Ms. Natasha C. Kennedy is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and Licensed Independent Social Worker-Clinical Practice (LISW-CP) with close to twenty years’ experience; she maintains clinical licenses in South Carolina, Connecticut and Georgia. Natasha is originally from Toronto, Ontario, Canada but has had the opportunity to live in numerous other cities and has now chosen Charleston, SC for the next phase of her journey. She is passionate about creating a safe space while working with adolescents, their parents and young adults in their journey of self-growth and exploration. The therapeutic alliance and partnership between psychotherapist and patient is created by honest communication, genuine collaboration, and trust as the patient embarks on their courageous journey to betterment.

 

After finishing her undergraduate work at Georgia State University, she relocated to New York City to attend Columbia University for her Master of Science in Social Work. She was then accepted to Yale University, School of Medicine, Child Study Center for her Fellowship where she worked in the Outpatient Clinic. Natasha became very interested in Anna Freud’s work on defense mechanisms and the need for a strong therapeutic alliance with her clients. She then completed a second-year fellowship at the Childhood Violent Trauma Center where she worked in the Child Development Community Policing Program (CDCP) with the New Haven Police Department accompanying officers as they went out on calls for children and families who had experienced trauma. After completing her fellowship, she stayed on at Yale University as a Clinical Instructor and Consultant for the Childhood Violent Trauma Center. 

 

She obtained her license to practice clinical social work in 2005 and has maintained a private practice ever since. She has worked with children, adolescents, and with adults in numerous levels of care including: Outpatient level, Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP), Partial Hospital Program (PHP), Inpatient Level, Residential Treatment, Mobile Crisis and in the Emergency Department. Natasha served as the Suicide Prevention Coordinator at the CT Department of Veteran’s Affairs where she not only served veterans but also trained the clinical staff on suicide risk assessment and safety planning. Yale New Haven Hospital was ready to launch a new satellite Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Center where Natasha was asked to develop, implement and run the new center. The center used individual, group work and family work using Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) and focused on communication, coping skills and family work in order to help the clients and family’s transition to lower levels of care. At the Lymes’ Youth Service Bureau (Old Lyme, CT) she has provided psychotherapy to the children and adolescents in the town. She is currently working on her RO-DBT Certification. Her niche there has been working with teenagers with adjustment issues, depression, self-harm, substance abuse, anxiety, family difficulties and coaching them through the transition between high school and college. She partnered with community providers, school personnel, pediatric practices and others in order to collaborate on behalf of the child and family so that they can reach their treatment goals with a team behind them. Natasha will continue to consult and provide clinical supervision and to dedicate her time to helping others navigate their path to reach their goals.

 

Early on when Natasha started an equestrian riding school for children, she realized the bond between animals and humans; this led her to want to gain a better understanding of the impact of this bond and how healthy relationships can lead to life success.  Her mission has been helping one to understand the genetic/biology component of mental health, the impact of the environment and stress on our behavior, they are often not mutually exclusive, and how understanding those can give control over one’s life. By exploring how to communicate emotions/feelings, understanding triggers, learning mindfulness and other coping skills with the guidance of a frank yet nurturing psychotherapist who holds one accountable for their success in treatment.  I am here to help identify challenges, goals for treatment and providing the encouraging support and hope needed to attain those life goals. 

 

After being part of the Epic EHR implementation at Yale New Haven Health System, Natasha wanted to shift her focus and work at a system's level. This led her to take a position with the State of Connecticut. Natasha’s last position as Director of Health Information Technology, Office of the Commissioner, at the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS), at the State of Connecticut had over 4,000 employees and served over 100,000 patients each year. Over time her role evolved from driving change within her Department, to driving change for the entire DMHAS system given her operational skill set, skill at re-engineering and streamlining processes, ability to build teams and reputation to lead innovative culture change in order to provide the highest quality of patient care across the continuum. Her role was a senior leader responsible for organizational change and strategic planning and a trusted advisor to the Commissioner’s Executive team. In 2017, Natasha was charged with creating a new 229-bed acute inpatient forensic hospital that was separated out from one of the current 600-plus bed acute inpatient psychiatric hospitals after the Governor issued an Executive Order. Through hands on daily project/operations meetings a plan was created. This led Natasha to want to work to help other organizations transform how they deliver services to patients, and that is how NCK, LLC was formed. 

 

A seasoned Social Work clinician and leader who is recognized for abilities to foster healthcare delivery system transformation that aligns healthcare systems’ vision and mission for current and future operational needs, while staying focused on patient-centered care. In today’s political healthcare environment, her high level of organization, transparent and genuine communication style, tenacity, ability to think outside of the box and ability to drive innovation, in combination with her results driven orientation and strategic vision for growth and planning, make her the ideal consultant/Subject Matter Expert for your system.

 

 

 

Natasha is grateful you are visiting this site and welcomes you to NCK, LLC.