MENDING HEARTS STAFF

 
Sharon Carl

Sharon Carl, MA, M.Ed, LPC

President/CEO of Mending Hearts
Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor

Sharon specializes in play therapy, early childhood trauma, trauma recovery, grief/loss, attachment, adoption issues, children's therapy, women's and family issues. She offers clinical supervision groups for play therapists and associate level counselors. Sharon also periodically offers parenting classes. She is a trainer for the "Taming the Trauma Tremors" training for foster/adoptive parents.

Sharon holds a M.A. degree in Counseling from Ottawa University and an Advanced Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy. She additionally holds a M.A. in Education from Arizona State University. She has advanced training in play therapy, trauma focused therapy, and attachment therapy. Sharon's scriptural foundation for ministry is Isaiah 61:1-3 and James 1:27.


Allison Cogswell, MA, LAC, BHP

Allison is passionate about helping children and families build emotional intelligence through expressive art therapy, play therapy, CBT, and attachment-focused modalities.

Allison has experience working in schools, the agency system, and private practice focusing on client's working through trauma, foster care, adoption, anxiety, and grief and loss. Allison is focused on helping children and families build feelings of self-esteem, security, and finding healthy coping skills to assist in healing, building resiliency, and healthy development. She earned her Masters of Science Degree in Community Counseling from Northern Arizona University and lived in the UK for several years, completing an advanced diploma program at the Institute of Arts in Therapy and Education in London. Allison is currently completing training in EMDR. She is working toward becoming an LPC as well as a Registered Play Therapist through the Association of Play Therapy.


Christopher Stewart, MS, LAC

Chris holds an M.S. degree in Mental Health Counseling from Capella University. He’s a Licensed Associate Counselor in the state of Arizona and Missouri and is passionate about providing counseling from a Christian or secular perspective for traumatic stress and PTSD.

Chris works with adults, children, and adolescents who face divorce, bullying, peer pressure, and difficulty with managing interpersonal relationships. With children and adolescents, these challenges can often manifest as anger and defiance, fear, low self-esteem, ADHD, depression, and anxiety and Chris will address each issue with psychoanalytic depth. His approach is emotion-focused, trauma-informed and it addresses underlying needs.

Chris also uses Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT) with a Family Systems approach to treat families and couples struggling with communication, trust, emotional regulation, and parenting issues. He facilitates therapeutic groups to treat addiction and mental health issues.


Crystal McCabe, Ph.D., LAC

Crystal McCabe holds a Bachelors of Science degree in Psychology, a Masters of Science in Education/Special Education, a Masters of Science in Professional Counseling, and a Ph.D. in General Psychology with an emphasis in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Crystal has been working as a professor in higher education since 2013.

Crystal has been working at MHFS since 2011. Prior to joining the MHFS family, she has experience in working both inpatient and outpatient psychiatric. She also worked in public education as a Special Education teacher. Her experiences and passion for helping others has helped her discover a special interest in working with children, adolescents, and individuals and families with disabilities. Other areas of special interest include grief/loss counseling, trauma, marital counseling and behavior management.

Crystal is married to Mike and has two sons.


Donna Robinson, MS, BHT

Ms. Donna Robinson holds a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She is also an ordained minister and an elementary school teacher for one of the Maricopa County school districts.

Ms. Donna is devoted to using the tool of Christian psychotherapy to help people discover a deeper relationship with God in the midst of the challenges of life. She is also dedicated to developing and providing the excellent clinical services for all those served by Mending Hearts Family Services, Inc.

In addition, she loves family time and she considers laughter and playfulness among the finer things in life. Ms. Donna's special interest areas include Spiritual direction, women issues, and difficulties with life transitions, parent challenges, anxiety, depression, domestic violence, grief, selective mute, anger management, emotional, physical and sexual abuse and pre-engagement counseling. She utilizes a variety of therapy modalities, including cognitive behavior therapy, play therapy, art and sand tray techniques.

She has completed Level One and Two, Path of Life Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning. Ms. Donna specializes in working with school-age children and adult women.


Joanna Bruguera, MS, LAC

Joanna graduated from Grand Canyon University with her degree in Professional Counseling. She is trained in CBT, DBT, EMDR and in trauma recovery/HAP therapy. Joanna, also, has Level 1 and Level 2, Path of Life Equine Assisted Therapy and Learning training. Joanna is a life time learner and enjoys gaining new skills to help her meet her patient's needs.

Joanna has experience working with the adult SMI (Severly Mentally Ill) and GMH (General Mental Health) populations. Her passions motivate her to continue to seek training on her own time to further increase her skill level. She discovered her passion for helping others after dealing with her own life experiences and is dedicated to heping others find emotional relief.

