OUR TEAM

Ashley, MS, LPC-IT

Ashley loves working with preschool and elementary school kids. When she meets kids, she gets excited about helping them meet their full potential. She excels at looking beyond the behaviors and identifying underlying strengths. Ashley enjoys the energy kids bring to sessions and loves using a creative approach to make a change. As an empathic listener, she seeks to genuinely understand kids and their families. Ashley holds a Master’s in Art Therapy and enjoys utilizing the creative process as a means of facilitating the exploration of difficult emotions, regulating mood, and promoting personal growth.

Ashley has had five years of experience using ABA techniques with young children on the autism spectrum. She has also facilitated art therapy groups for individuals living with cognitive and physical disabilities and has worked to address trauma in youth and adults who experienced homelessness. Ashley utilizes a person-centered approach while drawing upon techniques from CBT, DBT, and play therapy.

Ashley is available Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Leah, MA, LPC-IT (She/Her/Hers)

Leah has been a part of Healing Hearts since 2020 and works towards creating a welcoming and supportive environment. She has primarily worked with individuals 8 years old and up and seeks to provide a client-centered focus while drawing on an individual’s strengths. Leah holds a passion for working with individuals who are within the LGBTQ+ community or are going through identity exploration. She recognizes that understanding yourself and your identity can create a mix of emotions, and yet it can be an exciting time of self-discovery. She additionally has experience with working with anxiety, social anxiety, high avoidance, depression, PTSD, traumatic life events, improving communication, social skills, exposure-based interventions, self-compassion, and self-esteem. Leah approaches her work with patience, humor, and being open-minded.

Leah trained with author and researcher, Dr. Arthur Becker-Weidman in Family Focused Attachment Therapy. In addition, Leah has trained in the Integrated Listening and Safe and Sound Programs.

Out of work, Leah enjoys walking her dog, listening to audiobooks or podcasts, watching anime, and trying new recipes.

Leah is available Monday-Friday.

Emily, MSW, LCSW

Building a positive and trusting therapeutic relationship as a vehicle for growth is at the core of Emily’s practice. She is compassionate about providing clients with a warm, supportive space to explore and discover the possibility of change. Emily enjoys working with clients to find helpful tools and strategies to cope with challenges. She is dedicated to identifying and building on clients’ strengths, promoting self-awareness, and helping clients build meaningful relationships.

Emily is a WI Licensed Clinical Social Worker who joined our team in 2018. She currently is working with adult clients. She has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and adults in a variety of settings and has experience helping people with a wide range of psychological and emotional difficulties. Emily uses a humanistic and strengths-based perspective and employs a range of approaches including solution-focused, mindfulness, and cognitive behavioral techniques.

Emily is available Tuesday and Friday

Victoria, MSE

Victoria is an intern at Healing Hearts who enjoys working with clients from age six through adulthood. Victoria is interested in connecting with, engaging, and empowering clients to learn new skills and build self- and social awareness. She likes to focus on strengths, utilize positive thinking, and incorporate mindfulness and yoga movements and principles. She primarily uses (CBT) and can incorporate additional approaches.

 

Victoria has work experience as a middle and high school counselor. She has also worked with children on the autism spectrum in a play-based format, and she has worked with emergency mental health support. She is currently in her internship for mental health counseling. Victoria has experience working with social and emotional skills, regulation through movement, anxiety, depression, ADHD, academic struggles, career exploration, parent support, and crisis intervention.

Victoria is available Monday and Wednesday evenings and every other Saturday.

Lauren, MSW, CAPSW

Seeking out therapy can feel daunting. Lauren’s work as a therapist is motivated by the understanding that everyone has skills to develop and could use a supportive environment to grow. Lauren holds a Master’s of Social Work and Bachelors of Arts in psychology and social welfare from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her main experience involves working with adults experiencing substance-abuse-related concerns and crisis mental health. Most recently she worked with adults who were coming out of the prison system that was struggling with addiction and general mental health concerns.

She primarily uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) but can incorporate a variety of other approaches including dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) skills, problem-solving and suicide prevention, person-centered planning, and more. Lauren wants to incorporate important elements of your identity including your culture, faith/spirituality, and unique characteristics of yourself.

