Dr. Kristen Pavela, LCSW
Licensed in Wisconsin · 10 years in practice
Dr. Kristen Pavela is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who practices from Wisconsin and brings ten years of clinical experience.
License and registration
- LCSW, Wisconsin
- 9369-123 · expires February 2027
- LCSW, Illinois
- 149020413 · expires November 2027
- NPI
- 1861926008 · national provider identifier
- Years in practice
- 10
- Languages
- English
Details are as listed on the therapist's public professional profile. You can check any license with the state board and any NPI with the national registry.
About Kristen
Dr. Kristen Pavela is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) who practices from Wisconsin and brings ten years of clinical experience. She holds a doctorate in social work and has spent the last decade helping people manage anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, and relationship pain.
Her work emphasizes respect, sensitivity, and straightforward support. She meets people where they are and uses a warm, interactive style. Sessions focus on clear goals and practical steps.
Background and approach
Conversations are tailored to each person's needs rather than fitting everyone into the same plan. Her background includes work with people facing domestic violence, substance use concerns, anger, parenting stress, and grief. She also supports those dealing with attention challenges, career strain, sleep and eating issues, and struggles with shame or isolation.
She draws on a range of approaches to match the concern at hand. In therapy she mixes client-centered listening with techniques from cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing. This lets her combine close attention to a person’s story with strategies for changing thoughts and behaviors.
She also brings psychodynamic ideas when helpful to understand recurring patterns. Dr. Pavela focuses on building practical skills, improving communication, and helping clients move toward clearer choices and better daily routines.
She works collaboratively, and plans evolve as needs change. If someone is ready to take a step toward change, she offers steady support and practical guidance.
Focus areas and approaches
Everything Kristen lists on their public professional profile, in their own terms.
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Trauma and abuse
- Anger management
- Depression
- LGBT
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
- Grief
- Intimacy-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Sleeping disorders
- Parenting issues
- Self esteem
- Career difficulties
- Bipolar disorder
- Coping with life changes
- Compassion fatigue
- ADHD
- Abandonment
- Attachment issues
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Control issues
- Domestic violence
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Guilt and shame
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Isolation / loneliness
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Mood disorders
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Postpartum depression
- Post-traumatic stress
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Smoking / vaping cessation
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Women's issues
- Young adult issues
Approaches Kristen names
- Client-Centered Therapy
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Motivational Interviewing
- Psychodynamic Therapy
Naming an approach is not evidence of training in it. This directory copies what each therapist lists and does not check training records.
Online support
Approach and online therapy that fit your life
Dr. Pavela often uses client-centered therapy, which focuses on listening closely and following the client’s priorities to shape the work. This approach is helpful when someone needs a nonjudgmental space to talk through feelings and make sense of their experiences.She also uses cognitive behavioral therapy, which looks at how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors interact. CBT offers concrete tools for managing anxiety, depression, sleep or eating issues, and many everyday struggles by teaching practical strategies and steps to test new ways of coping.
Finding the right approach is a collaborative process. The therapist and client talk about goals, try methods that fit the issue, and change course when something isn’t working. The plan evolves based on what helps the person make clearer choices and better daily routines.
Online therapy offers flexibility in how sessions happen. Video calls let people work face to face from different locations. Phone sessions can be easier when lower bandwidth or a quick check-in is needed. Live chat and text-based messaging support shorter check-ins, ongoing tracking, or reaching out between scheduled appointments. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life and to keep momentum between sessions.
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you. It does not change what you pay or the order of the listings.
Questions people ask
What concerns does she address?
She helps people with stress, anxiety, depression, addiction, trauma, relationship and family issues, grief, parenting, sleep and eating problems, ADHD, and related concerns.
What is her therapeutic style?
Her approach is warm and interactive, combining attentive listening with practical strategies to change thoughts and behaviors.
What experience does she bring?
She has ten years of clinical experience and a doctorate in social work working in counseling and substance use services.
Where is she licensed and based?
She holds LCSW credentials in Illinois and Wisconsin and practices from Wisconsin.
Which languages are sessions offered in?
Sessions are offered in English.
What formats are available for sessions?
Sessions may take place by video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging.
How are sessions priced?
Cost varies with location and therapist availability; sessions use a subscription model that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin working with her?
Start by selecting the Start Therapy button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and then schedule according to therapist availability.
More therapists in Wisconsin
See all
Bryan Krause
LCSW
Compassionate, practical support for life challenges
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship
- Family
Brittany Russotto
LCSW
Compassionate, practical care for daily struggles
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Eating
Gary Swan
LCSW
Practical, steady support for stress and relationships
- Stress, Anxiety
- Addictions
- Relationship
Is this your profile?
Ask us to correct details or take the page down.
Contact us