Birchwood Therapy LLC is a trauma-informed practice in Waukee, Iowa offering evidence-based care for children, adolescents, and adults across the Des Moines metro area and rural Iowa.
Children don't need to find the perfect words — they just need a safe space to be themselves. At Birchwood Therapy, we meet every child with warmth, patience, and play. Whether your little one is struggling with big feelings, school stress, or something they can't quite explain, we're here.
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What We Offer
Care rooted in warmth & evidence
Every service at Birchwood Therapy is delivered through a trauma-informed lens — meeting each client with evidence-based tools and genuine human connection.
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EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing — a rigorously researched approach to healing trauma, PTSD, and deeply held painful memories without relying solely on verbal recounting.
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Play Therapy
Using child-centered and therapist-led techniques, we help children ages 4–17 express, process, and heal through the natural language of play — their most native form of communication.
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Individual Therapy
One-on-one sessions for children, adolescents, and adults addressing anxiety, depression, ADHD, trauma, grief, and life transitions — all tailored to each client's unique needs.
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Family-Integrated Therapy
We actively involve parents and caregivers throughout the therapeutic process — because research consistently demonstrates that family participation produces stronger, more lasting outcomes.
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Women's Therapy
A dedicated therapeutic space for women to process relational experiences, explore identity, and navigate the systemic pressures that too often go unacknowledged in clinical settings.
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Safe & Sound Protocol
A non-invasive, sound-based intervention rooted in Polyvagal Theory — designed to gently recalibrate the autonomic nervous system and restore a physiological state of safety and readiness to engage.
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Telehealth
Secure, HIPAA-compliant video sessions available to clients throughout Iowa — flexible, accessible therapy delivered without compromising clinical quality or confidentiality.
Clinical Philosophy
Trauma-informed care for lasting change
Healing occurs within relationship. We believe trauma affects not only the mind, but the body, one's relationships, and one's fundamental sense of safety in the world — and that with skilled, compassionate support, meaningful recovery is within reach for every client we serve.
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Safety First
No client is ever advanced faster than they are ready. Every engagement begins with the deliberate, careful construction of trust — the non-negotiable foundation upon which all therapeutic progress rests.
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Evidence-Based
We draw exclusively from clinically validated modalities — EMDR, play therapy, trauma-informed approaches — selected with precision and adapted to the specific goals and circumstances of each individual.
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Collaborative
Our clients are the foremost authorities on their own lives. Our therapists serve as skilled, compassionate partners — present to guide, not to direct; to support, not to prescribe.
Who We Help
Here for kids, teens, and whole families
Children & Adolescents (Ages 4–17)
Behavioral challenges & oppositional defiance
ADHD & attention difficulties
Anxiety & excessive worry
Depression & emotional withdrawal
Trauma & PTSD
Grief & loss
Adjustment to life transitions
Sensory processing sensitivities
Adults & Young Adults
Trauma, PTSD & complex PTSD
Anxiety & depression
Life transitions & identity
Relational & family challenges
Women navigating systemic pressures
Grief & loss
Self-worth & personal development
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You matter and so does your voice and your experience. Birchwood Therapy is ready to partner with you to navigate these systems and your unique place in life.
We accept a range of insurance plans to ensure that quality mental health care remains within reach. Please contact us prior to your first appointment to verify your specific benefits and coverage.
BlueCross BlueShieldMedicaidAetnaCignaUnited HealthcareIowa Total CareWellmarkPrivate Pay
Appointments
Begin your journey today
Scheduling is available 24/7 through SimplePractice — a HIPAA-compliant, industry-standard platform. We recommend beginning with a complimentary 15-minute consultation.
I.
Select an appointment
Choose a session type and a time that suits your schedule from available openings.
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Establish your client portal
Create a secure SimplePractice account to manage appointments and complete intake documentation.
III.
Attend your session
Join us in person at our Waukee office, or via secure video conference for telehealth sessions.
Online Scheduling · SimplePractice
Book an Appointment
Click below to access the secure SimplePractice client portal and submit your appointment request. No prior account is required to get started.
