Kelly R Thompson

Biography

Kelly R Thompson, MA, LPC-Associate, is an adjunct professor in Pepperdine University Graduate School of Education and Psychology, where she teaches PSY 606: Interpersonal Skills and Group Therapy. Thompson is a psychodynamic and trauma-informed clinician whose work is grounded in evidence-based practice, integrating DBT, ACT, and family systems approaches to support deep and sustained therapeutic change.

With over 25 years of experience in behavioral health, Thompson’s clinical background spans intake and assessment, pastoral counseling, intensive in-home services, private practice, and virtual intensive outpatient programs specializing in eating disorders and mood and anxiety conditions. Her work is distinguished by an integrative approach that, when appropriate, incorporates faith-informed and expressive-arts modalities to facilitate insight, relational depth, and holistic healing. She is under clinical supervision by Diana Ham, LPC-S, as she completes licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Texas.

Thompson’s 90-minute intersectional narrative was featured at the International Leadership Summit in Dallas, Texas, and her scholarship and oratorical contributions on women’s health have been highlighted by Duke University’s Center for Global Women’s Health Technologies. Her professional work centers on relational healing, community education, and the development of emerging therapists, with a focus on cultivating culturally humble, person-centered clinicians aligned with values of purpose, service, and leadership. 

She is a doctoral student in Counselor Education and Supervision at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on leadership, relational dynamics, and the intergenerational impact of those relationships within communities.

 

Education

• Master of Arts in Counseling, Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, Texas
• Bachelor of Science in Psychology, Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Oklahoma