ABOUT DR. KIA WATKINS

Dr. Kia A. Watkins is a clinical psychologist at New Insights Behavioral Health Services who works with adults navigating complex and developmental trauma, persistent depression, anxiety, identity development, interpersonal challenges, and major life transitions. She also supports individuals exploring concerns related to culture, spirituality, meaning, and belonging. Dr. Watkins earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Wright State University and her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Adler University. Her experience spans private practice, community mental health, residential treatment, college counseling, and hospital settings.

Dr. Watkins’ approach integrates existential, psychodynamic, Adlerian, and Gestalt perspectives and is informed by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and somatic approaches. She works collaboratively with clients to deepen awareness, explore longstanding relational and emotional patterns, and engage more fully with their lived experience. Consistent with a Gestalt framework, she supports clients in contacting their present-moment feelings, including how past experiences are actively felt and expressed in the here and now.

She understands therapy as an experiential and relational process that invites curiosity, emotional presence, and honest self-exploration. Alongside offering a compassionate and nonjudgmental space, she gently challenges clients to stay with difficult experiences, expand their awareness, and experiment with new ways of being. Her work emphasizes personal agency while honoring the broader cultural, relational, and systemic contexts that shape each individual. Dr. Watkins integrates a multicultural and socially conscious perspective, fostering a therapeutic relationship grounded in authenticity and mutual respect.

Outside of her clinical work, she enjoys spending time with family, reading, writing poetry, composing music, and following football and basketball.