Who We Are

Gillian Koch, M.Ed, LPCC

President

Position Expires: October 31, 2022

Contact @ presidentmnca@gmail.com

Gillian is licensed as Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and works as a therapist at Minnesota Clinic for Health and Wellness (in New Brighton, MN). Her clinical experience includes working with adolescents and adults in outpatient clinics and in a college counseling center. Her clinical interests include working with young adults and working with clients experiencing grief, loss, and/or life transitions. She works to create a warm, welcoming environment in her practice and cares deeply about advocating for clients' needs both inside and outside of the therapy space.

Gillian previously served on the board as Marketing Co-Chair and during that time took a leadership role in supporting her peers and the MnCA membership at large. As a Minnesota transplant, she is deeply grateful to MnCA for helping her find her place in the Minnesota counseling community. She encourages you to email her with any ideas, thoughts, or questions, and would love to meet you soon at a MnCA event -- please feel free to say hello (be it virtually or in person)!

Sherry L.M. Merriam, MA, LPCC, TCHI (she/her)

Secretary

Position Expires: October 31, 2024

Contact @ secretarymnca@gmail.com

Sherry enjoys teaching, mentoring, providing clinical supervision, and supporting her communities by creating and sustaining systems and places where people can come together to work, play, and learn.  Sherry has over 20 years experience in private practice management and healthcare administration, and she has founded two group practice collectives.  Iridescent Care Collaborative, her dream clinic, gives providers both community and autonomy, so independent practitioners can also live their dreams within a supportive setting.  Sherry is also honored to serve her professional community on the MnCA Board.

A therapist since 2009, Sherry’s passion is for clients she loves to call Misfits and Sensitives -- artists, geeks/nerds, kink/BDSM folk, ethical nonmonogamists including polyamorists, Pagans and other religious minorities, witches, punks, activists, healthcare providers, folks with chronic illness/physical disability.  Her styles emphasize Adlerian, Narrative, DBT, CBT, psycho-education, mindfulness, and Somatic/Sensorimotor with a background in tai chi and qigong.  More information about Sherry and her clinic are available at www.iridescentcare.com.  Please feel free to reach out and connect!

Hannah K. Daniels, MA, LPCC

Treasurer

Position Expires: October 31, 2024

Contact @ treasurermnca@gmail.com

I am truly excited to serve on the MNCA Board as Treasurer and give back to the community that I enjoyed virtually over my time in graduate school and as a clinical trainee. 

I am licensed as a licensed professional clinical counselor. I became a counselor because I saw a real need for mental health services for individuals with developmental disabilities. My clinical experience includes working with CTSS,  in-home therapist, and outpatient therapist, and all ranges of ages and abilities. I work with clients to see their strengths in their challenges and diagnoses as well as validate the real barriers that they have to accept their true selves. I additionally am a believer in the power of group therapy and support groups. 

Laura Beth Gatzke, MA, Pre-licensed LPCC

Position Expires: June 30, 2022

Contact @ marketingmnca@gmail.com

Laura Beth (she/her/hers) is a clinical trainee and works as a residential therapist in Saint Paul at The Emily Program with adolescents and their families. She loves working with teens as they keep her up to date on music and provide great hope for today’s world. She goes by Laura Beth or LB. 

Her clinical experience includes working in both rural and metro areas, working in co-occurring residential treatment with adults, and working in early childhood interventions. Her therapy interests include life transitions, dual-diagnosis, grief and loss, and mood disorders. She is deeply passionate around social justice and empowerment around mental illness. 

She is excited to work on marketing because it’s all about getting the word out and making sure all people are invited and included. Having done her schooling in South Dakota, she felt very welcomed at her first MnCA conference and can’t wait to give back what she was given. Please feel free to contact her and be in touch! 

Tom Hegblom, Ph.D., LPC, LADC, NCC

Legislative Chair

Position Expires: June 30, 2024

Contact @ legislativemnca@gmail.com

Tom Hegblom, Ph.D., LPCC, LADC, NCC (he/him/his) received his Master’s in Co-Occurring Disorders Counseling (addiction and mental health) from the Hazelden Betty Ford Graduate School of Addiction Studies (Center City, MN) and his Doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision from Walden University (Minneapolis, MN). Tom completed his doctoral dissertation on the self-efficacy of counselors-in-training working with transgender and gender non-conforming clients. 

Tom currently serves as a resident faculty member in the Integrated Behavioral Health and Addiction Counseling programs within the College of Continuing and Professional Studies at the University of Minnesota. He is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) in Minnesota. Tom’s teaching and research interests include ethical considerations within the counseling field, postmodern counseling theories, culture and human diversity issues, expanding critical thinking among counselors, and developing the self-efficacy of counseling students. In addition to his full-time work in the classroom, Tom enjoys providing counseling services to clients on a part-time basis at LynLake Centers for Wellbeing, serves as the Legislative Chair for the Minnesota Counseling Association, and is an emerging leader with the North Central Association for Counselor Education and Supervision.

Tom’s approach in the therapeutic setting is rooted in authenticity, genuineness, warmth, and trust. Creating a safe space for clients to identify, learn about, process, and navigate some of their most vulnerable internal and external challenges is important to him. Tom has experience working with substance use disorders, mood disorders, grief and loss, and trauma, among other challenges. Additionally, Tom specializes in sexual and gender identity issues among members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Tom’s approach in counseling is integrated, but he often employs collaborative strengths-based, client-centered techniques. Tom is aligned with cognitive behavioral approaches, rational-emotive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, feminist theory, and solution-focused work. When working with substance use disorders, Tom has experience using a Twelve Step approach along with harm reduction models. 

