About ME
I am a licensed independent clinical social worker(LICSW) licensed through the Minnesota Board of Social Work. We moved north back “home” to Ely in 2015. I grew up in Babbitt and Hibbing. I joined the United States Air Force (USAF), leaving MN for 40 years, coming back regularly once I had children to visit and maintain roots in MN.
After working for 10 years paramedic and respiratory therapist in the USAF, and another 20 years as a critical care respiratory therapist as a civilian, I returned to school at the age of 56 to obtain a master’s degree in social work. I interned in Minnesota at Bois Forte Reservation, and at the Fairview-Mesaba Clinic integrating mental health into the primary care setting. I received a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri- Columbia in 2016.
My social work training offers a systems approach to viewing people as part of a larger whole capable of healing and thriving in their lives. I primarily use Internal Family Systems (IFS) model for the past 6 years, and I am a certified L3 IFS therapist and consultant. I have experience in staffing IFS trainings and enjoy helping other therapists/practitioners learn the model, as I continue to learn from other lead trainers myself. Although I am also trained as an EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing) therapist, and an ART (Accelerated Resolution) therapist- my primary modality is IFS.
I take care of myself by knitting, weaving, cooking, practicing yoga, walking almost daily in the woods around my home, kayaking, canoeing , biking, and snowshoeing in the winter.
Internal Family Systems-
IFS Trainings
2018- PESI Frank Anderson Live 2 day IFS and Trauma
475: Retreat Style Level 1
Location: Tucson AZ and Albuquerque NM
Lead trainer: Paul Ginter, Mariel Pastor
Asst Trainer: Mary DuParri
Mar 2019
575: Level 2 Deepening and Expanding
Online
Pam Krause
Jim Andralis
Aug 2020
788 L3
Online
Dr Richard Schwartz
Lexi Rothman
3/7/2022
Other IFS trainings:
IFS Continuity 2019-current:
Using IFS to heal Relationships with our Bodies and food (Online course)
IFS Treatment for Sexual Abuse: Victims and Perpetrators (Online Course)
Healing Cultural Trauma with IFS (Online course)
Using IFS to Heal Our Relationships with Food and Body (Online Course)
A compassionate Approach to Trauma and Addictive Processes (Online Course)
The Art of negotiations in IFS sessions- Challenging Protectors and Workable Agreements (Online course)
IFS Continuity Introduction to Somatic IFS (Online course)
Intent, Impact, and Intercultural Competence: How to Successfully Navigate the Difference (Online course)
Direct Access: An Essential IFS Skill (Online Course)
Legacy Burdens with A Sinko
IFS Great Lakes Retreat - with several lead trainers ( Gardner, Ginter,O'Connell, Sykes, and Michi Rose)2019
A Spiritual Approach to Working With Parts, Character Development and Legacy Burdens”
presented by Kay Gardner, MA, Senior IFS Trainer on December 4, 2020
IFS in Groups by Chris Burris Senior IFS Trainer 6/11/2021
Critic Camp- Chris Burris Senior IFS Trainer Dec 3-5, 2021
Guides and Unattached Burdens study group with Bob Falconer May – July 2022 for 6 sessions.
Shame Camp – Toni Herbine- Blank, Martha Sweezy- Sept 2023
IFS Great Lakes Retreat 2024
PA for L 1 trainings
2021-661- Ginter and Agate
2022- 782- Gardner and Hassanali
2022-2023 834-Agate, Lundeberg and Reed
2023- 864- Agate, Petruk, Jimenez-Pride, Wildes
2024- 969- Agate, Kitchings
PA for L2
2024- Shame, Anxiety, and Depression with A Sinko, M Elkin, and G. Arad-Trutner
January 2025 - Deeping and Expanding with Jory Agate, Fran Booth and Sarah Jarvis
IFS Conference: 2021, 2022, 2023
Other trauma specific trainings through the University of MN School of Social Work:
Differential Diagnosis in Trauma 7/2020
Intersection of Trauma and Substance abuse 8/2020
Shh… Don’t tell anyone: Trauma and Domestic Violence 3/ 2021
Facing Shame Together: Healing power of the Therapeutic Relationship 2021
Practicing at the Intersections of Trauma, Identity, and Culture 2021