Kristen Thomas

Kristen Thomas is the compassionate and dedicated founder of Playful Minds PLLC, a private practice established in 2025 in Holladay, Utah. With over a decade of experience in both mental health and school counseling, Kristen leverages her extensive background and specialized training in play therapy to support clients of all ages—from children and adolescents to adults—through life’s most challenging moments. Kristen’s approach is deeply human-centered: she offers children a safe and nurturing environment for emotional expression, equips adolescents with resilience-building strategies, and supports adults through grief, loss, trauma, and the emotional weight of parenting or disability diagnosis acceptance. As someone who is hard of hearing and uses cochlear implants, Kristen brings both personal insight and professional expertise to guiding clients through diagnosis-related transitions. Her therapeutic toolkit is rich and varied, drawing from solution-focused therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), mindfulness-based approaches, sand tray therapy, and expressive arts. Armed with a master’s degree in Counseling from Duquesne University, Kristen began her career in Wyoming as a mental health clinician and school counselor before relocating to Utah. There, she continued service as a middle school counselor and later obtained her Clinical Mental Health Counselor license, enabling her to practice independently in Utah and via telehealth in Idaho. Playful Minds PLLC Now based in Holladay at the Carriage Hill Office Building, Kristen conducts both in-person and telehealth sessions, centered on empowering individuals and families to heal, grow, and thrive through the power of play.