Kristi Michelle Young, LMFT

I am a cis-gender, pansexual woman whose interest in the study of sexuality and gender began in the mid-1990’s. As an undergraduate in the Psychology Department at Indiana University, Bloomington, I began my first of two research associate positions at the Kinsey Institute exploring sexual orientation, gender, and sexuality, and I studied the psychology of sexuality throughout my undergraduate career. While earning an M.S. in Marriage and Family Therapy at New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, I continued my research of sexuality and gender throughout the program and ending with a completed thesis entitled, “The Utility of the Survey on Traits Desired in a Partner with a Homosexual Sample.” NMSU is also where I found my passion for therapy, particularly with the LGBTQ+ community. From 2011 to 2020, I held a position as the Mental Health Provider at a local HIV clinic, where I worked with a diverse group of clients and wrote my first letter of recommendation for gender-affirming HRT services in 2012. From 2020 through 2021, I worked as a contracted, telehealth Mental Health Provider and provided LGBTQ+ and Gender-Affirming behavioral health care and letter writing services with an organization out of Indiana. I recently started my own telehealth business – Breaking Barriers Counseling, LLC – specializing LGBTQ+ care, working with transgender populations, as well as providing gender-affirming assessments/letters with no gatekeeping. I am an independently licensed LMFT in IN, IL, and KY.