Meet your licensed therapist
Hi! I'm Kristen Antonio, LMHC
I'm a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (#11000) in Needham, Massachusetts, and the founder of
Well Rooted Counseling & Consulting, LLC.
My work integrates somatic awareness, parts-work (Internal Family Systems), and depth-oriented exploration to help thoughtful, sensitive women untangle long-standing emotional patterns and reconnect with a steadier sense of Self.
When the nervous system begins to settle, it becomes possible to move through life with greater clarity, compassionate boundaries, and self-trust.
Many of the people who come to my practice are not lacking in insight. In fact, they are often highly self-aware (sometimes fueling those frustrating anxious thought spirals 🙃).
What my clients are often longing for is a different internal experience — one where their nervous system can settle, their inner critic softens, and they feel more grounded in themselves.
My practice is intentionally small, so you receive the nuanced, emotionally attuned support you deserve.
Learn more about my qualifications and background here.
Kind Words
Therapy Client
Parent Coaching
Therapy Client
Kristen has taught me how to trust my gut, even when my Inner Critic is screaming at me to quit. Learning parts-work has helped me calm that loud voice in my head that would keep me stuck or minimize my needs at the expense of my mental health.
Reiki Client
Parent Coaching
Therapy Client
After a traumatic birth experience, Kristen was able to help guide me into a safe place so I could feel my body and womb again. She is so gentle and brilliant in translating how energy stuck in the body and what to do to release it.
Parent Coaching
Parent Coaching
Parent Coaching
Our daughter was going through some really scary stuff. We didn't know what was happening or how to help her. Kristen was such a valuable resource and source of calm for our family as we figured out how to support our kid.
Therapy Client
Parent Coaching
Parent Coaching
I honestly didn't know therapy could feel as good as it does! I look forward to our sessions and always learn something new about myself, my brain, and how to support my body.
A little bit more about me...
My path to becoming a holistic therapist began with my own healing journey. After experiencing my own mental health challenges and trauma recovery, therapy became a turning point that transformed my relationship to my body, my brain, and authentic self-expression.
I earned a dual master’s degree from Lesley University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Adjustment Counseling. I was a school social worker for 10 years, supporting children, teens, and families navigating anxiety, trauma, neurodivergence, and complex emotional needs using evidence-based practice like CBT and DBT.
Today, I work with driven, thoughtful people who are ready to release the shame, fear, and coping strategies that make daily life feel exhausting.
We work at the intersection of the psyche (mind), soma (body), and Self to promote lasting nervous system regulation and mental wellbeing.
Outside of my work, I consider myself a life-long learner, and spiritual seeker. I enjoy painting, cooking, gardening, & dancing with my kids in the kitchen. Travel, cultural exploration, and creative endeavors inspire and sustain me.
It is a sincere honor to hold space for this work. When we invest in our own healing, the ripple effects extend far beyond ourselves.
About My Practice
Treatment Orientation
I draw from evidence-based models like, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Compassionate Inquiry, and Trauma-Informed Somatic Therapy.
My work is collaborative, with a strong emphasis on building a trusting therapeutic relationship and the safe space we co-create.
I believe you are the authority in the room. You know yourself better than anyone else, and I honor the wisdom of your body. If something feels uncomfortable, we name it, we slow down, and we move at the speed of you body's safety.
Practice Details
Well Rooted Counseling offers both virtual and in-person sessions in Needham, Massachusetts.
For clients who benefit from movement, Kristen also offers walking sessions, as well as working with the subtle body through Reiki for subconscious energy healing sessions.
Her office home-based, which creates a sense of cozy human connection, rather than clinical sterility. Therapy becomes a soft place to land, reground your body, and process to shift old patterns.
My Personal Beliefs
I actively work towards resisting pathologizing symptoms that come from patriarchal colonialism. I utilize a social justice lens to help clients unlearn internalized oppression that may contribute to self-doubt, anxiety, body dysmorphia, and dis-ease. I acknowledge that indigenous ways of healing have always existed, long before Western therapy, and I support clients in connecting to ancestral modalities of healing, if that feels right for them. Learn More Here.