HIPAA-Compliant · Powered by SimplePractice · Available 24/7
Contact
We welcome your inquiry
Have questions prior to scheduling? Submit a message below and a member of our team will respond within one business day.
Office Location
Birchwood Therapy LLC Waukee, Iowa
Online Scheduling
SimplePractice · Available 24/7
NPI Number
1487320370
Send a Message
Our Team
Meet the clinicians behind Birchwood
Our therapists are trauma-informed clinicians who bring evidence-based methodology and genuine human connection to every engagement. Select a clinician below to view their full profile.
Clinical Staff
KP
Kristen Peerbaccus
LMSW · LISW · EMDR Certified
A Licensed Independent Social Worker providing trauma-informed therapy and EMDR for children, adolescents, moms, and adults. Currently accepting new clients in Waukee, IA.
LMSW · LISW · EMDR Certified · EMDR International Association Member
Currently Accepting New Clients
I'm Kristen Peerbaccus, a Licensed Independent Social Worker providing treatment using trauma-informed therapy and EMDR for children, moms, and adults. Now welcoming new clients at Birchwood Therapy LLC in Waukee, IA.
LISW · IowaLMSWEMDR CertifiedEMDR International Assoc.Play TherapyTrauma-Informed Care
I'm a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) and a certified therapist at Birchwood Therapy LLC in Waukee, Iowa. I provide trauma-informed therapy to children, adolescents, and adults across the Des Moines metro area and rural Iowa.
When working with children, I use play therapy to connect with the child and use EMDR when necessary. I actively integrate parents and caregivers — because healing the child often requires a supportive caregiver who encourages the child to discover and use his or her own tools to cope with emotional breakdowns. I'm also deeply passionate about supporting women navigating a world that often doesn't center their experience.
When working with adults, I pursue treatments involving EMDR and the Safe & Sound Protocol — both avant-garde techniques that often result in positive, lasting effects.
As a proud member of the EMDR International Association, I bring evidence-based tools together with genuine human connection in every session.
Children & Adolescents (Ages 4–17)
Using child-centered and therapist-led play therapy, I create a safe space where children process emotions and build resilience — with caregivers actively involved in supporting their child's growth at home.
Adult & Women's Therapy
I work with adults facing trauma, anxiety, depression, grief, and life transitions — with special attunement to the unique pressures women face navigating complex systems and relationships.
EMDR & Safe & Sound Protocol
As a certified EMDR therapist and EMDR International Association member, I apply these powerful, research-backed modalities to help clients process trauma and reclaim their sense of safety in the world.
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Clinical Specialty
The therapeutic power of play
Young children do not yet possess the vocabulary or cognitive architecture to articulate complex emotional states the way adults do. What they do possess is something equally powerful — play. For a child, play is not recreation. It is their primary language: the medium through which they process experience, express what cannot be named, and begin to heal.
"Play is children's innate mode of self-expression — it capitalizes on the therapeutic powers within play to promote specific healing outcomes within a therapeutic context."
— Archives of Mental Health, Therapeutic Intervention for Children Through Play
A comprehensive review of 93 play therapy outcome studies found effect sizes approaching 0.80 — a strong indicator of clinical effectiveness. The Association for Play Therapy confirms significant improvements in anxiety, attention, communication, and emotional regulation.
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Establishing therapeutic attunement
Kristen believes in meeting children at their level — physically and emotionally — to signal safety and begin building the therapeutic relationship.
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Play as clinical communication
Through toys, art, sand, and storytelling, children naturally begin to express what they cannot verbalize — and the play becomes the therapeutic conversation.
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Building durable emotional capacity
Sessions equip children with lasting tools — improved self-regulation, emotional vocabulary, and healthier behavioral responses that generalize across home and school environments.
93+
Outcome Studies Reviewed
Ages 4–17
Primary Age Range
~75%
Show Meaningful Improvement
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For Mothers & Caregivers
A partner for mothers, not just their children
Kristen knows firsthand what motherhood looks like in its fullest, most demanding form. As a mother of two teenagers and a younger child, she carries a lived understanding of the joys, the exhaustion, the guilt, the love, and the sheer complexity of raising children in today's world.
