Keely Hope

About Dr. Hope

She is licensed in the state of Washington as a Mental Health Counselor. She earned a PhD and a Specialist in Education in Counselor Education both from University of Florida, Gainesville. She earned a Master of Science in Counselor Education from Mississippi State University, Starkville and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. She completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Counseling and Psychological Services at Ohio university. In addition to her licensure in the State of Washington, she has been licensed in Ohio and Florida. She is a Certified Grief Educator and earning Certification as a Mental Performance Consultant. Dr. Hope is a Professor of Mental Health Counseling at a Regional University and authored or co-authored 9 publications and presented at over 40 Regional, State, National or International conferences. She served as the President of the Western Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (WACES) in 2016/2017.

In performance, CBT and ACT are the primary modalities. In my work with other non performance clients, it would be attachment focused, so compassion focused therapy fits that criteria. I provide a safe space to explore themselves. I provide a framework for them to understand why they might be struggling. I provide them with exercises that can be done in and out of session. I view client struggles typically as a function of life. I believe that we are who we are due to our early childhood experiences and we engage in thoughts, feelings, actions because of those. Some have childhoods that allow them to feel good about themselves and good in relation to others. Others do not and are struggling to fill needs that were never met.

Dr. Hope's areas of specialty are:

• Anxiety
• Coping Skills
• Depression
• Domestic Abuse/Violence
• Emotional Disturbance
• Family Conflict
• Grief and Loss
• Peer Relationships
• Racial Identity
• Relationship Issues
• School Issues
• Self-Harming
• Self-Esteem
• Sexual Abuse
• Sports Performance
• Stress
• Suicidal Ideation
• Transgender
• Trauma and PTSD
• Women's Issues

A Message from Dr. Hope

Many of us feel unheard, unseen, and unvalued. If you are reading this, this may resonate with you. I want to welcome you to a space to feel heard, seen, and valued. You may be struggling with performance or finding purpose or need a place to figure out the noise in your head. Compassion, for self and others, is now understood to be an essential component to well-being. Together we can work towards finding compassion for yourself and for the world around you.

I genuinely believe that our childhood and childhood experiences impact us in ways we have not considered. I view the human experience through the lens of attachment theory and I choose to use compassion focused therapy to help guide our process. We may use mindfulness along with imagery to help guide us on our compassionate journey.

If you struggling with performance, goal setting, mindfulness and visualization often are employed to help work towards finding a stuck point. Cognitive behavioral techniques along with acceptance and commitment therapy concepts are often used in mental performance. Understanding you and your needs can guide the process of where we focus our energies.