"I didn't plan to become a therapist who works with children — but looking back, I think I was always headed here. When I was 10, my father passed away suddenly, and I was lost in a way I didn't have words for yet. A counselor named Sister Pat sat with me through that, and she's the reason I do this work today. In college, the first psychology class I took confirmed what I already felt — this was it, and I dove in headfirst.
My path wasn't always a straight line. There were people along the way who doubted this was the right direction for me, and there were moments I doubted it myself. But every one of those moments pushed me forward instead of stopping me — toward children and families instead of away from them, and eventually toward building something of my own. Luminous Psychotherapy is the result of that perseverance: a practice built on the belief that even kids carrying the heaviest things can find their way back to hope, with the right person steady beside them."
Katharine Steffes is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor Supervisor (LCPC-S) at Luminous Psychotherapy. Mrs. Steffes earned a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland. She completed her Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in child and adolescent therapy from the Chicago School of Professional Psychology in Washington, DC.
Katharine has spent her career working directly with children, adolescents, and families — first as the interim school counselor at Indian Creek School and the school counselor at St. Bernadette School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and later in private practice at Halcyon Wellness Center in Millersville, Maryland. In each setting, she worked closely with teachers, support staff, and other clinicians to understand a child's unique needs and build a plan the whole family could carry forward.
While at Halcyon, she co-authored and led Creative Explorers, a social skills group using play and art therapy to build emotional regulation and peer connection. She has also led a parenting seminar on grief and loss in children — work that draws directly on her own experience of childhood loss, and on what she wished more adults around her had understood at the time.
Therapeutic Approaches & Specialties
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)
- Play Therapy & Art Therapy
- Child & Adolescent Anxiety Treatment
- ADHD Support for Children & Teens
- Depression Treatment for Children & Teens
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
- Executive Functioning Support
- Parent Coaching & Behavioral Parent Training
- Grief & Loss Counseling
- School-Related Stress & Adjustment Issues
- In-Home & Family-Centered Counseling
- Strengths-Based, Individualized Treatment Planning