Kara Collins, NCC, LPC, LCPC
About Me
I work with adults carrying pain that has outlasted its usefulness — people who function well, who others rely on, and who are quietly spending more than anyone knows to keep it that way.
My primary work is EMDR. Alongside standard weekly sessions, I offer EMDR intensives: extended blocks of focused reprocessing for people who can't fit this work into fifty minutes a week, or who would rather not 6 months reprocessing. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Motivational Interviewing inform the work throughout, particularly in preparation and in the places where readiness is genuinely mixed.
I use measurement-based care — validated instruments at intake and at intervals — so that treatment response is visible rather than assumed, and so course corrections happen early.
I came to counseling as a second career, after scientific training and years as a professional writer. Both still shape how I work: an interest in mechanism, and a respect for how much the words we use about ourselves matter.
Education & Experience
MA, Counseling — Webster University, 2020
MS, Environmental Science — McNeese State University, 2002
BS, Molecular Biology — Auburn University, 1997
Licensed Professional Counselor and Approved Supervisor (LPC-S), Missouri. Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, Kansas.
National Certified Counselor, National Clinical Mental Health Counselor, EMDRIA Certified Therapist.
Approximately six years of general clinical practice, primarily in community mental health, working with adults across trauma, anxiety, mood, and life transition presentations. Now in independent practice focused on EMDR.
Additional modalities and training: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Motivational Interviewing; Dialectical Behavior Therapy
Professional & Volunteer Affiliations
Professional Affiliations:
American Counseling Association
EMDRIA
Missouri Mental Health Counselors Association
Specialty Area
- Abuse/Neglect
- Anxiety/Panic Attacks
- Birth Trauma/Pregnancy Loss
- Chronic Illness/Medical Issues
- Depression
- Domestic Violence
- Grief/Loss/Mourning
- Mood Disorders
- Motor Vehicle Accidents
- Performance Enhancement
- Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Sexual Abuse
- Stress Management
- Traumatic Incident
Population Served
- Adults
- LGBTQ+
- Veterans/Military
Language
- English
Insurance
- Aetna
- Cigna
Carelon