KD HOLMES, MS, LPC, EMDR CERTIFIED

KD Holmes, LPC, MS, LPC, EMDR Certified

7 min read

What is it Like to Work With KD?

I am told by my clients I am gentle, approachable, easy to talk to, and silly. However, working in a room with just one other person can make it challenging to objectively assess who I am as a therapist. We are trained to be warm and nurturing,...

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KD' s father holding a massive Louisiana crab

5 min read

A Lesson on Water Moccasins

The sorrow over my father's death lingers, an ache swirling in my heart, triggered by reminders. Today is one of those days, the anniversary of his...

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Suicide and Depression | KD Holmes, LPC | KDH Counseling

5 min read

Understanding Tragedy: Why Did My Grandfather Choose to End His Life?

One of my most cherished memories of my grandfather, Pappa Joe, is the time we all gathered and had a blast breakdancing. Of course my grandmother...

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Overachieving cycle | goal-anxiety-compulsive behaviors-to relief- repeat

5 min read

What is so Wrong with Being an Overachiever?

One of the fundamental pillars of my therapeutic approach focuses on adults who find themselves entangled in the intricate web of anxiety and...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Trauma Informed Therapy

2 min read

How to Overcome Trauma: Strategies for Healing

The effects of trauma can have a long-lasting impact on a person's mental health, disrupting their daily functioning and relationships. The true...

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KDH Counseling | Anxiety | Adventure

6 min read

Adventures in Anxiety Treatment

Have you ever had a dream that seemed so out of reach, so impossible to achieve? And the shame of not being able to achieve it became unbearable so ...

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KDH Counseling | Chronic Illness | Therapy

4 min read

It's No Use Going Back to Yesterday I Was a Different Person Then

Many seek therapy because they are blocked in some way. Some blocks are like the road has ended at a steep cliff with no bridge to cross over to the...

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KDH Counseling | Overachiever | Therapy

3 min read

Balance=Thriving

As I personally loathe fad trends in eating and exercise, I immediately felt annoyed when my physician suggested a book by Mark Sisson's Primal...

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Neurodiversity and Neurodivergent Strenghts

4 min read

Is My Neurodivergence a Gift or a Curse?

There are so many new terms that float around social media. My favorite one right now is Neurodiversity. This term has provided self compassion and...

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KDH Counseling and OCD and ERP

3 min read

The Power of ERP: Overcoming OCD through Exposure Response Prevention

Many of my clients often inquire about the meaning of ERP. Exposure and Response Prevention may sound formal and technical, but in simple terms, it...

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KD Holmes, MS, LPC | New Year's Resolution 2023

3 min read

How to Choose the "Right" New Years Resolution?

What if for your New Year's resolution you did not choose something that was perfectionistic, self-hating, idealistic, and counter to how you live...

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KDH Counseling Holiday Stress

2 min read

Mental Health and the Holidays

So in addition to holiday stress, some of us can add in our internal struggles that don’t stop simply because it’s the holidays. It can feel bleak...

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KD Holmes, MS, LPC

3 min read

What is it like to be You?

As I am trying to unpack a person's struggle I often think...What is it like to be you? What is it like to have your upbringing, to have your brain,...

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KD Holmes, MS, LPC | Anxiety | Overachieving | OCD

4 min read

What do I Struggle With?

Sometimes in my office people are curious about me. Some ask what do I struggle with? There is an assumption that therapists do not struggle because...

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KD Holmes, MS, LPC on Intrusive thoughts and ERP

2 min read

What is Intrusive Thinking?

Have you ever had a thought that just keeps popping up in your head? These kinds of thoughts can be images, phrases, even feelings that intrude upon...

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KD Holmes, MS, LPC and OCD and ERP

4 min read

The Skinny on Treating OCD

I began working with individuals who have OCD about 10 to 12 years ago. I was taught about OCD in my graduate program, but did not have an accurate...

