Kirstina Quast, LICSW

Kirstina Quast, LICSW, helps people facing stress, anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship or parenting challenges. She works with those coping with grief, caregiving strain, addiction concerns, and life changes like adoption or fertility issues. Kirstina aims to make the first step easier for people who feel stuck or overwhelmed.

She brings nine years of experience in social services and mental health settings. That background includes adult and children's mental health, residential treatment, child welfare, and adoption and foster care services. Those experiences inform her practical, down-to-earth style.

Kirstina uses cognitive behavioral approaches alongside attachment-based and client-centered methods. She also draws on EMDR, motivational interviewing, narrative work, and solution-focused techniques when they fit the person's needs. Treatment is tailored to what the individual wants to achieve rather than a one-size-fits-all plan.

In sessions she focuses on problem solving and building skills people can use every day. She helps clients break problems into manageable steps and tests strategies between meetings. This makes work in therapy feel actionable and focused on real-life changes.

Kirstina values creativity in therapy and treats people as the experts in their own lives. She offers support for practical concerns like career stress, parenting challenges, blended family dynamics, and coping with chronic illness or end-of-life issues. Her approach aims to help people regain control and move forward at a pace that feels right for them.

How Kirstina uses specific approaches online

CBT, or cognitive behavioral therapy, helps people spot and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. It is often used for anxiety, depression, stress, and coping with life changes by teaching practical tools and homework tasks.

Attachment-based work looks at patterns in close relationships and how early experiences affect current bonds. This approach can help with intimacy issues, family of origin problems, adoption-related concerns, and caregiver stress by building more secure ways of relating.

EMDR is a method some therapists use to help people process traumatic memories. When included, it is applied carefully to reduce distress and support gradual healing from trauma and abuse.

Finding the right approach is a team effort. The therapist will discuss goals and preferences and adapt techniques to fit each person's needs. That collaborative process helps decide which methods to try first and how to adjust over time.

Online therapy offers several practical benefits. Video calls allow face-to-face conversation when longer sessions or visual cues are helpful. Phone sessions can work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging make it easier to fit support into a busy day and to follow up between sessions. These options provide flexibility so people can choose what works for their schedule and comfort.