Clear Path Counseling and Wellness

It’s almost impossible to describe how literally life-changing/lifesaving it has been to work with Clear Path, but I’m gonna try.

I must, therefore, use a lot of words. Please stay with me if you are in need. You can find healing.

If you need a TLDR, here’s what I have: I know that a critical element in finding the right therapist is ensuring you both connect in ways that matter. Working with a therapist involves an element of person-to-person connection not unlike any other relationship. Based upon my experience, you will be hard pressed to find another place that offers such compassion, wisdom, and insight.

Getting into more detail, **please note that some trigger words are coming up**. But if you’re triggered, I promise that Clear Path is the safest of spaces (***from me personally: if you feel that you’re at the end of your rope and need immediate help, please call or text *988*; 911 is also okay if you just need to get to the nearest ER. I have been there, and I understand!).

Even if there’s a wait list when you reach out to Clear Path, Kristen (the clinic director) knows basically everyone in the area, and she will recommend another provider if they can’t take you in right away. Please trust me: any such recommendations will be based upon what you truly need.

But please read further…

I’ve been a client of Kristen Radtke’s since late 2017. That was when I first moved to the Madison area; my history at that point was that I had lived with depression and anxiety basically my whole life–undiagnosed until when I turned 30something in 2010-2011 (long story).

I had married and gotten divorced from an emotionally abusive person, etc., and–wouldn’t you know it–the local, important software company here in the Madison area that inexplicably hired me at age 36 treated me in a similar manner. I was fully suicidal by early 2018.

Kristen saved my life.

I’ve continued to work with her since then, and that work has been integral to my becoming a fully realized, healthy person, free of the effects of past abuses and misdirections.

So much to say. I’m still on the path of becoming a fully realized, healthy person. But isn’t that maybe the point of living? It’s a lifelong pursuit.

Every time I think that maybe I don’t need Kristen’s services anymore, there’s something new she helps me navigate. Healing upon healing upon healing. Miracles, as it were. And if you happen to end up leaning into a Zen/Buddhist perspective of all the stuff, of course Kristen knows all of that (not to mention her deep knowledge of Internal Family Systems [IFS], Hinduism, Jainism, Daoism, Christianity, etc, etc…). Kristen is one of the wisest people I’ve ever met.

As for the clinic in general, I’ve had the privilege of working with/attending workshops with several clinical interns, and those experiences have been life-changing as well. Kristen seems to have the ability to bring in interns, other therapists, etc., who are just as skilled and empathetic/understanding/wise as she; based on my work with Kristen, I would wholeheartedly trust anyone at Clear Path.

As I’m about to post this “review”, I’m sincerely hoping that anyone who might read it will reach out to the resources here if you need help. We all need help. Clear Path might be the place where you can get it.

With sincere love,
-Erik

Finding a gifted therapist, especially one like Taylor that is so wise, empathetic, and widely experienced and researched in grief and all that it brings, is truly an amazing gem to find! She has a beautiful approach and understanding of many different modalities for guiding through life’s challenges; one of the many being Ancestral Healing, showing her willingness to explore healing from a holistic and decolonized perspective, which is a very unique and valuable offering in the Madison area…I highly recommend Taylor as a guide and therapist!!

Kristen is skillful at honoring all the parts I bring to individual or group sessions. As a fellow mental health provider, I also value and trust the expertise that Kristen and her staff provide when we engage in collaborative care of our shared clients. Kristen works diligently to grow and maintain her own capacity to hold the complexity, intensity, and vulnerability her clients bring to sessions. Her enthusiasm and commitment to living a full and meaningful life invigorates. I feel known and understood by my therapist and in being known deeply, come to a better understanding of myself.