Staff Spotlight: Kate Perry

Born in Iowa, growing up “here and there and everywhere,” Kate is a graduate of John Marshall and has spent her adult life living and working in Rochester, Minnesota. Though she started her post-high school education in microbiology and chemistry, she was working in a Mayo Clinic Microbiology Lab when she had an “epiphany” that she wanted to become a therapist. She cannot say what it was while working in the lab that led her to this conclusion. Maybe it came from her mother’s work as a school counselor.

Kate interned at FSR in 2015. A year later she completed her master’s degree. She started at part-time FSR that same year saying she “hung around until they finally gave me a job.” Starting at Hawthorne Education Center, she eventually moved to Gage East. In 2022, Kate became Program Manager for Family and Community Based Therapists.

“I try to make sure therapy is as unique as the client themselves,” says Kate. “My priority in every session is to provide an inclusive and safe space to process successes and challenges." While she has several interests, her “greatest passion is working with the LGBTQIA+ community and helping find their safe spaces.”

Kate was attracted to FSR because she felt seen and heard here. She looks forward to coninuing here because she's found that “one of the strengths FSR has is there is always a look to how can we be a presence in the community is the beat way possible and how we can help as many people as we can and how do we do that.”