About Dr. Simmering

John Simmering Ph.D. has been a practicing licensed psychologist since 1985 and is the founder and principle of Kairos Consulting and Counseling LLC. 

He has been a leader in recognizing the importance of living assets, people and nature, and in perpetuating the survival and growth of individuals, marriage, family, communities and organizations. He has served as a teacher, mentor, organizational consultant, business owner and manager, and therapist during his career.

John was raised in an entrepreneurial family in Oklahoma, the son of a rural physician. He earned his B.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from Oklahoma State University. His work with family firms has been instrumental in building strong families, competent leaders and better individuals.

John’s expertise and background bring sound leadership principles and a living systems perspective to clients and team members. John lives in Hesston, Kansas, with his wife, Molly; they have three adult children and nine grandchildren.

My Philosophy and Approach

You may also notice that I refer to the people I work with as “clients” rather than “patients”, which illustrates my fundamental philosophical approach of collaborating with clients to help them reach their goals.  I view both consulting and counseling as a ‘working alliance’ that can enable individuals, families, and organizations the opportunity to flourish and grow, often in unexpected ways.

Counseling can be an effective vehicle for growth, adjustment, healing and change. I use an integrated and holistic approach for understanding and helping each client. I integrate a strengths based, positive psychology model into the latest empirically supported theories and treatment approaches. The approach I will use is always holistic, informed by individual, cultural, generational and other forms of diversity. A solid assessment of the individual in one’s own context is the foundation I start with to find effective approaches to help each client achieve their goals. Every client is unique so I tailor my approach to their needs and style. I value and respect each individual and work to establish a healthy and positive collaborative working relationship with each client.

Counseling is not for the faint of heart. What I mean by this is that counseling is an active rather than passive endeavor, and change is the result primarily of the client’s willingness and courage to experience and explore thoughts and feelings, and to consider new thoughts, ideas and behaviors related to themselves and their problems. I help clients work toward new skills, awareness, perspective, experiences, and ways of thinking, feeling, living and coping. I vary my style to the client’s needs at that point in time and phase of therapy.

It’s funny to say it this way, but my goal is to work myself out of a job. This means that when my clients progress enough, they may no longer need counseling, or perhaps only return for counseling intermittently, as needed.

It’s a simple fact that change is going to happen, in ourselves, our relationships and family, and the world around us. Counseling can help our change and response be intentional by helping clarify, identify and strategize how you what to be, what changes or growth you desire, and how to achieve the important things in your life, both now and for your future. In this way, change is based upon a positive vision of our future rather than just a byproduct of random forces acting upon us.

So, please explore my practice, view my credentials and how I work, and if you think this is a good fit for you, call to set up a short phone consultation, where you can ask questions about counseling and we can assess initially if I may be the best fit for you as a therapist.

Consultation and educational services: I do provide consultation services for individuals, families, groups or businesses in order to assist them to identify systematic problems and work to find solutions for their businesses and organizations, often which may involve complexities of family or group dynamics which impede progress, and to help improve the emotional/working environment so all can be more productive and experience better job satisfaction.