Psychologist Seeking SSW/STH Dual Degree Grad to Join Psychotherapy Group Practice

Kristina Harter, a clinical psychologist who has been in private practice for over a decade in Wenham and in Cambridge, is looking for dual-degree clinicians to join her at 1A Wellness, a psychotherapy group practice that offers spiritually integrative therapy alongside traditional approaches. 

Kristina Harter’s social science training began at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) with an emphasis on empirically validated treatments. She arrived in Boston for a post doctoral fellowship through the Cambridge Health Alliance/Harvard Medical School where she learned forms of therapy that addressed the emotional depths and developmental origins of psychological suffering. 

Raised by her father, a neuro-psychology professor and religious sceptic, Harter was never exposed to spiritual practice or religious traditions as a child yet she recalls experiencing ‘God’ as a close friend nonetheless.  Eventually, intellectual curiosity and a desire to help others made the social sciences a natural choice, but for much of her career she held the belief that academically-informed therapies require spirituality to remain at the door, outside the room. It was her time with clients inside the room, however, that slowly brought about a shift toward leaving more space for clients’ spirituality in sessions.

“It wasn’t uncommon for clients to withhold their most deeply-held beliefs for fear that they would be misinterpreted, dismissed, or worse still, ‘analyzed’,” Harter says. “It bothered me because I saw firsthand how omitting the spiritual lens from therapy can hinder treatment for people whose spiritual worldview is paramount.”

Fortunately, the research supported her observations, and she began actively seeking ways to “leave the door open” during session. However, it wasn’t until the discovery of Internal Family Systems (IFS), a non-pathological modality developed by Richard Schwartz, PhD., a former addiction counselor, that Harter began to fully embrace spiritual integration within her practice. 

“IFS allows clients to more easily bring faith into the room and make use of spiritual resources in session,” she says. “The framework can precipitate massive growth. And it can happen quickly, moving people to places where it might take other forms of therapy months or even years to arrive.”

In 2019, she founded 1A Wellness to accommodate a population of clients looking for therapy that allows for this integration without sacrificing quality of treatment and respect for difference. The mission is to provide exceptional therapy so that clients can transform their lives, and to offer a sustaining work environment for clinicians where they can be empowered in their work as healers and thrive.

Because of the exceptional training of alumni from BU’s dual degree program, she is seeking to build her practice with graduates who share a belief in the potency of spirituality as an aid for healing and discovery, a passion for both the art and science of therapy, and a commitment to the sanctity of the relationship in the room.

If you are interested in learning more about the positions available at 1A Wellness (1awellness.com), please email Harter at  k.harter@1awellness.com or call 978-307-2010.