Kristina Dezendorf, LMSW

03/20/2026

Registration NOW OPEN!

🌿 Happy first day of Spring! A moment of balance, renewal, and new growth. It felt like the perfect day to open registration for the Louisiana Body Speak Symposium 2026.

📅 July 17–18, 2026
📍 Hosted at Southeastern Louisiana University

What to Expect:
• 7 inspiring presenters sharing somatic, creative, and integrative approaches
• 11 CEUs approved for social workers and counselors
• Catered lunch both days
• Raffle prizes & community connection
• Experiential learning, embodied lectures, and meaningful conversations

This symposium brings together professionals who want to deepen their understanding of healing beyond words through body awareness, creativity, nervous system science, and relational presence.

Registration Is Now Open for the LOUISIANA BODY SPEAK SYMPOSIUM 2026!

Reserve your spot today and save $50 by using the code EARLYBIRD at check out

The first 25 registrations receive reserved seating and bonus raffle ticket.

Visit our website to learn more about presenters and register: https://
cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/louisiana-body-speak-symposium-

03/18/2026

Excited to be joining an incredible group of speakers for the Body Speak Symposium ✨

Grateful to be part of a space centered on embodiment, healing, and connection.

Registration opens this Friday!

Sneak Peek!

Registration opens this Friday for the Louisiana Body Speak Symposium 2026

📅 July 17–18, 2026
📍 Southeastern Louisiana University

🌿 7 presenters
🌿 11 CEUs for social workers & counselors
🌿 Catered lunch both days
🌿 Raffle prizes & community connection

A two-day gathering exploring somatic, creative, and integrative approaches.

Save the date, save your spot and save $50 by using the code EARLYBIRD at checkout this Friday!

02/23/2026

Highly recommend this training, and it’s FREE!

MARCH DATE IS FREE FOR SOCIAL WORK MONTH! That means $0, no cost, complimentary, on the house. Whatever you want to call it, it’s my gift to YOU for all you do.

Parts in the Mirror: Transference & Countertransference

March 13, 2026
ONLINE
9:30 AM–12:45 PM (CST) via Zoom.

Join us for a grounded, experiential training exploring transference, countertransference, and the emotional integrity needed to navigate present day emotional repair & ethical decision-making.

3 CE Contact Hours

CE Approval for Social Workers: Cornerstone Counseling is an approved Continuing Education Provider by the Louisiana State Board of Social Work Examiners (LABSWE).

CE Approval for Counselors: This presentation has been approved for 3 CE clock hours in Diagnosis by the Louisiana Counseling Association.

Register and receive a complimentary copy of the ebook
Parts in the Mirror: The Intersection of Ethics & Emotional Integrity

Secure your link today: https://cornerstoneofdenhamsprings.com/parts-in-the-mirror/

02/08/2026

Financial stress lives in the body, not just the bank account.

01/23/2026

New Groups Starting in March | Online DBT Skills Group for Adults

Cornerstone Counseling & Wellness

Now accepting therapist referrals for our 8-week ONLINE DBT Skills Group, designed to support adult clients who benefit from structured, skills-based intervention alongside individual therapy.

This group provides practical, evidence-based tools for:
•Emotional regulation
•Distress tolerance
•Interpersonal effectiveness
•Mindful awareness and behavioral change

Ideal for clients seeking added structure, accountability, and skills practice beyond individual sessions.

Two Pathways Available:

• DBT Skills – Part 1 (Foundations): Covers core DBT skills and concepts, building a strong base for emotional awareness, coping, and behavioral change.
• DBT Plus – Part 2: For clients who have completed Part 1 or have prior DBT experience. This group focuses on deeper skill integration, real-life application, and advanced strategies. Grounded in DBT and extending beyond standard skills.

💻 Fully online
👥 Facilitated, supportive group setting
🧠 Skills-based, practical, and trauma-informed

Registration is now open. Clinicians are welcome to reach out to discuss client fit or referral questions.

🔗

The Power of Group Therapy at Cornerstone Counseling Growth doesn’t happen in isolation. At Cornerstone Counseling, we recognize that healing unfolds in connection—in spaces where experiences are w…

01/19/2026

I spent some time in the woods this week, and it reminded me how much my body and mind crave stillness. 🌲

If it feels right for you, I invite you to pause today.
Lower your shoulders. Unclench your jaw.
Even just a few breaths of quiet can help your nervous system reset. 🌿

01/19/2026

Incredibly honored to do the work I do, even more honored that it means something to our community. If you’d like to vote for Within The Cornerstone, I’d be so grateful.

