Joanna Kelly, LMFT, RPT

Hello! I am the owner of Willow Bay Therapy, LLC, an independent mental health practice with 2 locations in the Twin Cities area: 1 in Plymouth in the Western Suburbs and in South Uptown in Minneapolis. I am deeply committed to excellent client care with culturally-informed competency. I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) with training in Family Systems, Dyadic Debvelopmental Psychotherapy, Accelerated Resolution Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral therapy, Sandtray therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Narrative therapy, Solution-focused therapy and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy. I am also a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) and specialize in childhood issues and child psychotherapy. I am an active member of AAMFT (American Association of Marriage & Family Therapy), MAMFT (Minnesota Association of Marriage & Family Therapy) and APT (Association for Play Therapy) professional organizations. I am currently working on my animal assisted therapy certification.

Additionally, I specialize in providing support for foster care/adoption issues, co-parenting training in divorce situations, “blended family” support and help for families contemplating divorce. Due to my keen clinical interest and experience in the foster care system and with families struggling post-adoption, I completed the Permanency & Adoption Competency Certificate program through the University of Minnesota in June 2018. As an adoptive and biological parent to 5 children, some who were adopted from West Africa at advanced ages, I have both personal and clinical experience with the intense needs and challenges facing adoptees and adoptive families.

I have my Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Anthropology and a minor in Religion, as well as a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family therapy. This training combination enables me to view therapy through a culturally systemic lens and incorporate culturally/spiritually sensitive interventions in treatment. I have many years of both personal and clinical experience in cultural awareness and integration. I have personal experience and connections, as well as a passion for working with children and families from culturally diverse backgrounds and often who struggle with social injustices, their own identities in the US or with their divergent children’s identities. I can help individuals and families navigate the complexities of being “non-traditional.” Rarely is a provider as comfortable with multi-ethnic, multicultural, multi-racial configurations. My clients deserve a provider who can adeptly work within their cultural framework and spiritual beliefs. I also have a passion for working with adoptive parents, especially moms, as they navigate the complexities of adoption and families.

I have 12 years of direct clinical experience from a range of positions and practice environments, all which cumulatively assist my conceptualization of a client’s unique needs. I have worked in an advocacy center promoting social issues as part of therapy, in client homes providing skills and family therapy to families in crisis, in middle and high schools providing therapy and school/family collaboration to tweens and teens and in a busy outpatient clinic providing therapy to a diverse individuals, couples and families to address a range of issues. I have developed a clinical style which promotes collaboration between physicians, schools, case workers, parenting mediators, Guardian ad litems, etc. when appropriate, to promote clinical progress.