We’re looking forward to introducing you to Kori Hintz-Bohn. Check out our conversation below.
Kori, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
“Kori, you are the most unlikely person of all our kids to own a business.” My dad has told me this numerous times. I was the least driven, the people pleaser, the withdrawn one who struggled managing stress which lead to years of struggling with anxiety, depression and an eating disorder beginning at age 13. It’s been 20 years since Renew Counseling opened it’s doors. 20 years of being a part of helping other clinicians through supervision and seminars and 20 years of helping clients and seeing change. I am so grateful for loving what I do and loving who I get to work with.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hello! I am Kori Hintz-Bohn, Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor. I had the privilege of founding Renew Counseling in 2005. Renew has a group of clinicians who have their private practice seeing those who struggle with issues such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, grief, marriage, nutrition, personal issues, trauma, women and relationship issues. . In addition, we have an Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for both adolescents and adults who struggle with depression and anxiety when once a week counseling is not enough or as a step down from a higher level of care. Our IOP programs use state of the art therapeutic interventions to help individuals get their life back on track. You are not meant to struggle and just survive in this world. We are honored to help clients learn to thrive.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I hated myself, my body, my personality, everything about me. At the age of 13 I was ready to be done with life. This continued the rest of my adolescent years. I am so grateful for investment of counseling that helped me learn why I did what I did, why I felt how I felt, and how I could change to enjoy life again.
Fast forward to being a young therapist and I was asked to share my story on a platform in front of 100’s of people, the struggles, the hardships and the healing. I shared not only this, but that I felt called to start a counseling center in Johnson County to inspire and restore wholeness to others.
Little did I know, the floodgates were about to open. Wonderful, talented business minded individuals chose to invest their time, talents and treasures in me after hearing my story. They met monthly with me to help me plan and create a state of the art counseling center. An architect designed the logo, a lawyer drew up the legal documents for a business, a president of a bank helped get my banking set up, a pastor helped with his connections to make a website and business cards, a restaurant owner gave me chairs and did the construction to put walls up and make offices…I could go on. All did these things at no cost, believing in me, believing this need to help Kansas City in this way. I still am in disbelief as I tell this story the generosity of others in creating Renew.
What have been the defining wounds of your life—and how have you healed them?
I hated myself, my body, my personality, everything about me. At the age of 13 I was ready to be done with life. This continued the rest of my adolescent years. I am so grateful for the investment of counseling that helped me learn why I did what I did, why I felt how I felt, and how I could change to enjoy life again.
Fast forward to being a young therapist and I was asked to share my story on a platform in front of 100’s of people, the struggles, the hardships and the healing. I shared not only this, but that I felt called to start a counseling center in Johnson County to inspire and restore wholeness to others.
Little did I know, the floodgates were about to open. Wonderful, talented business minded individuals chose to invest their time, talents and treasures in me after hearing my story. They met monthly with me to help me plan and create a state of the art counseling center. An architect designed the logo, a lawyer drew up the legal documents for a business, a president of a bank helped get my banking set up, a pastor helped with his connections to make a website and business cards, a restaurant owner gave me chairs and did the construction to put walls up and make offices…I could go on. All did these things at no cost, believing in me, believing this need to help Kansas City in this way. I still am in disbelief as I tell this story of the generosity of others in creating Renew.
Suffering from anxiety, depression and an eating disorder before becoming a counselor are wounds I can now say I am grateful for what they taught me and helped to have compassion on anyone who struggles. An eating disorder feels like prison, enslaved to an inner world of feeling not enough, alone, different, and negative self-talk that consumes your every waking moment. Anxiety feels like a never ending to-do list no matter how long you spend running, the finish line continued to be moved just out of reach. It leaves you exhausted and you do not know how to “be.” Depression was a dark undercurrent that would come and go based on my performance and circumstances, like a 100 pounds of bricks on my shoulders causing me to struggle to function. I knew nothing about how to be authentic, how to have joy, how to be me.
Through counseling, amazing friends and learning my values I was able to peel away the layers and learn to treat myself w self-compassion. One of the greatest gifts I learned was how to love myself, treat myself like I would treat a best friend. This meant unlearning I must be perfect to be accepted by myself or others. I began giving myself grace for what I cannot control and learned to live life with flexibility, curiosity and compassion
All of these ashes, these painful places in the landscape of my life have made me more human, more relatable. I had a person this past month tell me how me sharing about my past through vulnerability gave her courage to keep fighting for her healing. If I have been through pain, then maybe, just maybe she thought she could get through hers. I love the intensive outpatient program for anxiety I get to be a part of, giving individuals hope for healing and watching significant changes occur after just 6 weeks of treatment.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
My closest friends would describe me as one who lives life very intentionally. My husband and I adopted kids out of foster care in hopes of making a different in their lives. Friends have said I am a gifted speaker and have wisdom as well as compassion towards those who suffer. They see me be intentional with my family, my career and my value of faith.
Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
If you lose your parents you are an orphan. If you lose your spouse you are a widow. When you lose a child, there is no name to describe it. I am grateful most people do not understand the pain of losing a child. We lost our son Jude. It’s not meant to be this way. I did the work to heal, equine therapy, EMDR, grief groups, journaling. I am grateful that I did it as fully as I could so I could still be a good mom and counselor. Grief does not end, but if you do the work, you can still have a full life, still have joy.
I see the world differently. I see it more fully, being grateful for the gift of each day.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.anxietycenterkc.com
- Instagram: anxietycenteratrenewcounseling
- Linkedin: the-anxiety-center-at-renew
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/renewkc
- Youtube: youtube.com@theanxietycenteratrenew6895
