Contact: 614-907-8194

Counseling and Psychotherapy
Hope/Healing/Peace/Balance/Movement
Mind & Body/Relationship/Understanding
Unfortunately, time may not heal all wounds we encounter in life. This means that sometimes we need to seek out additional help to facilitate healing. Whether these wounds are brand new or decades old, they can have devastating effects on our emotional state, relationships, sense of self, daily functioning, physical health, and other aspects of daily life.
I am a Licensed Independent Social Worker Supervisor (LISW-S) through the State of Ohio Counselor and Social Worker Board and my work is truly my passion. I specialize in working with adults, children and teens managing complex and developmental trauma, PTSD, traumatic grief, attachment challenges, depression, anxiety, relationship issues and dissociative disorders. I also have much experience working with military, first responders and recent traumatic events. As an adoptee myself, I have a specialization in working with the adoption and foster care community, child and adult adoptees, and reparative attachment in both childhood and adulthood.
I am a Level II EMDR Psychotherapist with Advanced and Master Class Training in Attachment and Somatic Psychotherapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), certified hypnotherapist with American Society of Clinical Hypnotherapy, and a Certified Trauma Practitioner with the National Institute for Trauma and Loss in Children, as well as being trained in TF-CBT, CISM, and several other therapeutic modalities focusing on somatic psychotherapy and attachment. I use a collaborative, integrative approach informed by Ego State and Internal Family Systems Therapy and Interpersonal Neurobiology to assist clients in helping them feel well supported and educated.
I present psychoeducation at many conferences and symposiums in the state of Ohio and other areas of the country, as well as support school districts in education on trauma, trauma-focused practices, and traumatic grief. My practice truly is my passion, and partnering with my clients to find healing in their lives is my goal. I love my work.
I am the Clinical Director of Camp Lionheart, a free, week-long overnight summer camp for grieving children, here in Central Ohio in the Hocking Hills. Camp Lionheart is in it's 17th year of existence providing grief support, compassion, trauma-focused counseling, and lots of fun to children suffering the death of parent or sibling. For more information on Camp Lionheart, please visit www.camplionheart.org.
I very much enjoy the city of Columbus, where you will find me spending time taking walks around the city, listening to all the podcasts, hanging with family, friends, seeing live music, and watching obscure foreign films any chance I can :)
License Number: I.0700086-SUPV
What is EMDR?
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a highly effective psychotherapy technique where various procedures and protocols are used to address traumatic experiences. One of the procedural elements is "dual stimulation" using either bilateral eye movements, tones or taps. Clients generally experience the emergence of insights, changes in memories, or new associations during EMDR, helping the alleviation of symptoms of the trauma. To learn more about EMDR, please watch the video below, or visit www.emdr.com.
Treatment Specialties and Client Focus:
Trauma/PTSD
Complex/Developmental Trauma
Recent Traumatic Events
Grief/Loss
Adoption/Foster Care
Depression
Anxiety
Abuse (Sexual/Physical/Verb/Emot.)
Chronic Neglect
Attachment Challenges
Emotional Issues
Relationship Issues
Veterans/Military/DOD/etc.
First Responders
End-of-Life Issues
Terminal Illness
Dissociative Disorders
Chronic Shame
Kristen Santel, LISW-S
1385 King Avenue
Columbus, OH 43212
p: 614-907-8194
f: 1-614-437-7142
Therapeutic Modalities
EMDR Level II (Advanced)
Client Centered
Clinical Hypnotherapy (ASCH)
Trauma Informed
IFS/Ego State Informed
Repairative Attachment
TLC SITCAP
TF-CBT
Somatic Informed
Play Therapy
Body-Mind Therapy
CISM Certified



"One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can't utter." --James Earl Jones