Kayla Skinner-Roy, MSW, LLMSW

Populations best served:

  • Adults and adolescents

  • LGBTQIA+ individuals

  • Couples, families, and parents

  • Inter-racial/intercultural couples

  • Folx with C-PTSD or trauma

  • Survivors of gender-based violence

  • Artists and Creatives

  • Neurodiverse individuals

  • Educators, activists & social change agents, and healers

Counseling Specialties:

  • Internal Family Systems

  • Expressive Therapies 

  • Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy 

  • Somatic Experiencing

  • Compassionate Inquiry

  • Motivational Interviewing
    Decolonial therapy

  • New Age Therapy

Therapist

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Language(s): English

Location(s): Ypsilanti & Telehealth

Insurances Accepted: Aetna (Commercial & Medicaid), Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blue Cross Complete, & Washtenaw Health Plan.

Kayla’s clinical work is under the supervision of Yvette Colon, PhD, BCD, LMSW.

Education & Training:

  • MSW, Eastern Michigan University

About me: Hi there! My name is Kayla, and I'm a social worker, artist, and educator who believes deeply in the power of creativity and community to transform lives and legacies. My work weaves together expressive therapies, liberatory education, and healing-centered practices to create spaces where people of all ages and backgrounds can feel seen, connected, and empowered. I draw inspiration from Internal Family Systems, MBCT, Somatic Experiencing, and Compassionate Inquiry, as well as my own lived experience as a first-generation, limited-income, neuroqueer woman navigating systems that weren’t built with me (or so many of us) in mind. Over the years, I’ve supported families facing housing instability, food insecurity, and violence, helped design a scholarship program at the University of Michigan for first-gen students, and facilitated conversations on imposter phenomenon, self-authorship, and antiracism. Most recently, I founded You Are Expansive at Riverside Arts Center, an initiative that brings together expressive arts therapy, community learning, and activism in service of collective liberation. At the heart of all I do is a belief that art is both a healing practice and a force for justice.

What it’s like in a session with me: In our work together, I believe you already hold the answers to your own healing. My role is to create a space that feels collaborative and non-hierarchical— one where your lived experiences, strengths, and wisdom are honored and centered. I see the relationship we build together as the heart of the therapy itself, a container where we can flex, rewire, and rebuild the internal blueprints that shape how you move through the world and hold yourself. I bring empathy, curiosity, and a mix of approaches like reflective inquiry, motivational interviewing, mindfulness, and deep listening, always with a commitment to social justice. Together, we’ll explore the ways that societal and personal oppressions may be shaping your story, while also holding space for you to reclaim your voice, your agency, and your sacred life force. My hope is that you leave our time feeling more connected to yourself and more empowered on your healing journey.

Selected Professional Experience: Kayla Skinner-Roy is an experienced social worker, artist, and educator who recently founded an art-based, community-centered education initiative at Riverside Arts Center that integrates expressive therapies, liberatory education, and the Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy model, called You Are Expansive (YAE). Prior to this, Kayla held positions as a case manager for families experiencing housing instability, sexual violence, food insecurity, and education concerns. Most recently, Kayla helped design an asset-based scholarship program for first-generation, limited-income (FGLI) undergraduate students at the University of Michigan, called the Kessler Scholars Program. As a FGLI, neuroqueer woman, Kayla knows firsthand the unique barriers and deficit narratives historically marginalized students encounter in their pursuit of higher education. While in this position, she facilitated community conversations and panel discussions around imposter phenomenon, self-authorship, proactive self-care, anxiety and ADHD, and other wellness topics.

Andrea GarciaTherapist