Katheryn Kiker, LPC-Associate

10/20/2025

People can be cruel, people can be abusive, people can disregard the humanity in others. It is true, it is real, and the people it happens to matter.

A big part of learning compassion for ourselves is also learning that we deserve our own protection. People who are kind learn to give understanding and empathy and support in hopes that other people will feel it, and return it. But sometimes that doesn’t happen. Sometimes it’s better to be knowing than to be nice. Other people seeing how they harm and deciding to heal is a personal decision, not contingent on us giving or doing for them.

Love and forgiveness are not tangible things. You can love someone without it looking a certain way, you can forgive someone without ever speaking to them again. But even then, you can believe everyone deserves it without you being the one to give it.

08/25/2025

You tear yourself down because you've fallen short...

But you fall short because you've torn yourself down.

To get out of the cycle, we need to be understanding, nonjudgemental. It’s then we can think clearly, be curious about why we behave the way we do, and act based on our care for ourselves.

Is there something you can let yourself do today that would help build you up in a *small&achievable* way?

08/21/2025

Wonderful info about anxiety. For kids and adults over-accommodation can be one way of how we avoid anxiety instead of confronting it, and it ultimately makes what we can tolerate in the world smaller and smaller. It can be very hard to confront but very worth it.

08/18/2025

The anger & anxiety iceberg

07/10/2025

It is as heavy as it is. It is okay to just be surviving, getting through your day. But know if it gets too heavy there are so many people wanting to help. All of Texas seems to be reaching out with their broken hearts, feeling like its never enough. Such is grief.

This page is local to the Kerrville area and has great resources posted. There are many counselors across the state moving into action, offering pro bono services and groups, myself included. You. are. not. alone.

The past few days have been heavy. Physically, emotionally, and mentally. It’s a lot to carry, and it’s okay if you’re not feeling okay right now. We have put together this resource to help anyone who might be struggling with the emotional aftermath. Whether it’s fear, sadness, overwhelm, or just feeling off you are not alone. For those needing shelter or displacement assistance; shelters are available for residents whose homes have been destroyed or who are currently displaced:
• First United Methodist Church, 321 Thompson Drive, Kerrville, TX 78028. Phone: (830) 257-0800
• Calvary Temple Church, 3000 Loop 534, Kerrville – available for family support of the missing only.

Be gentle with yourself. And let’s keep showing up for one another the way this community always does. 💙

06/24/2025

"Sometimes I hear people use the phrase being present like it is an elusive thing, one more additional thing in life that they need to get perfect at that they are not doing. The feeling surrounding it is similar to not eating your vegetables. So for education and counseling purposes, it’s time to address it head on.
(get it??? because our heads?? and mental health?).

Being mindful or present is a simple thing, but it might not be a natural thing to us in these modern times. It is being where you are, in your body. Noticing what is happening only, not what might happen. Without realizing it, we often get in this state of presence when we are engulfed in an activity, feel happy, or we’re doing something new. We are all capable of being present.

So WHY oh WHY don’t our minds let us get there all the other times?"

This is an excerpt from my new blog post. If you're curious to read more: https://katethecownselor.com/2025/06/23/what-does-being-present-mean/

06/18/2025

A very pretty summer magnolia to help you with grounding.

What is grounding? It is an intervention, typically to help with the fast-moving thoughts of anxiety, where you use your body's senses to slow down your thinking, and be present. Nature is often associated with grounding, but paying attention to our body and our senses can be done anywhere.

While this video has prompts, you can also pay attention to the audio-- it has all sorts of animal/insects sounds. How many do you hear?

06/10/2025

What if you are not a problem to solve?

Just a human who needs tending to like any other living thing?

💭 if you want to explore questions like these, and get even more resources for practicing a kinder mindset toward yourself, I will be starting my next self-compassion group here in a few weeks!

🔗 you can go to this link https://katethecownselor.com/group-therapy/
to fill out your interest in the group. Day/time are still being decided based on participant availability.

06/05/2025

Just a counselor and therapy cow who aren’t scared to sit in the mental, emotional, and literal mud with you 🤗

05/02/2025

I decided to make this virtual group free 🤗

Reason is... I have been thinking about my legacy as a counselor. My practice is built with self-compassion as the framework and I think it is the education that so many of us are missing.

Learning self-compassion may help if you:

- think really poorly of yourself, or would even say you hate yourself
- put a lot of pressure on yourself to do everything perfectly
- have a hard time receiving love, affection, gifts, compliments from others
- hate whatever you make when you do something creative
- have self-esteem that teeter-totters, high when things are good and extremely low when things are bad
- feel shame whenever you think of your mistakes
- have a difficult time managing your emotions

If any of that resonates with you, consider joining. Here's more info: https://katethecownselor.com/group-therapy/

04/08/2025

Feelings: Nobody likes them, everybody has them.

Just like almost everything in mental health, emotions are a paradox. Yes, they are temporary. However, when we ignore them or intellectualize them, it prolongs our experience with them, creating more emotional discomfort and pain. In our efforts to disregard our feelings, they stay with us longer instead of just visiting.

The practice of soften, soothe, allow is one of the many ways we can acknowledge our emotions and let them go. For this you will want to find a quiet area and give yourself a few minutes to focus. If you have any questions about it I am here to answer them.

📙This practice is included in the Mindful Self-compassion program by Chris Germer and Kristin Neff. For more info and self-compassion exercises: self-compassion.org

➡️if you like this exercise and want to learn more, I am starting another self-compassion group soon! Right now I am just collecting names for those who would be interested. When I have at least 4 people sign up I will start the group. You can let me know if you're interested here: https://katethecownselor.com/group-therapy/

03/24/2025

I've been having a bit of deja vu with several of my clients recently- they have independently made similar statements about their belief that we are put here to help other people.

I think this is one of those universal human desires- to be productive, to make a difference, to matter, to be a part of something larger than ourselves. It's one of the best aspects of humanity. The internal struggle is expressed so beautifully in the lyrics of this Nina Simone song (in the image).

This internal struggle, however, tends to make us miserable...

--> if you like, you can read the rest on my blog here --> https://katethecownselor.com/2025/03/24/i-wish-i-could-give-all-im-longing-to-give/