Kayla Skinner-Roy, MSW
Professional Specialties:
Attachment and relationship concerns
Inter-racial/inter-cultural relationships
C-PTSD & Trauma
Parenting and family
Activism-related stress and/or burnout
Stress management
Women’s issues
Anxiety and neurodiversity
LGBTQIA+ affirming care
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, anticipated April 2025
Professional Interests: Kayla’s professional passions include using expressive therapies to foster connection and empowerment, designing healing-centered, community-focused learning experiences for individuals of all ages and backgrounds, and reimagining systems to be more life-affirming. Her work is informed by Internal Family Systems, Somatic Experiencing, and Compassionate Inquiry, and she believes in the power of art as a tool for activism and advancing liberation for all.
Approach to Therapy: As an anti-oppressive social worker, Kayla believes that each client holds the answers to their own healing within themselves. Her approach is to create a space that is collaborative, non-hierarchical, and attuned to the client's lived experiences, strengths, and knowledge. Through empathetic listening, reflective inquiry, motivational interviewing and mindfulness techniques, and a deep commitment to social justice, Kayla seeks to empower clients to reconnect with their inner wisdom and navigate their own healing journey. Her work focuses on deconstructing societal and personal oppressions that may block this process, and holding space for clients to reclaim their voice, agency, and reconnect to their sacred life force.
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.