Kelly Cervenec Spears

A Lexington native and UK alumna, Cervenec Spears brings more than a decade of clinical and teaching experience to the classroom. After completing her MSW at UK, she began her career at UK HealthCare Good Samaritan Hospital as a case manager and discharge planner on an interdisciplinary rounding team. While in this role, she developed an interest in providing brief, solution-focused therapy for patients undergoing long-term IV antibiotic therapy related to substance use.

Her passion for supporting individuals with opioid use disorders led her to the UK Polk-Dalton Clinic, where she provided therapy to pregnant and postpartum women and helped launch a pilot program embedding medication-assisted treatment (MAT) into primary care.

She later transitioned to private practice at LifeStance Health, where she has treated a wide range of mental health conditions and life transitions, including anxiety, depression, trauma, ADHD, bipolar disorder, substance use disorders, women’s health issues, and grief.

In addition to her clinical work, Cervenec Spears has taught part-time with CoSW for more than five years, primarily within the MSW program, and now with the BASW program.

Cervenec Spears holds a BA in sociology from Hanover College and an MSW with a clinical concentration from the University of Kentucky.

Outside of her professional life, she has visited 16 countries, hiked part of the Appalachian Trail, run six mini-marathons, and performs with a local a cappella group. She and her husband live in Lexington with their young son and daughter.