STAFF - Sun Prairie

Ashley Stankey, 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 through Friday
Derek Hefner, MSW, CAPSW


Emily Krause, 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
Knou Xiong, MSW, CAPSW


Lauren Biro, 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 will be available Monday through Friday
Leah Garrison, MA (She/Her/Hers)

CLINICAL INTERNS
Jodi Stacey
Jodi is an MFT intern with Healing Hearts. She works with individuals of all ages. In her free time, Jodi enjoys playing soccer, is an avid tea drinker, and cheers on the Badgers, Packers, and Brewers!


Victoria Claas, 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.
K9 COUNSELORS
Ace, Rottweiler, CGC, CGCA, CGCU, THDX, Certified good boy
Patton, All American Mix, CGC, CGCA, CGCU, Certified good boy

OFFICE STAFF
Rex Connely, Operations Manager
Rex has worked in the healthcare industry since 2002. He has extensive experience in safety and training and worked several years in child, adolescent, and adult psychiatry programs. His most recent work experience was Director of Operations at a multicomplex assisted living facility specializing in memory care. Rex enjoys “helping people help others” and that is what brought him to Healing Hearts. Rex’s role is to give business structure and support to our team of therapists so they may give the best possible care to their clients and operational support to the administrative side.
Outside of work, Rex enjoys spending time with his wife of 22 years and 3 children. Their favorite family activity is to travel and experience diverse places of interest throughout our country and the world. His entire family has been to all 50 states and nearly all national parks.
Rex is available Monday – Thursday

