Anne McCullough Kelly

Anne is a licensed mental health counselor (LMHC) in the state of Iowa. She completed her BA in psychology at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington and her MA in counseling psychology at Lewis & Clark Graduate School of Education and Counseling in Portland, Oregon. She has previously worked in child and adolescent residential treatment programs, early childhood mental health at Orchard Place Child Guidance Center, and on-campus counseling for college students in rural Iowa. Anne also combined her mental health knowledge and skills with early childhood music education for almost a decade at a Des Moines-area music studio. In her therapeutic practice for individuals ages 16 years and up, Anne provides a safe and affirming space for people to explore their lived experiences and relationships, and to identify goals for manifesting healing and growth. She empowers her clients through building coping strategies for managing stress, trusting and strengthening their inner resilience, and developing compassionate accountability for their personal growth. When working with younger clients ages birth to 10 years, Anne focuses on feelings identification and understanding, learning and practicing coping strategies that both honor intense emotions and keep behaviors safe, and collaborating with adult caregivers to build strong and supportive adult-child relationships. Through an integrative, client-centered approach, Anne blends techniques from a variety of evidence-based practices including Internal Family Systems (IFS), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), play therapy, and sand tray therapy. Anne encourages use of mindfulness practices such as guided meditation, therapeutic breathing, and movement, and she facilitates clients learning these skills in sessions in order to develop a consistent practice in their own lives outside the therapy space. She is LGBTQIA+ allied and is currently completing training in polyvagal-informed trauma therapy and certification as a Body Trust© provider (a therapeutic approach to help people divest from diet culture and anti-fat bias, while attuning to the health of their bodies through inner wisdom and truth). Outside the office, Anne enjoys spending laid back time with her spouse, daughter, and their fluffball dog. She loves taking gentle nature walks, playing her harp, performing in and designing for theater productions, getting blissfully lost in dystopian novels, working on all kinds of artsy and crafty projects, and belting out Broadway tunes while housecleaning.