Nicholas Kenien, PHD, LPC, NCSP

Licensed Professional Counselor/School Psychologist

Phone: (717) 668-1801
email: kenienphd@gmail.com

Dr. Nick Kenien is a nationally certified school psychologist and a licensed professional counselor with a specialization in behavioral medicine.  He earned his PhD in health psychology in 2014, and a post-masters certification in school psychology in 1999.  He specializes in the diagnoses and management of learning disabilities, ADHD, emotional and behavioral disorders.  Dr. Kenien also specializes in chronic pain conditions, anxiety and mood, and their impact on everyday life.  Blending his experiences as a former collegiate athlete and coach with unique training in psychophysiology, Dr. Kenien offers sports and performance training for athletes and performers of all ages and levels.  Treatment modalities include Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy and, HRV biofeedback.

ABOUT US

                       Serving York, Lancaster, and Harrisburg

      Kenien Counseling, LLC

Jennifer Kenien, MA

Personal, Parent & Family Relationship Coach

Phone: (717) 779-5338
email: njkenien@msn.com

Jennifer earned a Master of Arts degree in Psychology from The Pennsylvania State University in 1998. She has over 20 years of experience practicing as a child and family therapist. Jennifer has extensive experience in the areas of trauma, attachment trauma, abandonment, adoption, abuse and neglect, marital conflict, and divorce.

Jennifer is passionate about providing personal, parent and family relationship coaching. She sees the inherent worth in each individual and seeks to instill a supportive, grace-filled, and solution-oriented approach to coach and guide client(s) toward the resolution of presenting problems or concerns.    

Frequently Asked Questions for Dr. Kenien

1. What is Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT)?

​Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) combines cognitive behavioral techniques with mindfulness strategies in order to help individuals better understand and manage their thoughts and emotions in order to achieve relief from feelings of distress.  In this therapy approach, people can learn how to use cognitive methods and mindfulness meditation to interrupt the automatic processes often triggering depression. 

MBCT helps participants learn how to recognize their sense of being and see themselves as separate from their thoughts and moods. This disconnect can allow people to become liberated from thought patterns in which the same negative messages may be replayed over and over. After developing an awareness of the separation between thoughts, emotions, and the self, people in treatment may find that while the self and the emotions may exist simultaneously, they do not have to exist within the same dimension. This insight can contribute to healing by helping individuals learn to interject positive thoughts into negative moods in order to disarm those negative moods. 

2. What is Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Biofeedback?

According to the the Association for Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback (AAPB), bofeedback is a process that enables an individual to learn how to change physiological activity for the purposes of improving health and performance. Precise instruments measure physiological activity such as brainwaves, heart function, breathing, muscle activity, and skin temperature. 

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Heart Rate Variability (HRV) Biofeedback is a specific modality of biofeedback that visually displays an individual's autonomic nervous system functioning on a computer screen. Through the use of a simple sensor that is attached to the ear, one is able to view the effect of anxiety, anger, and other negative emotional states on their body. Abnormal HRV signifies that the body's stress response is not optimal resulting in potentially more harmful effects of chronic stress and increased risk of stress-related medical or mental disorders such as heart disease, depressed mood, generalized anxiety, panic disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). HRV biofeedback is a technique that has grown out of this insight and aims to optimize HRV so that individuals can better manage stress and have fewer and less severe diseases caused by chronic stress. Dr. Kenien demonstrates various techniques that teach the client to balance the interactions between their brain and body. Once this balance is achieved, individuals are able to think better, solve problems better, and control their emotions more effectively.

3. What is Sports & Performance Counseling?

Whether you play on a team, such as in soccer, basketball or baseball, or compete individually, such as in tennis, golf, gymnastics or triathlons, athletes sometimes need assistance to help them perform at their best. If your performances are not at the level you expect given your physical training and technical skills or you are not enjoying practices and competitions and find yourself lacking motivation to train, you may benefit from working with Dr. Kenien. Sports & Performance Counseling may help the athlete/performer:

Improve performance consistency;
Create effective practice habits;
Improve communication skills;
Enhance motivation;
Fine tune focus; &
Gain ability to perform in pressure situations.

Dr. Kenien has had the forture to work with several athletes competing at the highest levels of their scholastic and collegiate careers.  From golfers and soccer players competing for national rankings, to sports officials striving to achieve licenses at the intercollegiate and Olympic levels, to swimmers and tennis players working to overcome anxiety and obtain or reclaim confidence, Dr. Kenien seeks for every athlete the reclaiming of joy and flow in their competitive journey.  He draws upon his training in the managment of anxiety, mind-body medicine, and his years as a a competitive athlete.  Dr. Kenien achieved success on the soccer field as a previous state semi-finalist in soccer, and in tennis, being named captain, Most Valuable Player, and playing number one singles for his varsity high school and college teams.  He has also head coached varisty tennis teams at both the collegiate and high school varsity levels.

​“It’s not up to me whether I win or lose. Ultimately, this might not be my day. And is is that philosophy towards sports, something that I really truly live by. I am emotional. I want to win. I am hungry. I am a competitor. I have that fire. But deep down, I truly enjoy the art of competing so much more than the result.” –Apolo Ohno

​“I am building a fire, and every day I train, I add more fuel. At just the right moment, I light the match.” –Mia Hamm