About Stacy

Faithful. Compassionate. Holistic. Catholic.

Providing Support for Individuals and Couples

I am  a Catholic Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with extensive experience in trauma recovery. Combining clinical expertise with compassion, I specialize in helping clients navigate life’s challenges and heal from past wounds.  I believe that authentic healing honors both sound psychological science and the truth of the human person as created in the image and likeness of God.

Why Choose Faith-Informed Therapy?

Integrating Catholic values into therapy allows clients to explore healing in alignment with their faith. I provide a safe space where you can explore healing without compromising your faith. My approach supports emotional, relational, and spiritual growth.

My approach integrates evidence-based therapy with a deeply rooted respect for Catholic teaching, the dignity of the human person, and the importance of marriage and family life.

I respect your spiritual journey while providing professional mental health support, helping you grow emotionally, relationally, and spiritually.

My role as your therapist is to provide an environment of safety, trust, and mutual respect from which we work together to explore your world. I believe that everyone needs help once in a while and everyone deserves to be heard, seen, valued, and feel an inherent sense of value.  We work collaboratively to find new perspectives and options from which you may choose in order to change your life situation according to the goals you establish.

I see the inherent worth, wisdom, and strengths in each person and Hope in the Healing process.

Beliefs I hold true;

  • We are created in the likeness and image of God. God wants us to live fully in relationship with him others.
  • It is God’s wish that everyone is able to access and use the unique gifts that talents given to us by Him.
  •  I see healing as a holistic process which involves the whole person – body, soul, and mind.
  • I believe that life is a journey and that each person is capable of creating change.
  • I believe that every person has the innate ability to heal from trauma and the past.
  • I believe that every person deserves to have someone witness their healing process.
  • I believe that feeling safe, accepted, understood, and validated is essential for a person to heal.
  • I believe that everyone deserves to be in an accepting relationship with themselves and what stems from growth is better relationships with others.
  • I believe in the innate wisdom of each person and that they are in control of their own healing journey.

License and Certifications

  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist
  • Transforming Touch® Practitioner (TTP) and TEB Assistant
  • Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner (SEP)
  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT)
  • Minnesota State Nursing License, Registered Nurse and Public Health Nurse

Affiliations  

  • American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT)
  • Co-Regulating Touch/Transforming Touch®

Areas of Practice

I provide therapy for individuals and couples dealing with:

  • Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex Trauma
  • Childhood Abuse
  • Attachment injuries from childhood
  • Developmental trauma
  • Complex Trauma
  • Anxiety and Panic Disorders
  • Anxiety and Depression
  • Relationship and Marital Challenges
  • Health Difficulties
  • Chronic Illnesses
  • Medical Trauma
  • Grief and Loss
  • Life Transitions
  • Phobias
  • Grief and Loss
  • Negative Self-Beliefs
  • Addiction and Substance Abuse

Training:

  • Transforming Touch®, Stephen J. Terrell, MS, LPC, RPT, SEP ~ Supportive healing through gentle, therapeutic touch
  • Transforming the Experience-Based Brain (TEB)
  • Somatic Experiencing® (SE) ~  Psychobiological method for trauma resolution which gently helps to releases trauma held in the body. (advanced training, and post-advanced training with Peter Levine)
  • EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) ~ Including Neuroscience Diagnosis, and Best Practice for successful Trauma Treatment, Linda Curran, BCPC, LPC, CAC-D, CCDP
  • Post Induction Therapy (PIT) ~ PIT is a holistic approach that looks at the underlying issues of trauma when addressing addictions and traumatic experiences.
  • Attachment-Focused Therapy ~ Heal attachment wounds and foster secure connections
  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) ~ Couples therapy that deepen emotional relational bonds
  • Relational Life Therapy (RLT) ~ Couples therapy that improve relationship satisfaction
  • Trauma, Attachment & Neuroscience, Bessel A. van der Kolk
  • Catechetical Institute, Pillars Program ~ Class of St. Catherine of Siena ( 2-year foundational Pillars Program).
  • Encounter School of Ministry (in training) ~ Encounter School of Ministry is a two-discipleship program offered by Encounter Ministries.  Designed and established from the heart of Encounter Ministries, this school draws from the richness of our Catholic heritage as we seek to teach, equip, and activate disciples to demonstrate the love of God through the power of the Holy Spirit in their spheres of influence. Encounter School of Ministry is in conformity with the teachings and traditions of the Catholic Church.

About Stacy

I am warm, calm, compassionate, and non-judgmental and take a holistic approach and collaborative approach to change, healing, emotional, and spiritual wellness. I approach therapy from a systemic perspective, believing that people work in relationship systems and each person in the relationship is important to the balance of the relationship. I also work from a neurobiological and spiritual perspective, paying close attention to the mind-body-spirit connection. 

