About Kim
Kim Padula helps people who are facing stress, anxiety, depression, mood swings, addiction, grief, relationship strain, and major life changes. She also supports people coping with career pressures, caregiver stress, compassion fatigue, and questions about life purpose. Kim brings a calm, steady presence to conversations about difficult feelings.
Kim trained in psychology at Vanderbilt University and later earned a Master of Social Work in clinical practice. She has practiced since 1995 and holds a Tennessee Licensed Clinical Social Worker credential, LCSW 3352.
Background and approach
Her background includes long experience helping people sort out emotions and practical problems. Her approach centers on strengths. She looks for what is already working while noticing patterns that cause pain.
In early sessions she reviews a person’s history and the relationships that shaped them. Together they pick clear goals and a focused plan for therapy. Kim uses methods from client-centered work, cognitive behavioral work, dialectical behavior ideas, existential thinking, and Jungian perspectives.
That means conversations that combine practical tools with deeper reflection about meaning and identity. She aims for therapy to lead to choices about how to respond to life’s challenges. Sessions are collaborative.
Kim treats therapy as a team process where goals are reviewed and adjusted over time. She welcomes questions and works with each person to find what fits best for their situation.
Therapeutic approaches and online options
Client-centered therapy focuses on the person’s own experience, offering empathic listening and support to help someone find their own solutions. It suits people who want a respectful, nonjudgmental space to talk through feelings and choices.Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, breaks problems into thoughts, feelings, and actions and teaches practical skills to change unhelpful patterns. It is often useful for anxiety, depression, panic symptoms, and problems with mood or behavior.
Dialectical Behavior Therapy, or DBT, emphasizes emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and clearer communication. It can help people manage intense emotions, improve relationships, and reduce impulsive or self-harming behaviors.
Finding the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will collaborate with each person to match techniques to their needs, goals, and preferences and will adjust the plan as progress is made.
Online sessions make it easier to fit therapy into a busy life. Video calls let people use gestures and facial cues during conversation, while phone sessions can be a good option when internet bandwidth is limited. Live chat or text-based messaging allow brief check-ins, quick reflections, or ongoing support between longer sessions. These formats increase flexibility and make it simpler to maintain continuity of care across time zones and schedules.
Frequently asked questions
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Specialties and expertise
Top specialties
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Bipolar disorder
Also works with
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Depression
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family conflicts
- Family of origin issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Relationship issues
- Self esteem
- Self-love
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 26 years
- Licensed
- Tennessee
- Languages
- English