About Us

Dr. Kersti Spjut

After growing up in sunny southern California, I decided to swap warm weather for snow by moving to New Hampshire for college. At Dartmouth College, I majored in Neuroscience and minored in German studies, receiving my BA in 2009. As an undergraduate, I worked in a research lab studying the mating behavior of rats. While I enjoyed this research experience (and it made for great dinner conversation!), I realized that I’d prefer to further my professional interests in brains, behavior, and sexual health with people rather than animals. 

This led me to complete a doctorate in Clinical Psychology at Brigham Young University (BYU) in 2017, where my research focused on relationship health and sexual functioning. I then completed a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Child Psychology in 2018 at Wasatch Pediatrics in Draper, Utah.

I have experience with many treatment and testing issues, including psychosexual risk assessment for juveniles, family court evaluations, school psychology, residential treatment, behavioral health, and interdisciplinary care. I am skilled in individual, couple, and group psychotherapy and have worked with ages five through adulthood.

In addition to my work at Utah Excel Psychology, I am an Assistant Clinical Professor at BYU’s Counseling and Psychological Services, where I supervise psychology doctoral students in advanced psychological assessment. I have taught courses such as Psychology of Gender, Intuitive Eating and Body Image, Psychological Testing, Personality Assessment (graduate level), Writing in Psychology, and Counseling Multicultural and Diverse Populations. 

My clinical interests include sexual health, out-of-control sexual behaviors (such as unwanted pornography use), perfectionism, body image, mindfulness, and anxiety. I am LGBTQ-affirming and use a Health-At-Every-Size (HAES) framework in my practice. I also have Type 1 Diabetes and am interested in the link between chronic illness and mental health. I have presented to national diabetes educator conferences on the connection between diabetes management and perfectionism, suicidality, eating disorders, and body image distress. 

I love psychological testing, because it feels like detective work—digging deep, gathering the clues, and putting the pieces together to figure out what’s really going on. I view each testing client as a whole person with strengths, a full life, and an important history. I hope you will walk away knowing you are not defined by your diagnosis while also gaining the clarity, hope, and resources a diagnosis can bring.

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