I have been married for to my husband for 36 years and together have raised three children together, now adults.  I am blessed to have one grandbaby.   I love spending time with my family and being a grandma.   I enjoy rock climbing, hiking, gardening, traveling, and reading.  I also love spend time serving my faith community.

Life is a journey with many seasons.  I, too, have had a difficult past with both a history of attachment injuries and trauma.  What I have learned is that we want to be present with what is important for us to not constantly dealing with the hurts of the past.  Choosing healing is a gift to give yourself.

As Judith Lewis Herman (grandmother of trauma healing) tells survivors, “It is bad enough that you were robbed of your childhood, it is unacceptable to also lose your opportunity to live in the present”. 

Take the First Step Toward Healing

Whether you are struggling with developmental trauma, trauma, relationship issues, or life transitions, I provide a compassionate, professional space to begin your journey toward emotional and spiritual wholeness.

Finding the right therapist is so important.  Contact me to set up a Free-30 minute No-Obligation Consultation/Visit to make sure we are a fit.  During this Consultation/Visit, you will be able to tell me a bit about your story and your needs for therapy and ask any questions you may have.  I will share more about how I work and what our work together will look like.

To set up a free 30-minute No-Obligation Consultation/Visit; fill out the contact information or call me at 952-215-5208. or email me direct at info@hopeinhealing.org

Contact Stacy today to schedule a session and start your path toward healing

Significant professionals that have informed and influenced my work:

  • Stephen J. Terrell, MS, LPC, RPT, SEP,  and Kathy L. Kain authors of Nurturing Resilience: Helping Clients Move Forward from Developmental Trauma–An Integrative Somatic Approach.
  • Dr. Peter A. Levine author of In an Unspoken Voice: How the Body Releases Trauma and Restores Goodness and Waking the Tiger.  His work focuses on the body’s perceived body sensations (or somatic experiences) and the connection between the effects of trauma and the autonomic nervous system.
  • Terry Real, Relational Life Institute
  • author of The New Rules of Marriage, Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship, Us: Getting Past You & Me to Build a More Loving Relationship, and I Don’t Want to Talk About It: Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression.
  • Allan N. Schore is on the clinical faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and at the UCLA Center for Culture, Brain, and Development.  His work on the Regulation Theory is grounded in neuroscience and developmental psychoanalysis.  His work focuses on the development of the self.   He is the author of Affect Regulation and the Origin of the Self, Affect Dysregulation and Disorders of the Self, Affect Regulation and the Repair of the Self, and The Science of the Art of Psychotherapy.
  • Dr. Daniel J. Siegel is the clinical professor of psychiatry at the UCLA School of Medicine and Executive Director of the Mindsight Institute.  His work has brought together the theories of interpersonal neurobiology, developmental psychology, mindfulness, and traumatology.  Dr. Siegel is the author of Mindsight: The New Science of Personal Transformation and co-author of Healing Trauma: Attachment, Mind, Body and Brain, The Whole-Brain Child, 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind and many other publications.
  • Dr. Stephen Porges and his Polyvagal Theory outlines the function of the automatic nervous system and the connection to stress and trauma experiences.
  • Dr. Susan Johnson and Dr. Les Greenberg developers of Emotionally Focused Therapy which combines humanistic psychology, family systems and attachment theory for work with relationship therapy. Susan Johnson authored Hold me Tight and Love Sense and Dr. Les Greenberg the author of Emotion-Focused Therapy (Theories of Psychotherapy)
  • Dr. Bessel A. van der Kolk, founder and Medical Director of the Trauma Center, is internationally recognized leader in the field of psychological trauma.  He is the author of The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma and extensive other publications on psychological trauma.
  • Dr. Robert Scaer author of The Body Bears the Burden: Trauma, Dissociation, and Disease showing the connection and somatic responses to of traumatic stress.
  • Dr. Pat Ogden and Dr. Janina Fisher authors of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy: Interventions for Trauma and Attachment.  Their work draws from somatic therapies, neuroscience, attachment theory, and cognitive approaches.
  • Babette Rothschild, M.S.W, body-psychotherapist and specialist educator in the treatment of trauma and P.T.S.D.  She is the author of The Body Remembers and creator/editor of the 8 Keys Self-Help Series.
  • John Bowlby the founder of the Attachment Theory that describes  relationships and interconnectedness between human beings and how we respond when we are hurt, perceive a threat and when we are separated from the ones that we love.
  • Pia Melody author of Facing Codependence: What It Is, Where It Comes from, How It Sabotages Our Lives, The Intimacy Factor: The Ground Rules for Overcoming the Obstacles to Truth, Respect, and Lasting Love, Facing Love Addiction: Giving Yourself the Power to Change the Way You Love, and Facing Love Addiction: Giving Yourself the Power to Change the Way You Love.  Her work is revolutionary in helping people understand how our past history/childhood influences our day to day life in a way that impacts our relationship and how are are in the world.