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Real-izing Wholeness: Counseling office born from a love of people

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By Marguerite Lanthier 3 min read

IRON MOUNTAIN -- Real-izing Wholeness, a counseling office that recently opened on South Carpenter Avenue, aims to treat the whole body, including mind and soul.

Kellyn Hampton has been a therapist for about 40 years and has lived in many areas of the country. The focus of her counseling has shifted many times over those decades. When she started, she worked with military families. Then it changed to domestic violence, as she began seeing more of it among veterans returning home.

It shifted again when she became a pastor. "I began dealing with issues of faith and spirituality, and women's issues really became prevalent," she said. Because she was a female pastor, some began confiding everything they had experienced, but she decided she needed more training to deal with those issues, so she got her master's degree.

She's handled cases of substance abuse and complex post-traumatic stress disorder. Those issues remain, but now she is seeing more dementia, Alzheimer's, end of life and trying to age gracefully.

Hampton is originally from Monroe, Mich., but spent a lot of time in the Upper Peninsula. When she and her husband, Rick Foster, decided to move back to Michigan a few years ago, they purchased 60 acres in the Crystal Falls area.

"We would come up here, like, every weekend and for weeks and weeks and months and months in the summer, and this was 'home,'" she said. "My husband said, 'Kel, it's time to retire.' I said, 'We're going back home, then,' and here we are."

Before opening the office in the Real Heal building at 1401 S. Carpenter Ave., Hampton did telehealth for a company in Oklahoma, something she still does a few days a week.

She said of becoming a therapist, "I love the people and their stories, their adventures, how they got here, who they are. I just love people."

The Real-zing Wholeness name comes from the concept of what's real and how it affects the whole person.

"We really want to be a resource in this community, for the community," she said. Her motto is, "You don't have to walk alone. I'll walk with you."

"I was blessed with some very good therapists of my own, and two therapist mentors, and I'll pay what they gave me forward. And there are so many people with unmet needs. I try to meet everybody where they need it," she said.

Hampton's office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but she will stay until 5 p.m. to accommodate people. She does telehealth on Thursdays and Fridays.

She would like to see the service expand with more therapists to reach more people.

Hampton can be contacted by phone at 720-402-5977 or email to RevKel.loves@gmail.com. Her website is real-izingwholeness.com.

Marguerite Lanthier can be reached at 906-774-3500, ext. 85242, or mlanthier@ironmountaindailynews.com.

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