When life feels unmanageable and you are searching for a compassionate and skilled listener to bear witness to your life’s unique story, such as religious trauma, depression, grief, OCD, substance abuse, or general anxiety, this where Tara comes in! Graduating from KU and moving to California with the intention of earning her Masters in Marriage and Family Counseling, Tara quickly discovered that her second passion, photojournalism, became the perfect blend of creative self-expression and the study of human psychology. After 22 years as a successful freelance photographer throughout CA, Europe, Mexico, and various islands, Tara returned to her roots in Kansas to earn her Masters in Clinical Counseling with an Addiction concentration and served as a primary therapist at a mental health facility and detox treatment center prior to private practice. With over two decades of creating safe environments for photography clients to embody the beauty and complexities of the human experience, today as an experienced clinical psychotherapist, Tara applies her creative spirit and trauma-informed approach into productive therapy sessions. By strategically utilizing various evidence-based therapy modalities that support insight, validation, emotional intelligence and healing, her clients continue to free themselves from self-destructive behaviors as they build resiliency and repair relationship to Self and to others. You may even be surprised at your ability to befriend your emotions (rather than running from them!) and find the courage to set healthy boundaries that used to feel unattainable.
Throughout her photography career, Tara continued her mental health training and received her Certificate of Achievement in the 6-year long trauma-informed Community Self-Care Demonstration Program and Trauma Resolution Workshop in partnership with Kaiser Permanente as both a Skilled Listener and Courageous Teller (San Francisco). She was a co-facilitator of the Peer-to-Peer Trauma Resolution Program through the Oklahoma City public school system and for residents of San Francisco, CA. Tara also has received her Certificate of Completion of The Power of Awareness training hosted by Jack Kornfield, PhD and Tara Brach, PhD through The Awareness Training Institute in association with the Greater Good Science Center at the University of California, Berkeley.
Additionally, she co-facilitated self-care educational services for incarcerated women in the San Francisco County jails. Currently, she is earning the ERP certification to treat OCD and additional training in Integrated Sex & Couples Counseling and Art Therapy.
In her free time, Tara is an avid explorer through literature, travel (36 countries within 5 continents and counting!), and various art projects. Growing up within the destructive wake of generational alcoholism, Tara is passionate about self- growth and tends to her mental well-being through meditation, breath work,yoga, adventurous walks with her dog, journaling, and quality time with family and loved ones.
Tara is a professional counselor licensed in both Kansas (LPC) and Missouri (PLPC) and has earned her Missouri Associate Alcohol Drug Counselor (MAADC II) to work with individuals suffering with substance use disorders. She utilizes a variety of evidence- based practices such as psychoanalysis, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Brief Solution-Focused Therapy (BSFT), Narrative Therapy, Mindfulness, Internal Family Systems (IFS), and psychodrama.
Tara is accepting new clients at a reduced rate and you can contact her using the contact form, phone (913-712-4412 ext 116), or email (tara.doorsofhope@gmail.com)