Meet Mommies In Need’s Play Therapist
Kait Christian, MS, LPC Associate supervised by Jennifer Dougherty, PhD, LPC-S, RPT-S
Kait is excited to join the team at Mommies in Need as a play therapist. Play therapy is the developmentally appropriate way to engage children in therapy. Just as adults typically attend talk therapy using spoken language, children use play as their language and toys as their words.
Kait considers herself a lifelong learner who is passionate about helping people reach their full potential. Her counseling approach embodies the belief that every individual already has everything they need to heal and will naturally move toward lasting growth when provided with warmth, acceptance, and genuineness. Play therapy can support a variety of concerns, including medical trauma, anxiety, depression, sensory concerns, domestic violence, sexual assault, body image concerns, and self-esteem issues. She believes the key to change is in the therapeutic relationship and collaborating with caretakers. Her goal is to meet you exactly where you are and to make you feel accepted and understood.
Kait is a proud Texan and is excited to follow her dreams of being a play therapist in Dallas. In her free time, you can find her streaming new shows, spending time with family, dancing, trying new hobbies, or exploring new places around the city!
She is excited to serve the community with free play therapy services as it is a passion of hers to provide trauma-informed and culturally-informed care to the DFW community for no cost. If you or someone you know might benefit from play therapy, feel free to fill out the form below to request a phone consultation with our play therapist.
More About Kait’s Background
She has a wide range of experience working with children. Her different roles include nanny, tutor, on-site childcare provider, and of course, play therapist. She has been surrounded by children since she herself was a child with 8 cousins 6-15 years younger than her and enjoyed every minute of it.
Kait has wanted to be a counselor since she was in middle school after a school counselor lent a listening ear, and Kait quickly learned the value of being heard. She received her bachelor's degree in Psychology and Spanish at Texas A&M University, where she volunteered over 500 hours with Helpline, the crisis hotline on campus, and solidified her passion to pursue counseling as a career. She obtained her master's degree in Counseling from the University of North Texas where she specialized in play therapy.
In her time at UNT, she provided play therapy as part of a research study on the use of Child-Centered Play Therapy and adverse childhood experiences and was awarded the Integrated Care and Behavioral Health Grant, where she received training in provided integrated and culturally informed care to the community. Simultaneously, Kait provided play therapy and Child-Parent Relationship Therapy, an evidence-based model to empower parents to be an agent of change in their child’s life and has the potential to create systemic change in the family structure.