Kelsey Rodgers-Buckley, MSW
My name is Kelsey Rodgers-Buckley, MSW. As a mental health practitioner, I work with children and families who are dealing with all of the challenges that family life and growing up can bring. Relationships are at the center of everything that I do, and as a lifelong theatre artist, I have always had a great appreciation for the healing power of play and collaborative connection. My work starts from a place of curiosity and is grounded in developmental understanding. Prior to pursuing clinical mental health, I worked for years as a preschool teacher, and I am well-versed in partnering with parents and caregivers to foster joy and warmth in family relationships.
In my therapeutic approach, I center my clients’ lived experiences and seek to create an environment where they can show me what it looks and feels like in their world. I believe that one of my most important jobs as a therapist is to bear witness to the stories that make up an individual’s life course and work together to make meaning out of the beautiful messiness that is growing up.
At the end of a session, I want my clients to feel confident and capable to face the rest of their day. I aim to facilitate a positive self-image in children and parents by reminding them that so many of the beautiful things they see in the world already exist within themselves. My closest friends would describe me as curious, passionate, energetic, playful, silly, and a storyteller. It’s my goal to integrate all of these qualities into my clinical work to help my clients feel at home in the therapeutic relationship.
I earned my Masters of Social Work with a Concentration in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health from the Erikson Institute, and I am trained in psychodynamic theory and practice, with particular experience and interest in child-centered play therapy and sand tray therapy. I am also trained in Theraplay Level One and passionate about integrating positive and joyful attachment experiences into my work with families.