About Me

 

Kelly Gendreau, LMFT

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, LMFT#129357 in the state of California, and a Registered Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Telehealth Provider in the state of Florida. I graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with my M.S. in Psychology, emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy, in 2017.

I began working at a children's outpatient clinic, assisting at-risk children and their families. In early 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, I started working at two veterinary hospitals for a few months. I worked at a hybrid 24-hour emergency hospital as a receptionist and then a general practice hospital as a surgery prep assistant.

The meaning behind my employment in the veterinary field was two-fold. One, to follow my other passion, my love for animals and the humans who care for them, and two, to get hands-on experience in the veterinary field (especially during a world-wide pandemic) to gain better insight for the profession and to further build empathy for those in the field; enabling me to assist them on a different level today as a pet loss/grief and compassion fatigue specialist.

Being an animal lover all of my life and having started my own 501(c)3 non-profit animal rescue organization in 2007, I have strong insight into the loss and grief of pets, as well as the impacts compassion fatigue can have on individuals. Taking my education and experience as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and combining it with my many years of pet ownership/parenting, animal caregiving, and rescue volunteering, I am excited to have this opportunity to work with others who may have traveled a similar path and/or have experienced similar situations.

Throughout my lifetime, I have been a pet parent to cats, dogs, horses, pigs, rodents, reptiles, birds, and wildlife (rehabilitation). I am a current pet parent to cats, horses, pigs, two lizards, and a dog.

 Trainings & Certifications:

  • Pet Loss Grief Counseling Trained Professional

  • Certified Advanced Grief Counseling Specialist (CAGCS)

  • Certified Compassion Fatigue Professional (CCFP)

  • Advanced Trained Grief Recovery Specialist, through The Grief Recovery Institute

  • Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) trained

Professional Memberships:

  • California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)