Kaylie Allen

I’m a licensed psychologist with specialty training in exposure therapy for OCD and anxiety disorders, evidence-based trauma treatments, and transgender and queer healthcare. My passion is engaging in short-term, collaborative change processes with people—helping them make their lives bigger and more fulfilling, while providing the skills to better weather the stresses of life. It’s a hard world to live in for many of us, and I believe one of the best things we can do is get connected to the people and things that make our lives matter, even when it’s hard. In my experience, the thing that usually makes us the most miserable is when we avoid our internal experiences and move away from the things we actually want and value. Therapy can build your resilience, help you get past the barriers to living the life you want, and give you tools to manage or overcome the symptoms that get in your way.

My style of practice is grounded in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a treatment modality which can improve the symptoms of many problems in 12-16 sessions and emphasizes the practice of therapy skills in between sessions to maximize gains. My passion in CBT is exposure therapy: approaching the risks we are avoiding and learning, by living, what we are capable of. I have completed exposure therapy training at the Trauma and Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Central Michigan University as well as a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for OCD and Anxiety Disorders in St Louis. Another passion of mine is improving access to, and quality of, healthcare for LGBTQ+ people. I helped develop a specialty queer & transgender mental health program at St Louis Behavioral Medicine Institute and served as the clinical director of that program prior to beginning my work at CBT Solutions.

In addition to CBT, in therapy I also incorporate strategies from Acceptance Based Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and Mindful Self-Compassion. In couples work, I use the Gottman Method of Relationship Therapy. The integration of these strategies can address both short-term change and longer-term self-exploration work. I work with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, trauma and PTSD, people coping with sexual assault, Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, Specific Phobia, perfectionism, and unhelpful personality patterns. I particularly enjoy working with LGBTQ+ clients, and I welcome ethical nonmonogamy, nontraditional family structures, and kink lifestyles in my practice. I work with adolescents, adults, and couples / relationship partners.

I look forward to getting to know you better! Schedule a free 20-minute consult so we can discuss what you want out of therapy and whether I am a good fit for helping you move towards your goals.