Kristen Math – MS, MA, LPCC

Membership Chair

Positions Expires: October 31, 2023



I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) with experience working with children, families, and adults. I recently started my own small therapy practice, Therapy Dynamics PLLC which I find to be both exciting and hard work. I am also busy teaching social skills to autistic families two nights a week and I volunteer weekly for the Crisis Textline. My clinical interests include working with anxiety disorders, depression, life transitions, PTSD, OCD, and bipolar disorder as well as helping individuals with autism learn better social skills and improve their ability to make friendships. I have done research at the Minneapolis VA on PTSD, and I have years of experience administering and interpreting assessments. I use CBT, narrative therapy, cognitive processing therapy, ACT, and the PEERS© method of teaching social skills.

Before earning my master’s in counseling, I earned my master’s in Molecular Biology from the University of Florida College of Medicine and taught Biology lab classes at my local university.

This is my first time working on the board of the Minnesota Counseling Association and I am very excited to join on as the Membership Chair. I am grateful for the opportunity to work together with the members, and I encourage you to email me with any thoughts or ideas that you may have about membership recruitment and retention. I’m optimistic about the future and I look forward to meeting more members and of being of assistance to our great community.

Christine Herzog, MS, LPCC, NCC

Equity and Inclusion Chair

Position Expires: June 30, 2022

Contact @

equityinclusionmncn@gmail.com

Christine Herzog, MS, LPCC, NCC is the Clinical Director for K Behavioral Health, an agency focused on providing mental health services and community education for underserved populations in Minnesota. She is a MN Board of Behavioral Health certified supervisor for clinicians pursuing their LPC and LPCC licensure. Two of her professional goals include continuing to provide professional supervision to others and program development/ implementation for mental health services with a focus on equity. Her previous professional experiences include providing supervision as an Autism Day treatment program supervisor, being a Clinic manager of two outpatient clinic sites serving childhood through adulthood populations, and working as a mental health professional for an early childhood special education program in a school setting.

Christine Herzog has developed a specialized set of skills in working with young children with a focus on attachment and repairing relationships. She enjoys being able to see the progress children make both behaviorally and emotionally. She finds working as a counselor rewarding due to being able to watch childrens' relationships built with trust grow over time. She is trained in DC:0-5, and she is currently in a Child Parent Psychotherapy training cohort to specialize in working with trauma in children ages 0-5 with their family. In her career, she has gained professional experience in the following settings: a residential facility for dual diagnosis adult women, an ABA setting for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder that included both in-home and center-based services, outpatient psychotherapy clinics and a school-based setting with early childhood and elementary aged students. She participates in ongoing equity training and discussions to incorporate the impact of culture and diversity into services. She is excited to serve others in a leadership position that provides the opportunity for her to increase her work in advocacy for fighting inequities at the local and state level through the Minnesota Counseling Association's Equity and Inclusion committee.

Alex Schultz, MA, LPCC

Professional Development Chair

Position Expires: October 31, 2023

Contact @ professionaldevelopmentmnca@gmail.com

Alex is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC). She is a MN Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy (BBHT) approved supervisor, as well as a nationally certified Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, and trained in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART). 

She has been working in the field for the past 8 years, starting in CTSS before moving into the Intensive Treatment In Foster Care programs, and finally settling into outpatient therapy in the Elk River/Otsego area. Because of this, clinical work has primarily focused on trauma and PTSD. 

Alex’s clinical interests have remained a passion for working with trauma. She is currently working through the multiple steps to have the proper trainings and certifications for the 911 At Ease program and working with first responders.

Gary R. Schoener, M.E.q., LP

Ethics Co-Chair

Position Expires: October 31, 2022

Contact @

ethicscomnca@gmail.com

Gary is a clinical psychologist, licensed in Minnesota since 1974, who trained in clinical psychology at the U. of MN. He was one of the founders of the Walk-In Counseling Ctr. in 1969, served 37 yrs. as its Exec. Dir., and currently is Director of its Inst. for Consultation & Training. The center is staff by volunteers who are LPCs, LPs, LICSWs, & LMFTs who donate their time. It is the largest force of counseling professionals donating time under one roof in the world. The center is the only program in the Upper Midwest to have received the American Psychiatric Assn.'s highest award -- the Gold Achievement Award in Hospital & Community Psychiatry. Go to www.walkin.org for more information.

He has consulted widely on mental health & chemical dependency topics throughout his career. Among his awards is the Bernie Belling Ethics Award from MARRCH, and he serves as a consultant to substance abuse programs such as CREATE, Southeast Homes, etc. Gary has a private practice in forensic psychology, largely focused on civil suits related to professional misconduct. He does assessments and remedial boundaries training for counselors & other professionals on referral by licensure boards or employers.

He coauthored the books Psychotherapists' Sexual Involvement With Clients: Intervention & Prevention, and Assisting Impaired Psychologists, as well as numerous book chapters and articles related to professional boundaries, ethics, supervision, duty-to-warn, etc. He has provided training locally and internationally on these topics to groups in counseling, social work, psychology, nursing, medicine, Physical & occupational therapy, dentistry, etc. He is a member of the Mn Psychological Assn. General Counsel, and is a past member of the American Psychological Assn.'s Task Force on Sexual Impropriety & its Advisory Committee on the Impaired Psychologist (now Colleague Assistance).

Gary's overall focus is to strengthen MnCA through provision of support to members in terms of ethical grounding for maintenance of good professional practice as well as assisting counselors who are struggling. Throughout his career he has always focused on cooperation between professions and their trade organizations.