About Kristi
Dr. Kristi Hottenstein is a licensed professional counselor with two decades of experience. She practices in Michigan and brings a practical, down-to-earth approach to therapy.
She helps people who are struggling with stress, anxiety, depression, ADHD, relationship issues, and life transitions. She trained through graduate programs and holds a doctorate in higher education administration as well as a master’s in counseling. Kristi has worked in counseling and coaching roles since 2009 and runs her own practice.
Background and approach
Her background includes leadership in the state counseling community, where she has taken on advisory responsibilities. Her style is collaborative and straightforward. Sessions focus on building self-awareness and naming small, doable steps people can try between meetings.
She draws on several approaches to give each person tools that fit their life and goals. In sessions she listens for what matters most to the client and matches techniques to their needs. That can mean working on thinking patterns, learning new coping skills, or clarifying values and next steps.
The aim is to make change feel manageable rather than overwhelming. Kristi also integrates coaching for practical decisions like college selection and career planning when relevant. She focuses on real-world outcomes such as better communication, improved sleep, reduced anxiety, and clearer goals.
Most work is one-on-one and tailored to each person’s situation.
Therapeutic approaches adaptable to online care
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) helps people notice their thoughts and choose actions that match their values. It is useful for anxiety, stress, and coping with life changes by focusing on meaningful goals rather than trying to eliminate uncomfortable feelings. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thinking patterns and behaviors and teaches practical skills to change them. It is commonly used for anxiety, depression, sleep problems, and many daily challenges. Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes the client’s own experience and builds a supportive relationship so people can find answers that fit their lives.Choosing the right approach is part of the work. The therapist will talk with each person about goals and preferences, and together they will try methods that fit. That collaborative process means strategies can be adjusted over time based on what helps most.
Online sessions can be scheduled as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging. Video is helpful for deeper conversations and practicing communication skills. Phone sessions work well when bandwidth is limited or a shorter check-in is needed. Live chat and text messaging are useful for brief coaching, between-session support, or when writing feels easier than speaking. These options make it simpler to fit therapy into a busy life.
Questions people ask
What concerns does she address?
What is her therapy style like?
How long has she worked in counseling?
What credentials and location are listed?
Which languages are supported?
What session formats are available?
How are fees and payments handled?
How do I begin working with her?
What this therapist works with
Most often
- Stress, Anxiety
- Relationship issues
- Family conflicts
Also listed
- Abandonment
- Addictions
- ADHD
- Adoption and foster care
- Aging and geriatric issues
- Anger management
- Antisocial personality
- Attachment issues
- Avoidant personality
- Bipolar disorder
- Blended family issues
- Body image
- Cancer
- Career difficulties
- Caregiver issues and stress
- Chronic pain, illness, and disability
- Co-morbidity
- Coaching
- Codependency
- Commitment issues
- Communication problems
- Compassion fatigue
- Control issues
- Coping with life changes
- Coping with natural or human-caused disaster
- Dependent personality
- Depression
- Dissociation
- Divorce and separation
- Drug and alcohol addiction
- Eating and food-related issues
- Eating disorders
- Emptiness
- Family of origin issues
- Family problems
- Fatherhood issues
- Fertility issues
- First responder issues
- Forgiveness
- Grief
- Guilt and shame
- Hoarding
- Hospice and end-of-life counseling
- Immigration issues
- Impulsivity
- Infidelity
- Intimacy-related issues
- Isolation / loneliness
- Jealousy
- LGBT
- Life purpose
- Midlife crisis
- Money and financial issues
- Narcissism
- Obsessions, compulsions, and OCD
- Panic disorder and panic attacks
- Parenting issues
- Phobias
- Post-traumatic stress
- Postpartum depression
- Pregnancy and childbirth
- Prejudice and discrimination
- Process addiction (porn, exercise, gambling)
- Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
- Self esteem
- Self-harm
- Self-love
- Sexual assault and abuse
- Sleeping disorders
- Social anxiety and phobia
- Trauma and abuse
- Veteran and Armed Forces Issues
- Women's issues
- Workplace issues
- Young adult issues
Therapeutic approaches
- Experience
- 20 years
- Licensed
- Michigan, Texas, Arizona, California, New Jersey, Virginia
- Languages
- English
We will earn a commission if you sign up through our link, at no cost to you.