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KD Holmes, LPC | sleep and mental health

8 min read

How is Your Sleep?

During my first session with a client (also known as “the intake session”) I always ask no matter what the mental health issue—

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OCD Cycle Image- Obsessions-Anxiety-Compulsions-Relief-Repeat

3 min read

Are You Lost in Your Obsessive Brain?

Many of the individuals I work with (myself included) are plagued by an obsessive brain. Obsessive brains are repetitive and stuck, living in a...

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KD Holmes, LPC

8 min read

Lean into It!

It’s been a long time since I had an adventure. I have been consumed by my day-to-day responsibilities of my relationship, work, family. I try to fit...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Social Anxiety

3 min read

Did you know...I have Social Anxiety!

Many of my clients would never guess that I have social anxiety. If you watch my videos, it would seem highly unlikely that I become overwhelmed when...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Somantics

6 min read

Can the Body Treat the Mind?

Conventionally, most people understand the concept of how our bodies operate. The brain, as the central processor, conjures up the command for an...

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Teen Mental Health at KDH Counseling Lafayette, La

3 min read

Is it Teen Angst or a Mental Health Issue?

This is a question parents often ask when they call to set up an appointment for their teen. Teenagers are often emotional, "difficult" to be around,...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Overachieving Anxiety Help

4 min read

How Did I Change My Own Overachieving Anxiety?

I wish I could say that my inner wisdom led me to recognize the need to cease my overachieving tendencies and that I promptly did so. My...

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Overachieving Therapy

2 min read

How Can I Stop "OVER" Achieving?

Well this is one complicated question, but I will attempt to sum it up as best as I can. Overachieving is made up of habits, personality traits,...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Overachieving

5 min read

My Story Through OverAchieving

Overachieving is comprised of emotional urges, habits, and so much lost time. I was constantly consumed by the urge to achieve, while outwardly it...

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KD Holmes, LPC on Overachieving

2 min read

Why Would I Want to Change My Overachieving?

This specific type of anxiety and depression is difficult to change because most individuals don't want to change something that brings them...

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KDH Counseling for tweens, teens, and adults for perfectionism and overachieving

3 min read

Can Success Impact Anxiety and Depression ?

I see so many clients who have no idea that overachieving is a part of their mental health problem. They come to me with so many achievements, yet...

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Zombie Apocalypse Holiday

2 min read

Holiday Stress + Zombie Apocalypse = Stress Overload

Stress is common during the holidays, but imagine the holidays with a Zombie Apocalypse, we would all be affected by such an extreme crisis. Now the...

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Holiday's Stress

3 min read

Laughing and Crying Through the Holidays (These Days it's Both)

In my office and in my personal life, I am reminded of how difficult holidays are for most humans, without the 2020 extras. Thrown into the mix now...

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KD Holmes, LPC on DBT

3 min read

Can We Change?

Gratitude is an oldy-but-goody thought practice that can change your mental focus from the glass is half-empty to half-full. It's an example of one...

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Image of KD when she was a child looking exuberant

3 min read

Why Am I so Nervous?

I have been called "nervous" since I was a child. I would venture to say that large doses of caffeine and chocolate probably did not help my...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Crisis Help

2 min read

Hurricane Laura- Crisis Number 5024 of 2020

As the Hurricanes creeps closer, I allow myself to accept the facts that it will (according to the facts of the forecast),affect us. With so much...

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KDH Counseling | DBT Skills

3 min read

What Does it Mean to Move Through?

Moving through is composed of acceptance, mindfulness, and accessing your wise mind. Acceptance is accepting the facts both external and internal. By...

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Noticing Victories

1 min read

Can Noticing My Victories Impact How I Feel?

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KD Holmes, LPC and Gratitude

2 min read

How do I Grow Gratitude?

Can a daily practice of gratitude grow "good" feelings in ourselves and in others? Gratitude is an old practice that nurtures and deepens...

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KDH Counseling | Depression

2 min read

How Do I Grow Good Feelings?

