Kenzie Preza
MFTI
Kenzie Preza is passionate about working with families, couples, and individuals.
She believes strongly that people already have the tools and capabilities they need to work through life’s challenges, and they sometimes just need a little help and guidance along the way.
Kenzie is excited to provide that guidance as she works with clients to manage mental health, better their relationships, and find joy in life again.
She’s waited a long time before starting therapy herself due to the fear of what friends and family may think, because of this, she knows how scary it can be to start therapy for the first time.
Unfortunately therapy still has a very strong stigma surrounding it. On top of that, the unexpected can feel daunting and deciding to get help for some of our most vulnerable and real stuff can be overwhelming.
Because of the therapy stigma, Kenzie is committed to making the therapy space a safe and inviting space for her clients.
She values warmth and laughter and will make sure you feel like coming to therapy is not just something you feel like you have to do, but something you want to do.
There are several values Kenzie holds close, but humor, honesty, and growth are ones that she holds very close to her heart.
Kenzie believes strongly that laughter is medicine! She was raised in a home where she was taught that life is too serious to not learn to laugh at ourselves.
She loves to laugh and bring laughter to others.
There can be joy found in every day and she hopes that she can help those she works with find that, not only outside of therapy, but in the the therapeutic space as well!
“Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we’re supposed to be and embracing who we are.”- Brene Brown.
Honesty is important to Kenzie because she believes it goes hand in hand with genuineness and authenticity.
We live in a world where society is constantly telling us what “mold” we’re supposed to be trying to fit ourselves into.
Kenzie knows what it feels like to desperately be trying to be someone else and the discomfort and hopelessness that can follow that.
As she consistently strives to live a more honest and authentic life, she hopes that when people come to work with her, they can know that they are free to be whoever they are.
Another quote Kenzie finds truth in is,
“There’s no growth in the comfort zone, and no comfort in the growth zone.”
Growth requires change and change can bring on some feelings of discomfort.
As someone who struggles with change, Kenzie believes that therapy can be a place where we feel safe, but also where we can grow and change for the better.
Kenzie is EMDR trained and is anxious to help those working through trauma find hope and healing.
She also is passionate about using Internal Family Systems as she helps those she works with sort through traumatic experiences.
Kenzie also helps facilitate the Youth Intensive Outpatient Program at Utah Family Therapy and enjoys working with teenagers.
Kenzie knows that sharing our most real and raw emotions with our romantic partner and having a strong friendship is the key to real intimacy in relationships.
She loves helping couples learn how to talk about the “raw spots” surrounding emotion and strengthen their friendship and intimate moments through emotionally focused therapy and Gottman couples’ therapy.
Kenzie is a huge animal lover.
One of her biggest dreams is to live on a farm caring for a bunch of animals.
For right now though, she owns three cats and is okay being known as “a crazy cat lady”.
In her free time, Kenzie loves to play video games, read a good book, participate in yoga, or be outside in the sun.
Lets face it, who likes to talk about their crap with other people?
If you’re like most clients, you’re used to being judged despite hearing so many people talk about non judgment and when you do open up, it seems like the more you share, the less likely you are to get compassion.
We’ve worked our butts off to create a clinic where the unfiltered, real you, can show up and heal, so dammit give therapy a chance!
We love the unfiltered real you, let’s heal together. – Utah Family Therapy Team
