Kristin Dempsey is a Bay Area psychotherapist, counselor educator and trainer. Kristin has over three decades of experience working in community mental health settings and public K-12 schools providing mental health and substance use education and treatment services. She currently supports individuals and families in her San Francisco and Burlingame private practice offices as well as through telehealth. Kristin is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT), and she currently teaches motivational interviewing to behavioral health and other allied human services professionals. She is an adjunct professor at the Wright Institute’s Counseling Psychology Program and lecturing faculty at San Francisco State University. Kristin is the author of The Harm Reduction Workbook for Addiction (New Harbinger, 2024), co-author of Advancing Motivational Interviewing: An Experiential Skills Guide for Mental Health Professionals (PESI, April 2026) and worked with Ken Minkoff on The Mental Health and Substance Use Recovery Workbook (New Harbinger, May 2027). Kristin has provided group, individual, and family treatment services for people with co-occurring mental health and substance use issues since 1997, and she has helped implement co-occurring conditions program and policy changes in various leadership roles at San Mateo County Behavioral Health and Recovery Services. She currently continues to focus on addressing co-occurring conditions in clinical practice, consultation, and training.
Kristin L. Dempsey, EdD, LMFT, LPCC