During quarantine I started to feel bogged down with the monotony of this situation.Wake up... eat… work… exercise…house project 2,534… lol… take...

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Meditation at KD Holmes, LPC and Associates

2 min read

Easy Meditation?

Many people envision meditation as 30 minutes of quiet inner reflection. They think that it is a practice only for those disciplined folks who like...

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Inner Wisdom Practice

3 min read

How Can I Make the Most of this Time?

This quarantine has presented me with more time than I normally have. And of course I want to make the best of it. Instead of obsessively watching...

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KDH Counseling and COVID 19 and Trauma

1 min read

Is COVID-19 A Traumatic Event?

The COVID-19 world crisis can be traumatic, especially since it has impacted the entire globe. The terror, powerlessness, and shock can leave us with...

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Moving Through Mental Health

2 min read

Moving Through Crisis

"How can I help?" I am not a doctor and I cannot assist medically with COVID-19 but I do work with individuals’ reactions to crises every day. That,...

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KD Holmes, LPC Crisis Counseling

2 min read

How Does Therapy Address Crisis: COVID-19

So much of my practice centers around anxiety, trauma, phobias, panic disorder, obsessions, compulsions, and unhealthy coping patterns related to...

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3 min read

How Often Should I Attend Therapy?

It appears that most people think that they can come to therapy whenever they want and return when they feel like it. As if therapy is an as-needed...

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Learning to Love Roller Coasters | KD Holmes LPC

2 min read

Learning to Love Roller Coasters

Recently I relearned about inhibitory learning. I love knowledge that challenges me to look at things in an alternative way. It is probably due to my...

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Grief and The loss of a Parent

4 min read

.....And Just Like That, He Was Gone

Shock It's hard to imagine that a man that looked like this, could die. I don’t think anything can prepare you for the death of a parent. Whether...

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Overachiever Balance

2 min read

Beyond overachieving! Wait Is there any other way?

1. Looking at the Consequences of Living this Way Most individuals do not even think it is a problem to be an overachiever. They attribute their...

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Being Human

2 min read

Being Human

Being Human = Life + Acceptance + Meaning I continue to struggle with actually reading a book and so recently I got into the audiobook scene. I...

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KD Holmes, LPC and Trauma

1 min read

What is Trauma Brain?

Many people have what I call Trauma Brain and have no idea that it is the cause of their current symptoms.

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Therapy | Counseling Results

3 min read

What does “Therapy/Counseling” Really do?

1. What are reasonable therapeutic expectations? Most clients have no idea how long it will take to change reactions to symptoms or habits that are...

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puzzle-1-1

4 min read

The Enigma of Mental Health?

Diagnosis vs Symptoms People come to therapy for various reasons. The symptoms of individuals I see are self-reported or observable and consist of ...

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2 paths-2-1

2 min read

What is the Secret to Choosing a Therapist?

Not one size fits all Generally speaking, individuals who have been in therapy before “know” what they are looking for in a therapist, more so than a...

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KD Holmes, LPC and depression treatment

1 min read

How Do I Climb Out of My Depressive Hole?

Treatment for Depression I know that it sounds so formal … TREATMENT… but depression is indeed a medical condition. We misquote the term at times...

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Anxiety Treatment | Lafayette, La | KDH Counseling

1 min read

Conversations with An Anxious Mind

Working Through Anxiety Anxiety can be so debilitating that it interferes with daily tasks, moods, presence with loved ones, and ultimately, quality...

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Anxiety at KDH Counseling Lafayette, La

2 min read

A Magnifying Catastrophizing  Snow Balling Mind

Do I have an anxious Mind? Anyone who has a mind, that works like the above title, knows exactly what I am talking about.

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KDH Counseling and depression help for adults and teens

2 min read

The Neverending Blahs

Major Depressive Disorder is one of the major reasons people come to therapy. It is safe to say that we have all had a depressive period at some poin...

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