Lauren has worked with individuals suffering from depression, anxiety, adjustment and stress, family development and parenting, trauma and abuse, suicidal thoughts and self-harm, personality disorders, identifying issues and self-confidence, as well as substance abuse concerns.

Lauren is available Monday-Thursday.

Mary, MA

Mary likes to create a sense of connection so you feel safe in exploring and building upon your innate capabilities of healing, progress, and achieving your goals. She values a holistic approach to treatment and focuses on what has been working for you and helps you identify your strengths.

Mary has extensive experience working with children through grief and loss, domestic violence, anger, depression, attachment, adoption and behavioral challenges. Mary has worked for years with families, children and teens with a mindfulness-based awareness that assists in appropriate discernment of diagnosis, treatment and therapy. Her therapeutic approach incorporates creative arts therapies, modalities of play therapy, behavioral based interventions, and family systems theory. Mary’s perspective is attuned to assisting and supporting families in discovering what is already inherent and healthy within to create and maintain their own healing and fostering a healthy sense and empowerment in relationship to their present goals and challenges in treatment.

Mary is available Monday-Friday.

Jodi, MFT, LMFT-IT

Jodi has always had a passion for working with children and helping them cope with life events. She loves to use play-based, sensory-based, and art-based interventions in therapy.

She has experience using play to help children cope with the stressful and unexpected events within hospitalization, and extended support to parents and siblings of hospitalized children. Jodi also has experience providing play-based therapy for children with autism. She has also worked closely with clients and their families to provide family centered therapy, and ensured that parents felt supported throughout the therapy process.

Jodi is available Monday-Thursday.

CLINICAL INTERN

PHOTO COMING SOON

Nicole - Intern

Nicole has a Bachelor’s Degree in Public Health and anticipates graduating with her Master’s of Social Work degree in May 2024. Nicole most recently provided case management for individuals with significant mental health-related issues. She also has experience working in schools where she provided anti-oppressive and trauma-informed support for racially and gender-diverse teens seeking mental health, sexual health, and peer support during and after school. She conducted research regarding active classroom and mindfulness techniques and has written for grants to support mental health treatment in schools.  Nicole will be starting with Healing Hearts at the end of August, 2023. 

K9 COUNSELORS

Ace, Rottweiler, CGC, CGCA, CGCU, THDX, Certified good boy

Patton, All American Mix, CGC, CGCA, CGCU, Certified good boy

Ace (left, Rottweiler) and Patton (right, Mix) are a part of our team as K-9 counselors. They also volunteer their time as GoTEAM Therapy Dogs. Over the past 5 years, Healing Hearts has experienced the benefit of having therapy dogs in the clinic. Research has identified the presence of a well-trained therapy dog can lower cortisol, adrenaline, and decrease stress. We have already noticed a HUGE difference with our staff and hope you have too! Ace is available on an on-call basis. Patton can be seen in the clinic on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Both dogs are available for individual sessions on a case-by-case basis as approved by the Therapist and the Clinical Director.

OFFICE STAFF

Amanda, Billing Specialist/Bookkeeper

Amanda enjoys working with the people at Healing Hearts. Many have become like family, and she loves watching them continue to make a positive difference in the lives of friends, families, and the community. Amanda has been with Healing Hearts since 2011. She is the clinics Billing Specialist and manages patient accounts and billing records at Healing Hearts. Amanda has a Liberal Arts Degree, Civil Engineering Technician Degree, and a Medical Billing Specialist certificate.

Yulisa, Receptionist

Yulisa has experience in the hospitality industry and has enjoyed helping others have a great experience. Her goal is to help you feel welcomed. You will find that Yulisa is outgoing, friendly, professional and has enthusiasm for helping others. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her nephews and connecting with family. 
Yulisa Gamillo

Nicole, Administrative Manager

Nicole has worked with Healing Hearts since 2022. She holds degrees in History and Behavioral Health. Prior to Healing Hearts, Nicole spent 6 years working with two Members of Congress in Texas. She also spent time working at a Behavioral Health Clinic as a Mental Health First Aid instructor. Nicole loves to connect with people and help reduce the stigma surrounding mental health. Nicole is also the owner/handler for K9 Counselor Patton.