Kelli Barnes is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor. She has been dedicated to the mental health field since 2004. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Texas Tech University in 2003, followed by a Master’s degree in Professional Counseling from Argosy University in Phoenix in 2007. To further specialize, she later obtained a Play Therapy Certificate from Capella University in 2017.
Since 2016, she has been using play therapy alongside Adlerian and Cognitive-Behavioral (CBT) approaches, including Trauma-Focused CBT (TF-CBT), to support children and adolescents.
Approaches with adult clients include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) and EMDR for PTSD, Adlerian therapy, Humanistic/Person-Centered, Dialectical Behavioral approaches, or other modalities as needed. Kelli’s clinical experience spans a wide range of diagnoses in both children and adults, including depression, anxiety, trauma, Bipolar Disorder, ADHD, and adjustment or life transition challenges.
She has a passion for working with active-duty military members, veterans, and their families—a niche she developed through 18+ years as a military spouse. Throughout her career, she has worked in diverse settings such as community mental health centers, inpatient psychiatric facilities, private practice, and state mental health departments. She enjoys witnessing the healing and growth of the individuals and encourages each person to take an active role in their journey.
