Kathleen Coughlin, LCSW
Welcome to Ocean Vista Counseling. My name is Kathleen Coughlin, LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Florida (SW14331) and Pennsylvania (CW016161). I view counseling as a collaborative process and I am committed to working with my clients. In sessions, you will begin to explore your feelings and life challenges, increase your level of self-understanding, learn more effective ways to cope with unpleasant feelings, and develop improved coping skills to help manage your emotions. My goal is to help you identify strategies & creative techniques to reduce stress and increase self-care strategies to achieve your goals. Our goal is that anyone that comes through our doors will find clarity, hope, and purpose. We stand ready to walk this journey of self-discovery along with you.
In counseling, my focus is on helping you empower yourself to become stronger and more determined to reach the goals you set. I have a specialty providing support to families that are going through a separation or divorce. I provide co-parent counseling, reunification counseling, parent coordination, and family mediation to support families as they navigate through life changes. I provide counseling to clients in education, healthcare, emergency response, & military personnel as they navigate to balance their personal and professional lives.
My specialties include working with clients that are managing chronic medical conditions: Infertility, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Cancer, Pediatric Cancer, Lyme Disease, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Pain, Lupus, Migraines, and Rheumatoid Arthritis. My approach draws upon Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Family Systems Therapy, and Solution-Focused Therapy as an integrative counselor.
Kathleen is a Florida Supreme Court Certified Family Mediator, Qualified and Court Appointed Parenting Coordinator, and a Collaborative Divorce Professional.
My practice focuses on alternative dispute resolution, conflict resolution, and collaborative practice to help support children and families during periods of transition. My goal is to help families decrease conflict in their relationships to protect their children’s emotional health and well-being. The ultimate goal is to help families so their children begin to feel reduced stress and anxiety. We encourage you to let your children be kids. As parents, the best gift divorced parents can give their children is to show them that they can communicate in a conflict-free way.
As a professional, my focus has been working with families that are in high conflict co-parenting relationships. It is imperative to the emotional health of the children that their parents hear their feelings and voices. It is also important for the children to be allowed to love both parents freely without pressure from the other parent.
“Co-Parenting is not a competition. It’s a collaboration of two homes working together with the best interest of the child at heart. Work for your kids, not against them.” – Dr. Anne Brown
Before opening my practice in Florida in 2018, I previously owned a behavioral health counseling practice in Pennsylvania, which was established in 2001. I worked with local courts to assist families that were struggling to co-parent together. I have been focusing my training and experience on supporting families as they agree to work together to make decisions that are in the best interest of their children. My role is to help children and families navigate through the process of separation and divorce.
If parental divorce becomes high conflict, it becomes extremely detrimental to the children if they are placed in the middle of parental conflict. I encourage parents to prioritize the needs of the children as they make all choices and decisions for their families. During the divorce process, negative emotions may surface between parents. It may be essential for each parent to seek their own emotional support to manage their feelings in a healthy way.
“The sign of great parenting is not the child’s behavior. The sign of truly great parenting is the parent’s behavior.” – Andy Smithson
Please contact our office at 386-449-8600, or you can complete the Appointment Request Form online or email our office if you have any questions at Info@OceanVistaCounsel.com.
Please visit my consulting website www.kcoughlinlcsw.com where you can learn more about Co-parent Counseling, Reunification Counseling, Family Mediation, Collaborative Divorce Practice, Critical Incident Stress Debriefings, and Immigration Psychosocial Reports.