Kelsi Woodburn

Hi. My name is Kelsi Woodburn. I’m a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) in Idaho. I want to tell you a story about my journey to becoming a counselor and how my experiences along the way have helped me develop my skills to be a good counselor for you. In the Beginning Since I was a kid, I was always the quiet person in the group watching everyone else interact. It wasn’t because I was an intentional loner but more because I was fascinated with the dynamics of relationships and watching that play out in people’s interactions and conversations. I would get one of two responses to being that quiet, observant kid: Adults would assume I was “wise beyond my years” or “mature” and my peers just thought I was “a snob” or “weird”. I was almost always the outsider, though that never really bothered me because it gave me a great perspective to do what came naturally to me: make sense of people’s interactions with one another. I had no idea that this fascination could be a career until many years later. I got married to a great guy that came complete with two boys from a previous marriage. (We are still married by the way.) As is typical of any family that is trying to blend, especially considering that my husband and I had very different parenting styles, we found ourselves struggling in our relationships with one another. I didn’t know what to do. I felt helpless and desperate. For some reason I decided to look for a counselor. I honestly don’t know where the idea came from as I had never been to a counselor before and wasn’t even sure what they did but figured that is what you do when you have relationship issues. BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. It changed the course of my life. As we sat with a counselor that first time I was enamored with the role she played. She sat back, listened, and gave a summary of the dynamics she saw playing out in our relationships. Some of the words that came out of her mouth were verbatim what I had said to my husband but because it was coming from someone he was not emotionally invested in, he heard her. I became keenly aware that what she was doing was my purpose in life. I wanted to be in her seat. Listening. Reading the dynamics of the relationship and packaging that in a way that helped people achieve the change they desired. The Middle Unfortunately, my husband and I went through some really difficult years in our marriage. It was during those years that I decided to invest in myself. I did not go to college right out of high school, mostly because I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life. Now that I had discovered my purpose in life was to be a counselor, I had to go to school and get a Master’s degree. It was a long 7 year journey to achieve my degree. I attended Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho which happened to have one of the better counseling programs in the Northwest. Upon graduation, I started working in a community mental health agency. This was so good for me as I stretched my counseling legs and learned what concerns I was most affective at helping people with. I also received training in EMDR at this time and got certified as a hypnotherapist. This set me up well to work with people that have experienced trauma in their life. It has become a specialty area for me. I also learned that I work well with teens and parents and teaching parenting skills for all ages. Fast forward a few years and a good dose of confidence in my ability to help people and Balanced Dynamics Counseling was born. I LOVE WHAT I DO! I was born to be a counselor. I also have an entrepreneurial spirit (which is another way of saying I don’t like playing by other people’s rules). I love having the freedom to counsel based on my client’s needs and not basing my counseling approach on what an agency or insurance company dictates. The Journey Continues So what happened with me and my husband? Over the years, we have learned how to love each other well. We have rebuilt trust in our marriage and added such depth in our relationship that I never could have imagined if you had asked me before. He supports my career and seems to think I’m a decent enough counselor that he sends referrals my way. In our off time, we love to be finding excuses to take our little camper out and enjoy the outdoors. We love our 2 pups, Ruger and Daisy. And he puts up with all my crazy ideas for the future. I’m a bit of a dreamer but I’m also pretty practical which turns out to be a great combination because it means I can apply my practicality to my dreams and, POOF! Dreams come true! (With a lot of planning and hard work). What About You? My story is far from over. It and I and we are always evolving. Let me honor your story. I look forward to being a small part of your journey.