Experience matters.
So does feeling understood.
Hi, I'm Kerri McKennaI don’t see people as a collection of symptoms. I’m interested in the story underneath them—what shaped you, what helped you survive, what is already working, and what you want to do differently moving forward.
I’m a Licensed Independent Social Worker with an Ed.D., MSW, and 30 years of experience supporting children, adolescents, and families through trauma and other complex life experiences.
My professional journey has included education, child development, school-based mental health, crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, and family support. That range of experience shapes the way I work today: practical, compassionate, curious, and focused on the whole person—not just the problem that brought them to therapy.
Why I do this work
I have a passion for adolescents and the adults raising them, especially within adoptive and foster families.
I believe every behavior has a purpose, and every person has strengths worth discovering.
Therapy is a place to slow down, make sense of your story, and choose what comes next.
I have a particular passion for working with adolescents and the adults raising them, especially families whose lives have been shaped by adoption, foster care, trauma, grief, disrupted relationships, or major life transitions.
These experiences can get complicated quickly, and rarely does only one person feel the impact. A teenager may be trying to make sense of identity, belonging, trust, relationships, or emotions they do not yet have words for. At the same time, a parent may be doing their best to understand behavior, hold appropriate boundaries, stay connected, and figure out what their child truly needs.
There is room here for both. Therapy can offer a place to slow things down, look at what is happening with more clarity, and respond with greater acceptance, grace, and understanding—for your child, for yourself, and for the relationship between you.
For Parents
You can love your child fiercely and still feel frustrated.
You can understand trauma and still struggle to know what to do when emotions are high.
You can recognize there is a reason behind a behavior and still know the behavior cannot continue.
You can want to support your child and still need support yourself.
Parenting through complicated circumstances can bring a lot of questions, second-guessing, and exhaustion. You deserve a place where you do not have to prove how much you love your child or pretend you always know the right thing to do.
Together, we can slow things down, look beneath the behavior, notice patterns more clearly, strengthen connection, maintain appropriate boundaries, and help you respond with greater confidence, acceptance, and grace.
My Approach
You do not need another person pointing out everything you are doing wrong.
You need a place where you can be honest, curious, and look at what is happening without judgment.
My style is warm, straightforward, collaborative, practical, and strengths-based.
We will talk about what happened and how it may still be showing up today.
We will notice what is working, make sense of what is getting in the way, and develop practical strategies that fit your life.
The goal is not perfection. It is greater clarity, more intentional choices, and meaningful change that carries beyond the therapy room.
CREDENTIALS & EXPERIENCE
Licensed Independent
Social Worker
Master of
Social Work
Educational
Leadership
30+
Years of Experience