Keana Berkhalter, LPC
Hey!
I’m Keana Berkhalter, a Milwaukee native, founder of State of Wellness LLC, and Licensed Professional Counselor who helps individuals better understand and change unhealthy patterns, build emotional regulation skills, and reconnect with themselves through body awareness and breathing-based practices.
The Story Behind State of Wellness
In 2017, I began reflecting more deeply on my own upbringing, my state of mind at the time, and the people I interacted with throughout Milwaukee. Whether it was family, friends, coworkers, or strangers encountered in passing, students struggling to focus in violence-ridden schools, exhausted teachers and burnt-out staff while serving as an educator and mentor within Milwaukee Public Schools, distressed patients while working as a patient care advocate at Rogers Behavioral Health, or confused and frustrated veterans while serving as a vocational rehabilitation counselor at the Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Administration Medical Center, I began noticing a common pattern — we were surviving. Most people sincerely wanted things to improve and were taking steps to feel better, yet many found themselves falling back into the same unhealthy patterns and routines.
That realization inspired me to begin my own healing journey through reconnecting to my body and breath while further educating myself on the effects of stress and trauma. In 2023, I earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Marquette University. My additional training includes mindfulness, somatic practices, trauma-informed care, Embody Lab training, and Oxygen Advantage breathing techniques.
Although Milwaukee has great organizations and resources that support individuals struggling with mental health challenges, I wanted to create a resource I personally believed spoke more directly to the root of the issue. Most unhealthy patterns are not simply bad habits or personal failures, but learned survival responses shaped by toxic stress, trauma, and destructive conditioning. Over time, many people lose touch with themselves, even believing the patterns they developed while trying to survive are actually who they are (now that’s another story for another time), making it extremely difficult to overcome challenges and create lasting change.
That vision eventually became State of Wellness LLC a psychotherapy practice focused on helping individuals who feel stuck in unhealthy patterns better understand where those patterns come from and learn practical ways to reconnect with the body, breath, and present moment to begin building healthier patterns and ways of living.