Marriage and family counselor Kris Anderson opened her own practice in May in White Bear Lake, and her desire for “clients to feel safe and validated in the space,” can be seen throughout her office, appropriately named Space for Healing Counseling. Anderson’s counseling mantra is “Peace on earth starts with peace in the home,” and her office looks more like a well-decorated living room than, well, an office.
She specializes in work with couples, play therapy and family counseling, and the techniques she uses with her clients are also utilized in her own life. “A lot of couples try to avoid conflict,” she explains, “but I try to use conflict to get to a deeper connection.” In her work with couples, Anderson avoids blame and instead seeks to help foster empathy and validation, a philosophy that gives her an edge with those seeking counseling.
By looking at clients in a systemic way, Anderson hopes to touch on all areas of life and “teach [clients] to be their own therapists.” Instead of numbing the pain of conflict, she gives clients tools to deal with the conflicts at hand and to be able to listen in a way that a therapist does, as well as be prepared for those that undoubtedly will arise in the future.
