Kathryn (Kittie) Bowen, MS, LCPC

Founder/Director/CEO/Clinical Supervisor

Hi, I’m Kittie!

I remember the exact moment almost 25 years ago when I knew something had to change. I was sitting at my desk at work, good career, good title, and I realized I could not do another 40 years of the same grind. Not because I couldn’t, but because something else was pulling me in a different direction.

So I left. I went back to school to become a therapist. People were baffled. Back then, walking away from a CPA and CFO career to study mental health counseling just wasn’t done. “That’s a completely different part of your brain,” they’d say. Maybe. But it turned out to be exactly the right brain for the work I was to do as a therapist.

What the Corporate World Taught Me About People

Even before I left the corporate world, I was watching. I noticed patterns, burnout, stuckness, people cycling through the same dynamics for decades. I became fascinated by why some people would try to do something about it, and why others wouldn’t. I also started to see that the dysfunction inside organizations looked a lot like the dysfunction inside families. And I wondered if there was a link.

When I started seeing clients as a therapist, something clicked. I knew exactly where many of them were at. I had lived it too, the pressure, the identity wrapped up in performance, the quiet exhaustion behind a polished exterior. I could meet high-achieving, high-responsibility clients in a way that other therapists couldn’t, because I had been one of them. And what I kept discovering was that what was happening for them at work almost always had its origins in what was happening inside them. And of course that was true for me as well.

How I Work

I blend counseling and coaching, the practical and the deep. I don’t believe you can fix one part of your life and ignore the rest. You can have a great career and still be falling apart inside. I lean on brain science and nervous system work because I’ve seen it firsthand: people really can change, even when they walk in convinced they’re too stuck to make any changes and too stuck to imaging feeling any better.

I'm eclectic by nature in my therapy sessions with clients, which really just means I start by meeting you where you are at. Some people light up when I bring in brain science. Others connect more through spirituality or meaning-making. Some need to tell their story for a while before we even think about change. And some want to skip straight to making changes and building the future they want. I follow your lead on that.

What stays consistent is how I look at what's getting in the way. I use four lenses: emotional, cognitive, behavioral, and spiritual. We look at your patterns of thinking, feeling, and doing, and where things might be off. The spiritual lens, for those who are interested, is about your authentic self. What you're passionate about. What makes your heart sing. Who you are meant to become in this life. Where are you not living authentically in line with your values and desires.

I draw from both the counseling and coaching worlds, sometimes we go into the past, sometimes we focus entirely on the future you want to create. I use whatever is going to work best for you. This is also the approach I teach to the therapists I supervise at BCC.

Why I Built Bozeman Counseling Center

Bozeman needed a group practice that was exactly the right size. Large enough to offer a wide range of therapists and specialties. Small enough that clients still feel known, and clinicians still feel connected.

I also knew that therapists in solo practice were often isolated and lonely. They were longing for community, for collaboration, for a place to keep growing. I had been in solo private practice for 15 years and even though I was in an office building with other therapists, I was still isolated and wanted daily connection with other counselors. I built BCC to solve both problems at the same time, for the community seeking care, and for the clinicians who want to do this work well and not do it alone, including myself.

I have put my whole heart into building this practice, and that includes our new home on Stadium Drive, which I designed from the inside-out with both clients and clinicians in mind. I wanted people to walk in and exhale. To feel like this is a treat they deserve, not an obligation they’re checking off. Therapy should feel like an oasis, not a clinical doctor’s office.

Every element is intentional. The lighting, the decor, the coffee station for clients, the snacks for clinicians, all of it was chosen with two people in mind. For clients, I wanted a space that felt relaxing to walk into for their therapy hour. And for clinicians, I wanted offices that actually feel good to work in, because they spend many hours a day here too, and that matters just as much.

Today my focus is on the professional development of our therapists, clinical supervision, mentorship, continuing education, and helping clinicians understand the business side of practice. I want BCC to be a corrective experience for therapists, the same way therapy can be a corrective experience for clients. Many of our clinicians are in their second career. Some are recovering from burnout or difficult training experiences. Here at Bozeman Counseling Center, we get to practice our craft together and keep growing, both professionally and personally. (And yes, stay tuned on my own client work. More on that in the future.)

Outside the Office

I’ve lived in Bozeman for 30 years. My husband and I are dog people at heart, yellow and black labs have been part of our home for years. Right now, though, all of us, even the dog, are outnumbered by two precocious kittens. Our two grown kids are off building their own lives, and we’ve settled into this new empty-nest chapter.

I start most mornings with meditation; setting intentions, bringing my heart and body into coherence, learning to shift out of a stress response when life calls for it. I believe in living with intention and I’ve also learned to be more adaptable than I used to be. Curve balls are part of it. I just try to move through them with a little more grace each time.

I also love gardening, art and design, time in nature, and traveling to places I’ve never been. Oh and my husband and I enjoy traveling to music concerts, everything from classic rock, country, folk, and even some classical thrown in the mix.