Joanna is grateful to be able to help both Spanish and English speakers, as she is fluent in both languages.


Joshua D. McLaughlin, MAS-MFT, LAMFT

Josh is a licensed marriage and family therapist who graduated with a master’s degree from Arizona State University.

His education prepared him to view client problems through the lens of relationships. He uses this lens to work with families, couples, and individuals. Josh considers his therapy style to be collaborative and dynamic, starting with the belief that individuals and families are doing the best they can with what they know and building upon identified strengths.

Josh’s special interests are: parent-child relationships, marriages, families, attachment, and personal growth. He is a happily married Arizona native who enjoys painting, skateboarding, reading theology, and walking his dogs. He believes that all people are image bearers of God who can learn to love and be loved.


Mark Gonchar, MFT, LASAC

Mark is a Licensed Associate Substance Abuse Counselor in the state of Arizona. He graduated from California State University Fullerton and graduated with a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Mark is experienced working with most mental health populations in a wide variety of settings. He uses his substance abuse background along with his marriage and family therapy education to create a non-judgmental, authentic and therapeutic environment.

Mark assists client’s with identifying their negative thinking patterns and assists client with replacing them with healthy and effective thinking patterns. He promotes and encourages self-care, coping skills and self-confidence.


Mercy Mwangi, Ed.D, MAPC LAC

Mercy holds a Doctorate in Education specializing in Organizational Psychology and Leadership, as well as a Master’s in Professional Counseling.

She is a multi-skilled, culturally sensitive, trained mental health counselor who excels in creating therapeutic relationships to help clients to diminish stress, develop support systems and increase functioning. She is experienced at working with diverse populations, adults, couples, families and children. Mercy specializes in working with children between 3-14 years who have been exposed to different types of trauma in their lives. This includes physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological abuse. She also works closely with parents educating them on different parenting strategies & skills to help improve the child’s ability to function at home and school. She also works with couples and adults.

Mercy has training in CBT, DBT, Art Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Play Therapy, and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy. She has worked with addiction, anger management, anxiety, depression, domestic violence, dual diagnosis, school issues, and self-esteem.

Mercy is a native of Kenya. She is a permanent US resident. She is married with children and grandchildren. She is able to work with clients who speak Swahili.



MENDING HEART, BOARD


Sharon Carl

Sharon Carl - Founder, President/CEO

Sharon is the Founder and current President/CEO for Mending Hearts. She serves as the Board President and oversees the clinical and administration of Mending Hearts. She is an Adjumct Professor for Fuller Theological Seminary and has served as a Board member for the Arizona Association for Play Therapy and Hannah's Home.

Sharon holds a M.A. degree in Counseling from Ottawa University and an Advanced Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy. She additionally holds a M.A. in Education from Arizona State University and advanced training in non-profit leadership.


Joni Pourchot

Joni Pourchot - Vice President

Joni Pourchot is a Phoenix native with over 20 years of experience in the accounting field, working in Phoenix and overseas. Her expertise is in the non-profit sector, working in the behavioral health, social service, and medical fields.

In June 2008, Ms Pourchot graduated with honors from the Masters in Business Administration program at Keller Graduate School of Management. Her business is Pourchot Accounting, LLC.


Mike Marks

Mike Marks - Treasurer

Mike Marks is a pastor at Echo Mountain Church. Mr. Marks has also been very involved in non-profit business and technology for several years and has served the behavioral health and social service groups quite closely.

Mr. Marks and his wife of forty-five years have a married daughter.


Qualifications

 Therapists/Counselors

Counselors working directly with consumers in individual, family, marital, or group therapy, shall have at least a master's degree or be an intern in an accredited university counseling program or social work program. Master's level therapists with related social work/mental health degrees are most often used and are preferred. All therapists shall be licensed through the Board of Behavioral Health Examiners. Failure or inability to qualify, or to come into compliance with these requirements, shall be reason enough for dismissal. Those counselors who are not yet licensed receive direct supervision.

Pastoral Counseling

The primary objective of pastoral counseling is to offer spiritual and emotional care through Theocentric therapy. Pastoral counseling is a dynamic and rich approach to life's issues from a Christian world view. Pastoral counseling draws on the wisdom of research from the best theoretical perspectives that are consistent with Biblical principles, providing insight into the human condition.

Consultants

Mending Hearts Family Services uses consultants in various professional disciplines on an as needed basis. These include, but are not limited to, the following: Psychologists, Psychiatrists, Neurologists, Occupational Therapists, Physical Therapists, Medical Doctors, Speech Therapists, Teachers and Clergy.