As the Director of Youth Therapy Services, Emily leads a team of dedicated therapists and social workers providing trauma-informed care to children and families. With a master’s degree in social work and extensive experience in both clinical and administrative roles, Emily is committed to ensuring youth and their families receive compassionate, effective support tailored to their needs.

Emily’s journey into therapy and leadership was shaped by a lifelong desire to support children and families, coupled with personal experiences that deepened her empathy and understanding. Beginning her career as a social worker and later transitioning into therapy, Emily has a unique perspective on the challenges faced by individuals navigating complex systems. Her work emphasizes creating a shame-free, supportive environment for those seeking help, with a focus on empowering clients to build confidence, resilience, and self-worth.

In her leadership role, Emily manages a growing team of therapists, provides clinical and administrative supervision, and ensures that the program helps meet the needs of the community. She collaborates with schools, public health agencies, and other community organizations to identify trends, address gaps, and develop innovative solutions for youth and family services. Emily also oversees grant management, budgeting, and staff training, ensuring her team remains equipped to provide high-quality care.

Emily draws on her personal experiences with trauma and her professional training to create a safe space for clients to process their emotions, rebuild their lives, and discover their inner strength.

In addition to her clinical and leadership work, Emily is passionate about mentoring the next generation of therapists. She views supervision as an opportunity to give back to the profession, fostering growth, learning, and innovation within her team.

For Emily, the heart of her work is serving others—whether through direct client care, empowering her team, or collaborating with community partners to create a brighter future for children and families.

Evidence-based therapies: TF-CBT, EMDR, CBT, play-based therapies, Bounce Back, CBITS, and Anger Coping

Areas of focus: Trauma, depression, anxiety, grief, LGBTQIA+

Specializing in trauma recovery, child bullying, sexual assault and domestic violence, Felix is dedicated to providing creative, compassionate care to CVIC’s youth clients age kindergarten to 18.

Certified in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Bounce Back, and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), Felix believes in creating a safe, nonjudgmental environment where clients of any age and their caregivers can take a break to focus on exploring hurtful thoughts and behaviors related to abuse or trauma. Guided by Carl Rogers’ principles of unconditional positive regard, Felix ensures his clients feel heard, deeply valued, and strongly supported .

Felix’s journey into therapy began during his transition out of the U.S. Air Force where he worked at a Veteran’s Administration hospital and volunteered on a suicide prevention hot line. He soon recognized a desire to pursue a helping profession.

Since joining CVIC, clients often describe Felix as patient, calming, and especially skilled at working with children. His approach incorporates play therapy, sand tray therapy and origami to encourage creative emotional exploration. Felix also integrates faith-based healing for those who seek to explore spirituality in their path to wellness.

Evidence-based therapies: TF-CBT, EMDR, CBT, play-based therapies, Bounce Back, CBITS, and Anger Coping

Areas of focus: bullying, sexual assault and domestic violence, play therapy and faith-based healing

Jade brings a unique blend of compassion and curiosity to her work as a therapist at CVIC where she provides culturally competent, trauma-informed care to support individuals as young as 18 months old through adulthood. 

Jade specializes in working with clients dealing with trauma, grief, anxiety, and clients identifying as LGBTQ+. Inspired by a transformative experience with her own therapist during her teenage years, Jade pursued a career in mental health to help others make sense of their lives.

Jade also has a deep passion for understanding how the brain and body respond to trauma, weaving neuroscience into her work to demystify the mind’s survival mechanisms. Jade’s ability to explain the biological underpinnings of trauma empowers her clients to better understand themselves, fostering self-compassion and resilience.

In therapy, Jade sees her role as a partner in the client’s journey—as well as the caregiver’s—and believes her clients are the experts in their own lives. Her ultimate goal is to help clients understand what’s happening in their brains and bodies, giving them the tools to take back control and confidently express their needs.

Evidence-based therapies: EMDR, TF-CBT, PCIT

Areas of focus: trauma informed care and cultural competency

Leah is a compassionate and creative therapist dedicated to supporting survivors of violence and trauma and their care partners. As a former family advocate and rural advocate, Leah combines their professional expertise as a social worker and counselor with their lived experience to offer a deeply empathetic approach to therapy.

As a survivor of violence, Leah understands how difficult it can be to see the future in those moments, and their personal connection with violence furthers their commitment to helping others. Their therapeutic style is person-centered and highly adaptable. Whether clients are ready to take significant steps or need support coping in the moment, Leah provides a supportive and nonjudgmental environment for clients to heal.

Drawing from their own positive experiences with art therapy, Leah offers creative methods like drawing, painting, and clay work in sessions, knowing that art can be an incredibly effective way to reveal insights that words alone can’t uncover.

Leah’s ultimate goal is to help clients and caregivers feel safe, empowered, and hopeful as they navigate their healing journey. They believe in the power of connection and creativity to foster resilience and growth, ensuring each client’s unique needs and preferences guide the therapeutic process.

Evidence-based therapies: EMDR, TF-CBT, Bounce Back

Areas of focus: rural outreach, LGBTQIA+, gender-affirming care, trauma, depression, anxiety, life transitions, communication, ADHD, coping skills, grief

Maura is a licensed master social worker serving clients age 3+ who sees the hope and beauty in watching a child heal from hardship. With a deep understanding of how a child’s living environment affects healthy brain development, Maura focuses on emotional dysfunction related to both traumatic events and unhealthy generational patterns, believing each of her clients is worthy of healing after hardship.

While working as a child and family social worker and seeing firsthand the necessity for effective and compassionate youth mental health support in her community, Maura recognized an opportunity to help on an individual level as a youth therapist. With an understanding that many adults must work very hard later in life to address their own childhood traumas, Maura uses evidence-based therapies and integrates a wide array of tools, such as play-based, polyvagal, somatic and mindfulness, art and music therapy, to both disrupt and prevent youth clients from further developing unhealthy patterns.

Maura knows how difficult it can be for parents to do their best under great stress. Because of this, Maura takes a compassionate, judgment-free approach to collaborating and problem-solving with parents, guardians and other caregivers.

Clients consider Maura to be playful and often comment about how much fun they have in sessions together. Taking a light, energetic approach with hard work at the center, Maura welcomes her clients to come as they are and works to promote individual agency with wisdom, patience and play.

Evidence-based therapies: TFCBT, CBT, play-based therapies, expressive therapies, solution-focused therapies, training in somatic work

Areas of focus: Youth ages 3+, Attachment Issues, Trauma, Neurodivergence, LGBTQIA+, Complex Trauma, Group-based interventions