where these skills can be applied consistently and in real time—something individual therapy alone cannot fully replicate. My approach emphasizes safety, predictability, and integration, while intentionally avoiding trauma-heavy processing or emotionally overwhelming group dynamics.
My Clinical Strengths
My work is especially supportive for adults who feel deeply, care deeply, and often find themselves over-functioning in relationships.
My clinical strengths include:
Background in Family Trauma, Intimate Partner Violence, Narcissistic Abuse
Focus on Relational trauma and attachment-based patterns
Working with highly sensitive adults
A deep understanding of people-pleasing and survival-based behaviors
The ability to hold clear structure without intensity or pressure
Clients often describe me as calm, attuned, and steady—someone who offers both clarity and compassion.
My Clinical Philosophy
My work is grounded in the understanding that healing occurs through integration of mind, body, and relationship. We are shaped within relationships, and lasting change is supported through mindful, regulated, and relational practice over time.
While individual therapy can offer insight, stabilization, and personalized support, it cannot fully replicate the embodied experience of practicing self-trust, nervous system regulation, boundaries, and secure connection in relationship with others. This belief—rooted in mindfulness, mindset re-patterning, sensitivity awareness, nervous system regulation, and relational trauma healing—directly informed the creation of Connected Within™, a thoughtfully designed, attachment-informed group psychotherapy experience.
My Therapeutic Approach
My approach to therapy is collaborative, structured, and personalized. I draw from these evidence-based modalities while adapting care to each client’s relational and emotional needs.
I integrate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Reality Therapy to help identify unhelpful patterns, expand choice, and strengthen focus on what is within your control. For clients with a history of trauma, I also draw from Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), which attends to the emotional, cognitive, and physiological impacts of traumatic experiences.
I use Somatic Therapy to work with sensations, movement, breath, and physiological states to support healing from trauma and chronic stress.
Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) focuses on healing through the direct experience of emotion within a safe, supportive therapeutic relationship. It helps clients process, and transform traumatic emotional experiences that were previously overwhelming and distressing, and often endured alone.
Additionally, I use concepts from Family Systems Theory, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and Narrative Therapy
For clients who find it meaningful, I may also incorporate a non-religious spiritual lens that supports purpose, connection, and integration.
Areas I Support
Whatever challenges you’re facing, I am here to provide compassionate guidance and practical strategies to help you move forward.
I work primarily with adults navigating:
Unhealthy or unsafe relationship patterns
Increasing self-worth, emotional regulation, and boundary setting
Relational trauma and attachment wounds
Intimate partner violence (adults)
Childhood abuse and neglect (adults)
Depression, chronic stress, and burnout
Self-esteem and self-worth challenges
Grief and major life transitions
Narcissistic family dynamics