Counseling Services
Individual Counseling with Katie Bingner, MS, LCPC (She/Her)
Empathy can be the greatest strength and heaviest burden.
Education & Experience
I received a Bachelor's of Arts degree in Psychology from Hood College and a Master's of Science degree in Community Counseling from McDaniel College, with the completion of a 125-hour clinical internship at the Carroll County Detention Center in Westminster, MD in 2014.
Since then, I’ve spent my career helping adults (18+) struggling with all forms of anxiety, life transitions, relational issues and unhealed relational trauma. I consider myself an integrative therapist, offering a combination of evidence-based interventions from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Exposure and Response Prevention (E/RP), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Motivational Interviewing (MI), in order to provide my client's with an individualized approach to healing, because one size simply doesn’t (nor should it) fit all! This has enabled me to gathered an arsenal of skills, tools, and techniques to help my clients understand and work with their internal experiences more effectively.
As my clinical experiences evolved, I came to realize that while many people enter therapy seeking a solution for a specific problem, many of us have complex pain that needs more than just a “top-down” (ie: cognitive-behavioral) approach to healing. Because of this, I began dedicating the majority of my education and training to becoming trauma-informed. As a trauma-informed therapist, I am able to recognize trauma as it shows up in treatment and responsibly address it using appropriate interventions from Emotionally-Focused Therapy (EFT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), and the Structural Dissociation Model. I’ve also received training from the National Institute of Trauma Informed Care and I’m an active member of the Trauma Therapy Network, a community of trusted colleagues, trauma-informed and trauma specialists, that I consult with regularly.
I am also a board-approved clinical supervisor and I enjoy offering clinical consultation to new clinicians looking to hone and evolve their skills.
I enjoy working with empathic people. Those of us that feel so deeply, but might not always have the capacity to carry it all. Being deeply empathic can be a strain on one’s soul; the overwhelm of feeling it all can make it challenging to move through life in a fulfilling and grounded way. As a mental health provider, I believe it to be an ethical duty to engage in my own healing, in order to meet my clients where they are and truly understand the work and dedication that goes into exploring ourselves deeply and making changes that are sometimes incredibly difficult to make. My primary goal when working with every client is to truly witness each individual, their story, their experience – and walk with them through their journey of growth, toward wholeness.
*Please Note: I am not a trauma treatment specialist. Any clients whose needs fall outside of my scope of training will be connected to a specialist that can continue doing the important work of helping them toward healing.
Inclusive & Affirming Counseling
I believe we all have the potential to change and grow at any time in their lives. I also recognize that most systems in our world are embedded with bias, which have historically resulted in overt and covert discrimination. The consequences of this are vast, but one example is the significant impact on an individual’s capacity to cope with stress and have opportunities to reach their potential. I am a member of the LGBTQ+ community and strive to hold a safe space for those in marginalized communities to feel seen, heard, and supported. I also support our first responders and, as a LEO spouse, I can offer a unique understanding and appreciation for the dedication, sacrifice, and risk that is required of our first responders and their families. I am an avid animal lover and have volunteered with countless rescue organizations over the past 20 years.