Kelly Edwards
Senior Clinician
Above all else, we seek connection — with parts of ourselves that we have repressed, with other people, and with the larger universe. We cannot experience life in its fullness unless we have an intimate relationship with another human being and, beyond that, a feeling of connection with the world around us. —Harville Hendrix
Specialties
Relational Life Therapy Therapy, Gottman Method Couples Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, Therapy in Spanish and Portuguese
Consultations
Kelly offers free consultations, please contact him to see if you all are a good fit.
About Kelly
Kelly Edwards is a senior clinician at IPNB Psychotherapy of Austin. He is a bicultural therapist that works at two different group practices in Austin. He provides therapy in English, Spanish, and Portuguese that focuses on supporting couples, and families, as well as individuals in moving towards relational health.
Kelly is in his mid forties and came to psychotherapy as a second career. His energy is gentle and curious when in session. He has studied Attachment Theory, Gottman Method, Relational Life Therapy, Interpersonal Neurobiology, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and brings them all to help clients with developmental trauma healing. Kelly does depth work with clients that are wanting to solve dilemmas, explore relational health, and heal anxiety. He utilizes Relational Life Therapy as his main guide to help the couples that come to see him gain connection and intimacy again. The path to relational health with self and with others can involve trauma recovery, using mindfulness for more connection between the mind and body, and gaining a better understanding of the way family of origin dynamics influence the way we show up in our relationships.
Q&A with
Kelly Edwards
How does talking to someone help?
I believe if an individual or a couple is looking for meaningful change, talking is not enough. One of the most important factors for change is the therapeutic relationship. I have a warm, relational approach that is trauma-informed, client-centered and experiential. The therapy I provide is evidence-based and informed by neuroscience, feminist psychology, and grounded in theories of family therapy. I also like to have clients pay attention to their body sensations in therapy, which gives clients insight into their feelings. Feelings help us connect with ourselves, with others, and help us in making decisions. If we only talk and do not focus on feelings, we are only using half of the brain to face the issues brought into therapy.
What is your first question for a client, and why?
“What brings you into therapy at this time?” This question helps me understand the story the client tells about themselves and the struggles they are facing because of that story. People often identify with a certain story—a way of describing their life, their stress, their struggles, and their worries. What the client often does not recognize is that there is a different story that needs to be uncovered to really deal with the issues. My hope is that through therapy I can help help clients adopt a new narrative about their lives.
What is the best thing you have learned from one of your people?
One of the first clients that I worked with taught me two very valuable lessons. As a new therapist I was eager to move the client’s healing forward in concrete, measurable ways. The more I pushed, the more the client shut down and the more we felt disconnected. This taught me to slow down and follow the client’s pace. It also taught me that rather than solely relying on my therapeutic training, I must trust that every individual innately poses the tools they need to heal. Lots of times they just need help realizing they have the tools and how to use them most effectively.