About - Wind Over Water

HI! I’M KENDRA!

Are you looking for a therapist?

Do you have an eating disorder?
Or a personality disorder?
Maybe you are not sure if you do, but you are worried you might have a disorder?
Are you a perfectionist who procrastinates?
Maybe being out in the world is frustrating because you don’t seem to like a lot of people out there?
Are you an introvert and just do not get people sometimes?
Are you harder on yourself than you are on anyone else?
Do you have trouble letting go of things even when you know it would be better for you?
Do you struggle with your body image or self esteem?

If some (or all) of these sound familiar, I might be the therapist for you! I blend authenticity and evidenced based treatments for a different kind of therapy experience. If you think you need someone to tell it to you straight without too much touchy feely stuff, we might be a good match.

If you are looking for a therapist that is someone you might’ve seen on TV, that is probably not me.

How is therapy with me different?

Values form the basis of all relationships. As a therapist & as a person, I put being genuine and straightforward above what type of therapeutic approach I use or what diagnosis my client might have.

Clients who enjoy working with me will find honesty and authenticity very important, as I do. Though we need not share them, my personal values inform my work, and I try to approach every day with compassion (for myself and my clients), integrity, and openness.

That said, it is not just about shared values. I am highly trained – in addition to over 20 years of direct care and management experience, I also have several specialty certifications (more on that in a minute). I am all about knowledge and I am curious about EVERYTHING on an average day. One of my ongoing goals is to learn something new every day, and a lot of the time, those new things will come from interacting with you – because you know much more about something I do not – yourself. Also, because my clients tend to be interesting, thoughtful people.

I want you to tell me when my intuitions or impressions are off – you have to tell me so I can really help! That is why I am a therapist – I want to figure it out and I want to help! I will never tell you that you do not know what you are talking about when it comes to you – though I might offer other information! (that knowledge thing again.)

While I am different with every patient, I am myself with all of them.
Mark Epstein, MD & author – blog, talking about his latest book Zen of Therapy

The rest of my Bio:

Kendra Wilson, MSW, LCSW, CEDS-S, C-DBT, CCTP
(she/her/hers)

Wind Over Water Counseling & Consulting, PLLC is my virtual private practice. I love working virtually for a bunch of reasons, but one of them is because I can serve clients in all of Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland, and hopefully someday soon many more states (when they sign the social work compact!).

SPECIALTIES & Certifications

I have been working with clients struggling with eating disorders throughout my career, starting with community mental health and continuing through outpatient, IOP, PHP, and inpatient levels of care. I am a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist (CEDS-S) and approved supervisor by the International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals (iaedp™). I recognize that eating disorders are a complicated set of illnesses that intersect with depression, trauma, anxiety, and have an immeasurable impact on life overall for clients struggling with them.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is the therapeutic approach I use the most, but I also use Radically Open DBT (RO-DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) consistently.

I am a certified Dialectical Behavior Therapy (C-DBT) therapist through Dialectical Behavior Therapy National Certification and Accreditation Association (DBTNCAA), and a Certified Program Educator for the Gottman Institute’s “Seven Principles Program” for couples as well.

Most recently, I became a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP) – next year I plan to do level II. I use principles of all of these on a daily basis, and I cannot seem to help myself when I see a good training that is relevant to my clients – I always want to know more!

Licenses

I maintain licenses in Virginia, North Carolina, and Maryland. Each of these states has their own requirements for continuing education (as do the other certifications mentioned above), so I get to pursue education about ethics, cultural competency, eating disorders, DBT, mindfulness, and trauma treatment every year and make sure to stay up on the latest through these trainings and ongoing presence in the community and online. I feel strongly that we all need to be part of the conversations!

Resume

With over 20 years of experience, I have served as a hotline counselor, intake coordinator, therapist, facilitator, supervisor, compliance officer, and director in a variety of treatment settings, including Johns Hopkins’ Eating Disorder Inpatient and Day Hospital Program in Baltimore, Maryland, community mental health services, and private practices. I was in Wilmington, North Carolina for several years as the Clinical Director and Compliance Officer for Chrysalis Center for Counseling and Eating Disorder Treatment. Recently, I served as the Program Director for Prosperity Eating Disorders and Wellness in Norfolk, Virginia as they opened the first eating disorder treatment facility in Hampton Roads – a very needed service. The Norfolk Metro area has (very) few other eating disorder providers, and I am committed to providing expert, specialized service to Virginia’s largest city!

Way back, I earned an MSW with a Mental Health specialization from the University of Maryland School of Social Work in Baltimore, Maryland. From 1997 to 2004 I worked in hospital and community based mental health in Virginia and Maryland with all kinds of clients including teens with substance abuse and/or mental health issues, in medical social work, and as the intake coordinator for a community mental health program.

Speaking/Presenting

As a Clinical Specialist and as a Compliance Officer, I have spoken at several conferences and am always open to talking about eating disorders, weight stigma and diet culture, treatment modalities (especially DBT and RO-DBT), and compliance with people in the community and other practitioners – we need to demystify these complex topics! These have included workshops for the Virginia Department of Behavioral Health & Disability Services, National Association of Social Workers – North Carolina Clinical Institute, the Renfrew Symposium, and locally at the Virginia Beach and Kempsville Psychiatric Centers.

CEDS & LCSW Supervision

Having a wide range of experience in all of these different areas has driven my focus in supervision and training new professionals and I am available for supervision of provisionally licensed social workers. I am a certified supervisor in Virginia & North Carolina through their boards of social work and have been supervising MSW students and graduates since 2005 as well as those seeking CEDS certification since 2017.

Other things about me you might like to know About Me:

I love to keep learning and growing as a person and a therapist and am pursuing certifications/education in Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for trauma survivors and Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT) in addition to ongoing education in my other specialties.

In my free time, I like to snuggle my rescue dogs and to spend time in my garden when I am at home. I am also a certified feng shui consultant, eclectic crafter, avid reader, and I am so happy we can travel again!