Kimberly Trask, MS, CPDPE, CSC, NCC, LPC-s
Adolescent and Family Mental Health Service
Individual, Family, & Group Adolescent Therapy & Workshops
Diagnostic & Clinical Assessments
"Positive Discipline" Parent Education
Educational Transition Assistance (Learning Styles & Section 504 Eligibility)
about Kimberly's Credentials
Kimberly has over 20 years experience with adolescents and families in the classroom, school counseling office, psychiatric hospital, and private practice.
Ms. Trask currently holds the following credentials: MS-Master of Science; CPDPE-Certified Positive Discipline Parent Educator; CSC-Texas Certified School Counselor; NCC-Nationally Certified Counselor; LPC-Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Texas. LPC-S-Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor in the State of Texas
Why I Do What I Do
When I graduated from high school, if you had told me I would be working with adolescents, I would have run screaming in the other direction. I did not like my teen years. Thankfully, I can now look back over those years and the years since and see how it all has served to prepare me to counsel teens.
The main reason I did not like my teen years is that I struggled with Major Depressive Disorder that was not diagnosed until I was 34. As a Christian, my depression was compounded by guilt that "I shouldn't feel this way" and frustration as to why I could not experience the "joy of my salvation." I struggled with figuring out what I was doing wrong and what I needed to "do" to please God.
I was well into my teaching career when my depression was diagnosed and I began treatment. I began to see myself in many of my students, and began to realize that the teens years seem to miserable for most teens, and that depression and anxiety are more rampant during these years than many individuals probably realize.
When I transitioned into school counseling, my former students told me they were not surprised, saying I had been counseling them anyway. Unfortunately, school counselors do not have the opportunity to counsel for the emotional and psychological issues. I knew counseling adolescents was what I needed to do, but I couldn't do it in the public school counselor's office.
I left education, worked with adolescents in a psychiatric hospital, and then began the ministry of Refuge Counseling Resources, a vision God had placed on my heart while still in the school setting.
I have raised a daughter through her teen years, and we have both survived to tell about it. My only child, she is technically my stepdaughter; I have experienced the unique challenges of step-parenting.
As a professional and a counselor, I have led parenting workshops, facilitating communication between teens and their parents. I have intervened with suicidal students; counseled students in the aftermath of suicide, military death, accidental death, and murder; witnessed the accidental death of a student and comforted his friends and classmates; counseled victims of abuse; and continue to assist teens in realizing God's potential for their lives is far beyond our imagination.
If I summarize what I believe is a message for all families with teenagers, it is this:
Teenage is temporary. There is Hope and there is Help.
