Today we’d like to introduce you to Kindal Akers
Kindal, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
As a junior in high school, I realized my calling to be a mental health therapist. This calling was tied to concepts that are important to my faith, including restoring those who are hurting and reconciling relationships that have been damaged. I’ve always been an empath: feeling my emotions very deeply, and having a strong desire to help those with emotional and physical needs. I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology and Religion from Carson-Newman College in Jefferson City, Tennessee. During that time, I sought out volunteer roles serving homeless individuals and at-risk youth. I completed my master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at Richmont Graduate University in Chattanooga, Tennessee with a concentration in treating trauma. I wanted to be well-trained in treating clients with mental health issues, so I sought out direct-care positions in settings where I had the opportunity to see a variety of mental health issues being treated and learn from other highly skilled clinicians. I worked in two different residential treatment centers over the span of 6 years, serving both adolescents and adults with both substance use and mental health issues. I later worked in a non-profit setting doing in home and in office therapy and leading family camps and parent support groups with adoptive families. During that time I received advanced training in treating complex trauma by studying under one of the leading trauma researchers and child psychologists in the United States, was trained in Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Therapy at the Justice Resource Institute at Boston Trauma Center, completed EMDR levels 1 and 2 training, In September 2021, I opened my private practice, Legacy Counseling Knox and serve many individuals and families who have been touched by trauma. Since opening my private practice, I was trained through Postpartum Support International to provide specialized therapy to pregnant and postpartum women. I have a passion for working with this population, since my oldest child was born 6.5 weeks early and spent time in the NICU, and I had several risk factors that led to experiencing Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders myself.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has certainly not been smooth. I reflect on my journey of becoming a mother while holding a professional position. My journey in motherhood was challenging with my firstborn because it wasn’t the picture-perfect experience you dream of. My experience included a NICU stay and navigating returning to work while facing perinatal mental health issues. Now I have a passion for supporting parents who have children in the NICU, mothers who are planning to return to work after maternity leave, and working moms.b
My sense of enduring these challenges is that God used those experiences for my good. I am so grateful for the hardships I faced because they brought me into places of deeper faith and broader growth.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Legacy Counseling Knox was established in 2021 as an outpatient therapy center. I specialize in treating individuals who have experienced complex trauma, single-incident trauma, attachment issues, perinatal mental health issues, parenting challenges, depression, and anxiety, including panic attacks. I help individuals process and heal from past abuse and neglect, prior traumatic births, navigate and process the challenges of parenting, and establish healthy boundaries and rhythms. For adoptive families, I equip adoptive parents to support their children from a trauma-informed lens, facilitate parent-child activities that will promote healthy attachment, and provide individual therapy to adoptive parents and adoptive children and teens.
What sets me apart from other mental health providers is that I offer more than simply talk therapy. I have completed a deep dive into studying neuroscience and ways trauma impacts the body and the brain. The therapy modalities I use are designed to help client’s bodies release trauma, allow their brains to create new, healthy neuropathways, and to teach them to regulate intense emotions using healthy strategies. I utilize attachment-based and IFS-informed EMDR, Polyvagal Theory, and Sensorimotor Arousal Regulation Therapy, to support physical and emotional regulation, I have a variety of sensory equipment in my office, including weighted blankets, fidgets, art supplies, a small trampoline, a physio ball, and a bean bag. I offer walk and talk therapy on a beautiful campus, where my office is situated, which includes a horse field and a pond. I approach every client from a holistic perspective, and include conversations about their history, physical health, daily rhythms, and the body-mind connection into our sessions. I can also integrate Christian faith concepts into the therapeutic process for clients who find it meaningful.
In addition to therapy sessions, I offer classes for pregnant women to develop a plan for postpartum health & wellbeing, and provide training to women’s groups, parent groups, and church groups.
I am most proud that my name is becoming known by other local health providers, so that local mental health providers and those in the medical field are seeking to work with me in therapy, and individuals who have historically struggled to find an appropriate provider are being referred to me, and I can help them with effective strategies for managing their symptoms.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t believe in luck. I have been raised in a Christian home, so I believe the verses in the Bible about a God who cares deeply for me. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a future and a hope” and Romans 8:28 that says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” When I am struggling with discouragement or hopelessness or need guidance, I pray and read the Bible, and countless times God has consistently provided for my physical and emotional needs.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://kindal-akers.clientsecure.me/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/legacycounselingknox/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/legacycounselingknox
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/kindal-akers-knoxville-tn/879107
