WHO WE ARE

President

Position Expires: October 31, 2025

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!

Past-President

Position Expires: October 31, 2025

Executive Director, as budget allows and board appoints

Hannah has served on the board since 2022. Hannah was president for the board for the 2023-2024 term.

Hannah currently works at Catalyst Mental Health as a therapist.

Treasurer

Position expires: October 31st 2026

Kelly is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). She currently works as a therapist in a private practice located in Eden Prairie. Her past clinical experience includes community mental health, college counseling, and residential drug and alcohol treatment. Kelly is certified in Perinatal Mental Health and specializes in working with all things pregnancy/postpartum, trauma/chronic stress, and supporting those that help others (healthcare providers, first responders, therapists, etc.). She also enjoys providing supervision to LPC and LPCC candidates.

President-Elect

Position Expires: October 31st 2025

Then Shawna will serve as President until 2026

Shawna graduated with her Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health from the University of South Dakota in 2012. Shawna is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and Board Approved Supervisor in the state of Minnesota.

With over a decade of working in the field, Shawna has worked with clients ranging from birth to 92 years of age. Shawna's areas of training and specialties including early childhood therapy (birth-5), attachment, adoption, at-risk behaviors, depression, and suicidal ideation. Shawna began her career working with early childhood (birth to 5) and family therapy before spending many years working in-home with intensive family based therapy. Shawna now works at Luverne Counseling in an outpatient setting.

Shawna utilizes aspects of DBT, CBT, person-centered therapy, narrative therapy, and solution focused therapy in her work and works hard to meet the client where they are at with authenticity and compassion. Shawna is excited to take part in working toward the future of the field here in Minnesota as a part of the MNCA board.

Membership Co-Chair

Term Ends October 31st 2025

Suzanne (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) and National Certified Counselor (NCC). She serves clients at Bridging Hope Counseling in Buffalo where she started as an intern in January 2020. She enjoys serving the community in which she lives and works. Her clinical experience includes working with children 5 and up, adolescents, adults, couples, and families, and co-facilitating DBT skills groups for adolescents. She is passionate about reducing the stigma surrounding mental health treatment. She is focused on becoming a BBHT approved supervisor and trained in Adaptive Internal Relational (AIR) Network within the next year.

Suzanne earned her MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at St. Cloud State University in 2020. She served as president of the Graduate Clinical Counseling Association during the 2019-2020 academic year. She co-presented a poster presentation entitled “The Adaptations to Acculturation in the Western Culture Between Immigrants, Refugees and International Students” at the 2019 ACA Conference. Suzanne has been a member of MnCA and ACA since 2018.

Suzanne has previously worked as a volunteer Grief Facilitator with New Hope for Kids in Maitland, FL, and a Patient Care Coordinator Intern at Agape Therapy Institute in Orlando, FL. She has been trained as a Guardian Advocate to serve as a temporary surrogate decision maker for involuntarily hospitalized clients under the Florida Baker Act who have no family members to act on their behalf. Prior to returning to college to pursue a path to becoming a therapist, Suzanne was a Registered Pharmacy Technician (RPT), in the State of Florida, and worked at an independent pharmacy for 11 years. In addition to her duties as a pharmacy technician, she organized pharmacy credentialing with all State and Federal agencies and insurance companies and managed all audits of pharmacy records, specializing in audit defense.

Ethics Co-Chair

Position Expires: October 31, 2025

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.

Marketing Chair

Position Expires: October 31st 2025

I am Natashia Powell. I have my masters in clinical mental health counseling and am a licensed counselor in MN and WI. I have previously worked as a clinical supervisor working with Autistic youth and their families and I now work at Ramsey County as an Embedded Social Worker with Ramsey County Dispatch. I also do contract psychotherapy sessions in Wisconsin. I have been a committee member for Professional Development and have helped plan MNCA conferences. I am excited to take on the role for Marketing and hope to help get the word out about MNCA and continue to increase connections to communities. Personally, I love everything Disney and would likely be considered a Disney adult. I enjoy trying and seeing new things with my husband and son.

Laura Russell-Reyna is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor and Board Approved Supervisor. She currently supervises ARMHS mental health practitioners and clinical trainees as well as maintains an outpatient caseload. Working primarily with neurodiverse individuals, she obtained her certificate in Geek Therapy as a way to help clients with their mental health by using their interests. She is also trained in EMDR therapy, and enjoys working with individuals experiencing grief and loss.