Kayti Protos MSW, DSW, LCSW

Kayti Protos, LCSW, Clinical Coordinator at BUCKS ESC, is a licensed clinical social worker in the State of Pennsylvania. Kayti earned her Masters in Social Work from Tennessee State University through the Middle Tennessee Collaborative Masters in Social Work Program. She holds a B.A. in Women’s & Gender Studies and Communication Studies from Vanderbilt University. Kayti is part of Newtown Therapy & Wellness Center as well as Bucks Eating Support Collaborative. She is also Clinical Coordinator at Bucks LGBTQ Center.

Kayti’s style as a therapist features an empowerment, strengths-based approach complimented by experience in motivational interviewing, systems theory, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), experiential modalities, meditation, and cognitive-behavioral therapy. She believes in fostering mutually-empowering relationships with clients that assist in supporting them through their personal journeys and encouraging them to access their inner strength and capacity for change. Kayti strives to offer unconditional positive regard and compassion to her clients. In the words of Dr. Gabor Maté, “Only when compassion is present will people allow themselves to see the truth.”

Kayti has experience working in various levels of treatment through her positions as counselor at Steps to Recovery in Levittown, PA, a partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient program for clients with addiction and co-occurring eating disorder, trauma and other mental health issues. She assisted them in obtaining certification on the Health Equality Index through the Human Rights Campaign and is a member of the Voices of Equality committee, representing marginalized voices and increasing access to care for LGBTQI clients.

Additionally, she has served as the clinical coordinator and counselor of the Young Men’s Program at Cumberland Heights, a residential addictions treatment center in Nashville, TN; program coordinator for Project Safe at Vanderbilt University – providing crisis intervention and support services for individuals impacted by power-based personal violence; and graduate intern at an extended care program for women with addiction, eating disorder and trauma through the Integrative Life Center in Nashville, TN.