(Bio) Kristin Vernon is a Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker and has worked with individuals with exceptionalities, educators, direct care providers, and parents for approximately 22 years. She received her Bachelor’s of Social Work and her Master of Social Work through the University of Kansas, and is licensed through the Behavioral Sciences Review Board. Ms. Vernon worked as a social work specialist providing individual therapy, group therapy and case management for adults in a 50 bed in-patient state psychiatric hospital. She is the Clinical Director at Social Perspective, a private counseling practice. She began volunteering at Headquarters Counseling Center in 2005 as a crisis and suicide prevention counselor and currently serves as the Director of Clinical Services for Headquarters Counseling Center.

Kristin Vernon shares her incredible journey on the i’Mpossible Project #podcast!

Time Stamped Notes

• 2.28 Because her parents were teachers for adolescents in a group home considered to be
  juvenile offenders, Kristin spent the first 2.5 years of her life living in a group home with 8
  teenage boys who were like big brothers to her.
• 4.33 When Kristin was 20 years old, her father took his own life.
• 5.27 Kristin considers suicide prevention her calling.
• 10.06 Kristin’s dad channeled all of his energy into helping others and struggled with his own
  family and forgot to help himself.
• 22.35 You never know what’s going on with someone just by looking at them (Kristin’s
  perspective because of how she lost her dad).
• 23.55 The way we offer help needs to look different for different people based on their needs.
• 25.24 Kristin believes she can better help people who have experiences trauma because of how
  she lost her dad—how she turned a “liability” to an “asset.”
• 28.15 Kristin believes that as a counselor it’s important when appropriate to share pieces of her
  story (her lived experience), only if it can be helpful to the client. You need to be human to
  connect to people.
• 31.40 Counseling therapy is both and art and science just like the work of a medical doctor.
• 35.01 Kristin’s favorite sounding word is “facetious,” her least favorite word is “panties,” and if
  someone were to make a movie of her life Meg Ryan would play the title (find out more fun
  facts about Kristin in the Quick Fire round).

Key Points

• No matter how much we want to help people, we have to practice self-care and set
  boundaries when necessary
• No matter how knowledgeable one is on a topic, they can always learn something (even
  if it comes from the most unlikely of sources)

Resources or Websites Mentioned

Need help? In the U.S., call 1-800-273-8255 for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. If outside the U.S., here is a list of crisis lines around the world: www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres

To get in touch with Kristin for her private counseling practice: Kristin.vernon@gmail.com

Kristin at Headquarters Counseling: kristin@headquarterscounselingcenter.org

Find a therapist near me: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/therapy/how-do-i-find-a-therapist-near-me/