About

A woman with short hair, smiling, wearing a green tank top and patterned skirt, standing outdoors in front of foliage and a white fence.

Hi! I'm Kat.

I'm a Licensed Professional Counselor offering in-person therapy in Philadelphia and telehealth services throughout Pennsylvania and Florida.

The people I work with tend to be thoughtful, emotionally sensitive, and deeply self-aware — and often exhausted by it. They come in carrying anxiety, overthinking, burnout, relationship stress, or the quiet weight of feeling everything so intensely. As a highly sensitive person myself, I understand how much energy it takes to move through the world while processing emotions, relationships, and everything around you so deeply.

I also work with adolescents and young adults navigating gender-related experiences — including dysphoria, transition-related decisions, and periods of questioning — and with the parents and families who love them and are trying to find their footing too.

My path to this work has been a winding one. Before becoming a therapist, I spent years teaching yoga and working as a writer and editor — for publishing companies, medical journals, blogs, and cookbooks (that last one was especially fun). I earned my Master's in Counseling Psychology from Rosemont College in 2018 and have since worked across community mental health, group practice, and private practice settings.

That background in language still shapes how I work. I care deeply about helping people find words for experiences that feel hard to name — because being understood, precisely and without judgment, can itself be transformative. Sensitivity isn't something I see as a flaw to fix. It's something worth understanding and learning to work with more compassionately.

My approach draws on training in dialectical behavior therapy, yoga, and holistic health, including studies through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I believe in caring for the whole person — not just managing symptoms. In addition to my clinical work, I serve as a board member of Therapy First, a professional community focused on thoughtful approaches to gender-related distress and identity exploration.

At the heart of my work is a spirit of curiosity. I believe meaningful change begins when people feel they can ask difficult questions, explore uncertainty, and examine their experiences without pressure to arrive at immediate answers. Whatever brings you here — whether you're seeking support for yourself, your child, or your family — I'm glad you found your way. I'd love the opportunity to work with you.

Philadelphia office

I'm pleased to share that I'm now based out of a new office in Philadelphia. If you're in the area and would like to connect in person, I'd welcome the visit — feel free to reach out to set something up.

A bit more about me…

  • My approach is collaborative, grounded, and connected to real life.

    Many people who find their way to me have spent much of their lives feeling deeply, thinking deeply, and quietly trying to hold everything together. They may appear calm or capable on the outside while privately feeling overwhelmed, disconnected, or unsure how to express what they're carrying. Others arrive as parents — worried, exhausted, and looking for someone who will take their concerns seriously without judgment.

    My work integrates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), mindfulness, and nervous-system aware practices to help you better understand anxiety, emotional overwhelm, and patterns that may be keeping you stuck. I take a whole-person approach — attending not only to thoughts and emotions, but also to the body, relationships, and the rhythms of daily life. For those navigating gender-related experiences, I bring the same unhurried lens: less focused on labels or conclusions, more focused on genuine self-understanding.

    Self-compassion is central to this work. Many people arrive carrying harsh self-criticism or a persistent sense of not being enough. I enjoy helping people build a more honest and supportive relationship with themselves — grounded in awareness and care rather than judgment.

    You don't need to have everything figured out to begin.

  • I work with people navigating:

    • Anxiety, overthinking, and chronic self-doubt

    • Feeling emotionally overwhelmed while trying to stay high-functioning

    • Burnout, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and difficulty slowing down

    • Emotional sensitivity, emotional intensity, or feeling deeply affected by stress, conflict, or criticism

    • Low self-esteem, harsh self-criticism, or feeling “not good enough” despite outward competence

    • Difficulty understanding, expressing, or regulating emotions

    • Anger, emotional reactivity, shutdown, or feeling disconnected from yourself

    • Relationship patterns that leave you feeling unseen, responsible for others, or emotionally exhausted

    • Identity exploration, including gender-related questions and experiences of uncertainty, conflict, or self-discovery

    • LGBTQ+ experiences, including support for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and gender-nonconforming individuals

    • Parents and families seeking support around adolescent and young adult emotional health, identity questions, and family relationships

  • Outside of therapy, I continue to teach yoga and value practices that help people feel more grounded and connected to themselves. I’m drawn to simple, everyday ways of pausing and noticing — through movement, time outside, quiet moments, or simply remembering to exhale sometimes.

    My favorite tree is the pine, a longstanding symbol of resilience and wisdom. I appreciate the way it continues to grow through difficult conditions, which feels aligned with how I think about therapy: helping people stay rooted in themselves while navigating life's inevitable challenges.

    I’m based in Philadelphia, where I live with my wife and our dog, Buster, who keeps life playful and unpredictable in the best way.

    I also have a longstanding (and slightly unhinged, in a very specific and curated way) appreciation for Blythe dolls. They’re strange, expressive, and a little nostalgic — which feels oddly aligned with how I think about people: layered, evolving, and impossible to reduce to just one version of themselves.

    At the core of my work is the belief that suffering isn’t something we eliminate, but something we learn to carry differently as we build a life worth living. I see counseling as a space where people can feel more understood and a little less alone as they move through the hard parts of being human.

  • 270 West Walnut Lane
    Philadelphia, PA 19144

  • Please use the contact form to reach me. I look forward to hearing from you!

  • Ready to book a consultation? I offer a free 15-minute phone consultation to see if we are a good fit. Use this link to request a time. I look forward to meeting you!

Kathryn Hilton, LPC, provides in-person therapy in Philadelphia, PA, and telehealth services throughout Pennsylvania and Florida.
Parents & Families: Request a Consultation