Making a Personal Connection
For Change

Kelly Hughes, LSCSW

Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker, specialized in eating disorders

Kelly Hughes, LSCSW graduated with her Masters in Social Work from the University of Kansas in 2011. Kelly has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and young adults through individual, family, and group

psychotherapy in schools, partial hospitalization treatment settings, and residential treatment programs.  Kelly seeks to work with other providers across disciplines to provide the most effective and consistent care possible for individuals and their families. As a clinician, Kelly is experienced in helping individuals learning to cope with everyday stressors, adoption, divorce, loss, trauma, and mood disorders including anxiety and depression. In addition, Kelly has been trained to work with individuals struggling with body image issues and disordered eating behaviors, helping them to interrupt behaviors while also addressing the underlying causes and building insight around reasons for using the behaviors. Kelly believes that it is important to build a strong relationship between individuals and treatment providers based on trust, vulnerability, and acceptance. 

Kelly works from a strength’s based perspective to help clients increase self -acceptance while supporting them as they face challenges in their lives, develop positive coping skills, and achieve their personal goals.  While grounded in a strength’s-based perspective, Kelly incorporates dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and mindfulness and acceptance-based approaches in order to meet her clients’ specific needs.

Kelly accepts Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Aetna, United, Ambetter, and Cigna. She does not accept KanCare (Medicaid). She appears on the KanCare United and Aetna panels in order to provide supervision to junior staff. She does not accept any form of Medicare.

From Dr. Wes: I've long wanted to offer specialized services for teens and adults who experience problematic eating. With the addition of Kelly Hughes, we can. Nowhere is the collaboration of a broad array of professionals more important than when eating disorders come into play. For example, a referral to a nutritionist is not enough without psychotherapeutic intervention. Anorexia and bulimia do not usually stem from a lack of education, nor from media pressure to be thin.

These are complex, multidimensional problems, which causes that go deeper than a misguided body image, all the way to who and how young people imagine themselves to be. They typical involve family and social dynamics—most often an incongruity between what one believes others expect and what one feels he or she can deliver. Kids and adults with problem eating must deal with these core psychological issues before they can consume all that good nutritional information we want to give them.

Kelly understands this dynamic well and knows how to intervene. And when outpatient treatment isn't enough, she has extensive contacts with resources in the Kansas City Metro which she can coordinate through our office. Kelly is also a great therapist for teens and young adults on a wide array of issues including trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, and depression. Every person we hire at Family Psychological Services performs a work sample, and Kelly's scores were among the best we've seen. We think you'll score her highly too, for yourself or your family.

Kelly Hughes Scheduling

PLEASE READ BEFORE EXAMINING THE CALENDAR BELOW: Kelly's availability for appointments is listed below. You CANNOT schedule here, only see availabilities. Kelly's evening and after school schedule is typically filled with existing clients. Regardless of availability, she may not be taking new clients. The appearance of an opening does not guarantee an appointment, it only allows you to see what is available to request. Contact the office at 785-371-1414 to schedule or if you are a new client, fill out the ask about services form. Due to how Google masks event details, the availability is listed as "busy." This means that anything that shows up as "busy" is actually OPEN for an existing client appointment.

 

It starts with building trust...

People come to therapy to make changes, but change can be uncomfortable. In order to practice new ways of thinking and challenge unwanted behaviors, it’s important to build a relationship. Whether working with kids or families, teens or adults, I strive to be honest and open, encouraging feedback so that I can use a communication style that works best for you. I know that for therapy to be effective, we need to work together to reach your goals."

Ask About Services

 

Areas of Practice

1

Eating Disorders
Eating disorders aren't just about food. Kelly works with teens and adults to identify unwanted eating behaviors, examine ongoing or repetitive thoughts about food and body image, and develop new patterns of thought and behavior. By exploring the function of food and body image, clients can refocus on their values and passions instead of feeling compelled to think about food, movement, and/or body image.

2
Trauma

Kelly sees teens and adults who have experienced trauma and who struggle with ongoing anxiety, intrusive thoughts and memories, and emotional regulation. She helps clients understand how their trauma continues to impact them, helps them develop healthy ways to cope with their symptoms, and fosters new patterns of response that reduce symptoms.

3

Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults
For over eight years Kelly has worked with children, teens, and their family units to increase communication and utilize resources to better manage anger, sadness, frustration, and other overwhelming emotions. Kelly seeks to help each client work toward their personal and family goals in a way that suites their personality and learning style.