Dr. Keley Smith-Keller

Dr. Keley Smith-Keller is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in South Dakota with 30 years of experience. She focuses on helping people make practical life and career choices that lead to more satisfying days. She has a master's degree in counseling and a doctorate in adult and higher education, and she brings that background to conversations about work, relationships, and personal goals.

Her past work includes roles in higher education where she supported adults adjusting to college life, managing anxiety, and planning careers. She emphasizes clear, goal-oriented conversations and uses writing as a tool to deepen understanding. Writing exercises and chat-based reflection are part of how she helps people process feelings and plan next steps.

In sessions she uses narrative and solution-focused approaches. That means she helps people tell the story of their life in ways that highlight strengths and practical next steps. She asks questions that point toward a preferred future and breaks goals into small, doable changes.

She also draws on dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness methods when they fit a person's needs. Those approaches can help with emotion regulation, stress, and everyday coping. People who want a mix of practical planning and reflective work may find this style useful.

Dr. Smith-Keller encourages clients to use writing between sessions to track progress and notice patterns. She frames therapy as collaborative and geared toward clear, achievable changes. If you want help with anger, stress, career decisions, or life changes, she offers a steady, experienced approach.

How these approaches translate to online therapy

Dr. Smith-Keller uses narrative therapy to help people tell and reshape the story of their lives. That often means identifying repeating patterns, naming strengths, and finding new ways to describe difficult experiences so small changes become visible. Solution-focused therapy is practical and forward-looking; she works with clients to set short-term goals and try concrete steps between sessions.

She also borrows methods from dialectical behavior therapy and mindfulness when helpful, such as simple skills for managing strong emotions and short exercises to bring attention back to the present moment. Together, these approaches support work on anger, stress, career choices, and life transitions in clear, doable ways.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. She will collaborate with each person to pick methods that match their goals, preferences, and daily life. That discussion can shift over time as needs change rather than staying fixed from the start.

Session formats are not listed in the biography, so confirm current options before booking. Many people appreciate online therapy for fitting sessions into busy schedules, avoiding travel time, and using written work between appointments. Writing prompts and chat-based reflection are already part of her approach and can make online work especially practical for tracking progress and planning steps.