Cornerstone Counseling has been nominated amongst many wonderful businesses for the Best of Baton Rouge annual vote for the people’s choice.

We’re grateful for this recognition of being a choice YOU have.

If voting is your thing and you have time today, visit the link below to cast your ballot 🎉

https://www.votebatonrouge.com/

01/07/2026

So grateful to be part of Cornerstone Counseling 🤍 Feeling the love from our community and thankful every day to do this work.

Vote once per day from January 5 through January 23.

01/06/2026

🩵

Self-Efficacy: The Skill That Changes Everything

Self-efficacy is the belief that “I can influence what happens next.”

Not control. A grounded confidence in your capacity to respond, choose, and adapt even when things are hard, messy or uncertain.

In therapy, we often see that distress isn’t just about what happened…
it’s about what it taught someone to believe about their own power, ability to cope, choose, and recover.

Common barriers to self-efficacy include:

• Chronic invalidation or being told your feelings were “too much”
• Repeated experiences of failure without support or repair
• Systems that reward compliance over curiosity
• Internalized messages around gender, race, body size, productivity, or worth
• Helping roles that prioritize caretaking others over trusting self

Trauma complicates this further.

Trauma, especially developmental, relational, or systemic trauma, can wire the nervous system toward survival rather than agency. When your body learns that choice wasn’t safe, self-efficacy doesn’t disappear… it goes offline.

Add social conditioning that teaches people to doubt themselves, defer to authority, or minimize their needs, and the result often looks like:

• “I don’t trust my decisions.”
• “I need reassurance before I act.”
• “I freeze, people-please, or shut down instead of choosing.”

Social media can quietly shape this too.
While it offers connection and information, it also:

• Encourages constant comparison and external validation
• Rewards certainty, speed, and performance over reflection
• Creates the illusion that everyone else “knows what they’re doing”
• Outsources intuition to algorithms, trends, and influencers

Over time, this can erode trust in one’s own timing, body cues, and inner authority. Especially for those already impacted by trauma or marginalization.

Why self-efficacy matters:

Research consistently shows that strong self-efficacy is linked to:

• Greater emotional regulation
• Increased follow-through and resilience
• Lower anxiety and depression
• Improved outcomes in therapy
• Sustainable change that lasts beyond the therapy room

For clinicians: building skills without restoring self-efficacy risks creating dependence rather than empowerment.
For clients: healing isn’t just feeling better, it’s trusting yourself again.

We don’t just ask “What’s wrong?”
We ask: “Where did your sense of agency get interrupted and how do we help you reclaim it safely?”

This isn’t a mindset hack.
It’s a nervous-system-informed, relational process.
And it’s one of the most powerful predictors of long-term healing we know.

(Photo: Lake Michigan Sunset)

01/05/2026

New year feels like a good time to reintroduce myself.

Hi, I’m Kristina, an LMSW and therapist practicing in Louisiana at Within The Cornerstone

I work with people feeling overwhelmed, stuck, or caught in self-criticism. Many are thoughtful and capable, yet still carry a heaviness that’s hard to name.

I believe strongly that the ways we cope make sense. Most of what we’re trying to “fix” once helped us survive. That belief shapes how I work. I pay close attention to the nervous system, to parts of the self that learned to protect, and to the body that holds what words don’t always reach.

I use EMDR, parts work, DBT skills, and somatic approaches, but what matters most to me is creating a space where nothing has to be forced. Where we can slow down, notice what’s happening, and move with curiosity instead of judgment. I care deeply about pacing, consent, and helping people feel safe enough to stay present with themselves.

This space is an extension of that work. I share language, reflections, and reminders around mental health. Not to fix or motivate, but to normalize what it’s like to be human.

I’m really glad you found your way here.

01/03/2026

Your nervous system doesn’t follow calendar years.

It responds to consistency, safety, and care.

This time of year often brings pressure to change, to do more, to be different. When that pressure shows up, judgment can take hold.

When judgment arises, try curiosity instead. Notice your body without needing to change it.

🩵My body is doing its best to protect me.
🩵My body can take this moment.

Healing grows through small moments of repair and gentle shifts over time.

You’re not behind because you noticed.
You’re listening.