
A marriage and family therapist trainee (MFTT) is a graduate counseling student seeking licensure as a professional marriage and family therapist. Marriage & Family Therapist Trainees have the same scope of practice as a professional counselor, but require much closer supervision during the training process.
Dr. Kiersten Baughman (pronouns: she/her) is a marriage and family therapist trainee who works with individuals of all ages, couples, and families. Her specialty interests include: premarital and marital issues, conflict resolution, abuse and trauma, self-esteem, and ADHD. She uses an integrative evidence-based approach to therapy uniquely centered on each client’s needs.
Dr. Baughman completed her advanced education at the University of Oklahoma, earning a doctorate degree in social psychology. She attended the University of Oklahoma and earned her master’s degree in social psychology. She attended Morehead State University and earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Spanish. She is currently a master’s student at Northwestern University, earning a degree in marriage and family therapy. She has taught psychology courses for nearly two decades and has a passion for the field of psychology. She considers herself a lifelong learner.
Dr. Baughman has experience working in private practice with premarital and marital couples, individuals, and families. She holds certifications in Green Dot at both the college and community facilitator levels and is passionate about nonviolence intervention.
Beyond her clinical work, Dr. Baughman is active at the local and national levels with Green Dot, a nonviolence bystander intervention program. Her passion for minimizing violence has led her to publish articles, book chapters, and travel globally working with numerous private and public agencies. She serves as a consultant with several organizations reviewing, revising, updating, and creating material for test banks, textbooks, and national certification exams in addition to reviewing fellowship applications for the National Science Foundation.
Dr. Baughman takes a holistic approach to treatment, systemically trained to consider multiple factors that combine to create complex interaction patterns. She collaborates with clients to create plans that will work for their unique needs and emphasizes vulnerable sharing of emotions in the safety of the therapy space. She creates space for clients to guide sessions as she listens patiently, infuses humor and psychoeducation, and draws upon the lived experiences shared in session in facilitating positive change.
Her strengths include: empathy, wealth of knowledge about the field of psychology, passion, enthusiasm, warmth, and a genuine desire to make a positive difference.