While her primary focus is on the child in the therapy room, Kristen believes wholeheartedly that a child's healing does not happen in isolation. She works hand in hand with parents — and especially with mothers — to ensure that progress made in sessions is reinforced and sustained at home.
Regular Parent Communication
Consistent, structured communication with parents and caregivers to align on goals, measure progress, and adapt therapeutic approaches as needed.
Space for the Mother's Voice
Sessions include dedicated time for parents to share their observations — what is working, where friction arises, and how they are managing the emotional weight of the journey.
Measuring Progress at Home
Kristen works with families to identify meaningful markers of growth in everyday life — not only within the therapy room, but at the dinner table, in the car, before bed.
Research consistently demonstrates that parental involvement produces significantly better clinical outcomes for children in therapy — and Kristen's model is built upon precisely this evidence.
— Bratton et al., Parent Participation in Play Therapy Research
A Clinician Who Understands
As a mother of two teenagers and a younger child, Kristen brings genuine empathy — not clinical distance — to every conversation with a parent. She understands the guilt of wondering if you are doing enough, the frustration when nothing seems to work, and the courage required to ask for help. In Kristen's practice, mothers are never merely observers. They are essential partners in their child's healing.
Advanced Therapeutic Modalities
When the moment calls for deeper tools
In addition to play therapy, Kristen draws from evidence-based and emerging modalities — selected with clinical precision and applied only when they serve the specific needs of the individual.
Evidence-Based
EMDR Therapy
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing is a structured, extensively researched psychotherapy approach that enables individuals to process trauma, PTSD, and deeply distressing memories. Unlike conventional talk therapy, EMDR engages the brain's natural adaptive processing systems through guided bilateral stimulation — allowing painful memories to be reprocessed without sustained verbal recounting.
Kristen is a certified EMDR therapist and member of the EMDR International Association, applying this modality selectively and with clinical care.
Highly effective for trauma, PTSD, and complex PTSD
Applicable across children, adolescents, and adults
Does not require detailed verbal recounting of traumatic events
Recognized by the WHO and APA as a first-line trauma treatment
Over two dozen randomized controlled trials confirm EMDR's clinical efficacy. The World Health Organization recommends EMDR as a first-line trauma treatment for children and adults worldwide.
Currently Exploring
Safe & Sound Protocol
Kristen is currently advancing her understanding of the Safe and Sound Protocol — an innovative, non-invasive sound-based intervention developed by Dr. Stephen Porges and rooted in his landmark Polyvagal Theory. The SSP employs specially filtered music delivered via headphones to gently recalibrate the autonomic nervous system, shifting clients from chronic defensive states into a physiological condition of safety.
This protocol holds particular promise for children experiencing trauma, sensory overwhelm, or chronic dysregulation — and for its capacity to amplify the outcomes of concurrent therapeutic work.
Demonstrated improvements in social engagement and emotional regulation
Supports clients with anxiety, ADHD, sensory sensitivities, and trauma
Non-invasive — delivered passively through over-ear headphones
Synergistic with EMDR and play therapy modalities
Developed from four decades of research by Dr. Porges on the autonomic nervous system, with clinical trials demonstrating measurable improvements in attention, nervous system regulation, and social engagement.
Appointments
Schedule with Kristen
Kristen is currently accepting new clients. Scheduling is available 24/7 through SimplePractice. We recommend beginning with a complimentary 15-minute consultation.
I.
Select an appointment
Browse available sessions and select a time that works for your schedule.
II.
Establish your portal
Create your secure SimplePractice account to manage appointments and complete intake documentation.
III.
Meet Kristen
Attend in person at our Waukee office or via HIPAA-compliant telehealth — whichever best serves your needs.
NPI Number
1487320370
Credentials
LMSW · LISW · EMDR Certified EMDR International Association Member
Online Scheduling · SimplePractice
Book with Kristen
Click below to access the secure SimplePractice client portal and submit your appointment request. No prior account is required to get started.
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