Kristen Cardone, LPCC-S, LICDC
Therapy That Treats Anxiety, Trauma, and Substance Use Together, in Ohio
You should not need two different therapists to talk about your anxiety and your drinking. Kristen is licensed for both, so you tell the story once.
Book a free consultationVirtual sessions across Ohio, based in Lewis Center. Most major insurance accepted, and we verify your benefits for you.
What Kristen works on most
Substance Use & Dual Diagnosis
Harm reduction and relapse prevention, without requiring you to arrive already committed to a particular outcome.
Anxiety & Depression
The things people are often drinking or using at, addressed in the same room rather than deferred to someone else.
Trauma & Complex Trauma
Where the pattern usually started. EMDR and trauma-focused work, paced so it does not destabilize your recovery.
LGBTQIA+ Affirming Care
Gender identity, orientation, and coming out. Identity is context here, not a topic to get through before the real work.
About Kristen
Kristen Cardone is dual-licensed in Ohio as a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor, Supervisor and a Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor. In practice that means substance use, anxiety, depression, and trauma get worked on together, in one room, instead of split across two providers who each see half the picture. She is based in Lewis Center and sees clients by telehealth statewide.
Thirteen years across community mental health and private practice means she has met people at every point: the first honest conversation, the fifth attempt, the long uneventful stretch afterward. Her approach is grounded in harm reduction, so you do not need to have decided on abstinence before you are allowed to start.
She is EMDR-trained and works with trauma directly rather than treating it as background to the substance use. For LGBTQIA+ clients she is an affirming resource in a specific and practical sense: she has heard it, she is not startled, and she is not going to make you manage her reaction to your own life.
The consultation is a conversation, not a commitment
Deciding whether to start therapy is hard enough without a calendar demanding a card number. Here is the whole process.
Answer a few questions
Your state, what brings you in, and how you would pay. Under a minute.
Talk to Kristen for 15 minutes
By video, at no cost. You describe what is going on and she tells you how she would approach it.
Decide after the call
If it feels right, you book a first session. If not, we help you find someone who fits better.
What clients often say when they first reach out
Paraphrased versions of what Kristen hears most. If one of these sounds like your own head, you are in the right place.
Therapeutic approaches
- Harm reduction
- Relapse prevention
- EMDR
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Dialectical Behavior Therapy
- Motivational Interviewing
- Trauma-focused therapy
- Solution-focused brief therapy
Also works with
- Shame and self-worth
- Life transitions
- Self-esteem
- Career stress and burnout
- Family and relationship strain
- Parenting as an adult client
Who she sees
- Adults and young adults 18+
- LGBTQIA+ clients
- People in or considering recovery
- First responders
- Entrepreneurs, executives, and creatives
- Court-involved and mandated-to-treatment clients
- Virtually across Ohio
Questions before you book
Do I have to want to quit to work with Kristen?
No. Her approach is grounded in harm reduction, which means the goal is yours to set. Plenty of clients start out genuinely unsure, and sorting that out is legitimate work rather than a prerequisite.
Where can Kristen see clients?
Ohio only. Sessions are virtual, and you need to be physically in Ohio at the time of your appointment.
What does dual-licensed actually mean for me?
She holds both a clinical counseling license and an independent chemical dependency license. So you are not describing your anxiety to one provider and your drinking to another, and neither one is waiting on the other to go first.
Is this instead of a treatment program?
It depends on where you are. Outpatient therapy works well for many people, and for others a higher level of care comes first. Kristen will tell you honestly on the consultation which she thinks applies, including when it is not her.
What if I relapse while working with her?
It gets addressed as information, not as failure or grounds for dismissal. Relapse prevention assumes the possibility rather than treating it as a rule violation.
Does she offer EMDR?
Yes, Kristen is EMDR-trained. When trauma is part of the picture she can work on it directly rather than referring that part out, and she paces it so it does not destabilize where you are in recovery.
How soon could I start?
Kristen is accepting new patients and usually has consultation times available within the same week.
Let's see if we're a fit
A few quick questions, then you can book a free 15-minute consultation with Kristen.