Alastriona Kroll

Alastriona Kroll is a Community Mental Health Counselor who works within the Catholic Community Schools. She earned her Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees, as well as her Master's in Family Studies, from St. Cloud State University. Her certifications include CPR/First Aid, Stop the Bleed, and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder training. Alastriona provides therapeutic services to elementary students, their families, and school staff. Her specialties include anxiety, personality and mood disorders, and family and child work. She grounds her therapeutic approach in family systems theory, as well as play and art therapies.

Alastriona works with the following diagnoses and experiences:

What can I expect when working with you?
I love getting to meet new people, especially kids! One of the most important parts of my work is learning about some of the challenges they are facing and working together to find solutions. With my clients, I use play, games, art, and other methods of engagement to explain concepts, model, and practice positive behaviors that children can put to use later, outside of sessions.

What do you like to do when you're not a therapist?
I enjoy walking my dog and working on my 100-year-old home. I also enjoy audio books and anything creative. I'm always happy to chat about my newest favorite book or the place I want to visit next!

What are three words your loved ones would use to describe you?
kind, passionate, well-informed (because I read so much)

What do your clients say about you?
My students say that I'm fun and nice. Most are eager to spend time with me.

What is your universal piece of advice?
It is ok to take time for yourself. Rest is healthy.

How do you bring community into your practice?
I LOVE collaborating with others. It is so important to get different help from people who have other backgrounds and strengths than yourself. Referring clients to get the support that I am not able to provide is invaluable. It takes a village, and we definitely need to utilize the services of the whole village to get the care that many families need to thrive.

Tell me the moment you realized you wanted to be in the mental health field.
I was blessed to have the opportunity while doing my student teaching to sit-in on meetings of a taskforce that included mental healthcare for families with children 0-5 years old. It was such important work and the collaborative environment between county, therapists, and teachers was incredible. I knew that I needed to devote my work to supporting families in the St. Cloud area.

What part of you do you bring into therapy?
As a single, neurodivergent parent, I have a unique perspective in therapy as both an advocate for affirming care while being mindful of the individual needs and situation of each child and their family structure.