Therapist Voices @ ReachLink

Eli Westfall, LMFT, signed up for the Marine Corps before he turned 18. Then his parents suggested a year of Bible college. Church ministry, foster care casework, child protective investigations, and a psychiatric hospital admissions desk all came before the counseling career he spent years insisting he did not want. A missed licensing deadline nearly ended it, until the marriage and family electi...

Anna Lacey, LCSW, spent years cycling through therapists who could not name what she was carrying. She survived a childhood eating disorder that landed her in an adult psychiatric ward at age ten, followed by decades of addiction, shame, and broken trust in her own relationships. It was not until a master's program at UC Berkeley in 2012 that she first heard the term complex PTSD, a full decade be...

Chris McDonald, LCMHCS and RYT, spent 16 years as a school counselor before moving into community mental health and private practice, where she found that traditional talk therapy could only take clients so far. That pushed her toward meditation, breathwork, and a yoga certification in 2019, work she now calls nervous system yoga: slow, trauma-informed movement that builds lifelong regulation skil...

Luis Cornejo, LMFT and CST, spent years chasing the version of himself his immigrant parents dreamed of: a doctor. Three years into a biology degree at Cal State East Bay, one open house on child development changed his path completely, eventually leading him through education, nonprofits, and a hospital job that left him crying before and after work, even while hitting what the field calls the go...

Dr. Mariah Maurice spent over a decade in social work across substance abuse treatment, hospitals, private practice, and community mental health before deciding the biggest barriers to healing weren't the clients, they were the systems built around them. She joins Jessica to talk about the doctoral research that changed her career path: a study on patient autonomy at the end of life that uncovered...

Candida Crane, LMHC, a longtime Washington based provider now practicing with ReachLink, joins Jessica to talk about her move from community mental health and school counseling into full time virtual practice, and why teletherapy holds up just as well as in-person care for most clients. They also cover the self-talk and mindfulness tools she leans on most right now, the toll the current political...

Michael Drag, LPC, founder of Space Between the Words, joins Jessica to talk about his own adult ADHD diagnosis, the symptoms that never make it into the DSM (like limerence and rejection sensitive dysphoria), and the client pattern that led him to write his book, Heir of Narcissism, tracing a link between narcissistic parenting and ADHD-like symptoms. They also cover OCD, undiagnosed autism, repe...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Lara Asous, MA, MFT, CCTP, founder of Mindful Growth Therapy, about couples work, trauma healing, and what it means to build a practice rooted in personal experience and cultural awareness. Lara shares her unexpected path into therapy, from switching majors on a whim to finding her calling after navigating divorce and a fibromyalgia di...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Kristen McLoud, LCSW, owner and psychotherapist at Mental Wholeness Psychotherapy, about three practical ways to deal with intrusive thoughts before they take over your day. Kristen breaks down why suppressing a thought only invites it back in, and walks through the tools she actually uses with clients: logging thoughts to spot pattern...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Jenn Mejia, LCSW, clinician at Phases of Healing Counseling and Therapy in St. Augustine, Florida, whose holistic approach to mental health looks at every dimension of who a person is. Jenn walks us through Accelerated Resolution Therapy, or ART, an offshoot of EMDR that uses rapid eye movements to rewire how the brain stores traumatic...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Naomi Burks, LMFT, founder of Encouraging Hope Counseling, a therapist whose calling has been embedded in her since she was seven years old and whose work now sits at the intersection of trauma, identity, and faith. Naomi shares her journey from East Oakland to graduate school, how caring for her younger brother at 28 nudged her back i...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Fatema Kapadia, Integrative Psychotherapist - MA Psychology (Clinical Focus), an integrative psychotherapist and the founder of Unchaos Living. Fatema opens up about the fragmented, chaotic infrastructure that therapists face globally, from confusing credentialing systems to the financial strain of building a practice. She shares why s...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Meriam Njah, LMFT, a couples therapist at Wholehearted Healing, LLC, whose work centers on helping individuals and couples navigate trauma, relational patterns, and emotional growth—especially within marginalized and multicultural communities. Meriam shares her personal journey into the mental health field, including how her own experi...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with Amanda Martin, PhD, LMFT-S, LPC, BCN-L, a specialist in complex trauma and an expert in integrating modalities like EMDR, neurofeedback, and equine-assisted therapy. Amanda shares how her highly individualized approach allows her to treat complex clinical presentations without fragmenting care across multiple providers. We explore th...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Madeline Maldonado, LCSW-R, President and Founder of Minnette Psychotherapy Services and Executive Director of the Minnette Foundation, about the realities of building a private practice, the gaps in graduate training, and what it truly takes to succeed as both a clinician and a business owner. Madeline shares her journey from an early...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Jodi Mullen, PhD, LMHC, RPT-S, about child-centered play therapy, working effectively with children in therapy, and why most clinicians aren’t fully trained to treat kids. Jodi shares how she discovered play therapy after struggling with traditional, structured approaches—and how shifting to a child-led model transformed her work. We e...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with MeKenzie Russell Lane, LPC/MHSP, Owner & Therapist at Bloom Well Counseling, about grief work, trauma integration, and building meaningful community support systems for those navigating loss. A unique highlight of this conversation is MeKenzie’s integration of therapy animals into her practice. She shares how her French bulldog,...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Meghan Sunayna Mehta, LCSW, clinical director and owner of Little Brown Therapy, about cultural competence in therapy, trauma-informed care, and expanding access to mental health services for underserved communities. Meghan shares how her work centers on decolonizing traditional therapy models and creating spaces where clients’ lived e...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Dr. Suzette Fagan, LCSW, DSW, CEO and Founder of Door-to-Door Therapy, about trauma-informed care, accessibility in mental health, and meeting clients where they are—literally and emotionally. With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Fagan shares how her personal journey shaped her mission to remove barriers to care and create flexible, c...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Eva M. Gordon, LCSW, founder of Life Guide, about culturally responsive care, burnout, and helping Black professional women reconnect with themselves through therapy. Eva shares her journey from child welfare work in Brooklyn to becoming a psychotherapist, and how a pivotal moment with a young client inspired her to pursue a career in...

In this episode of Therapist Voices @ ReachLink, we speak with Jasmine Young, founder of ONE80 Health and Wellness, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting individuals who have experienced trauma and helping communities better understand how trauma impacts identity, behavior, and healing. Jasmine shares the personal experiences that led her into trauma-informed work. After going through a...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with Jacob L. Cooper, LCSW, psychotherapist and bestselling author of  Life After Breath  and  The Wisdom of Jacob’s Ladder . Jacob shares how a near-death experience at three years old profoundly shaped his life and ultimately led him to pursue a career in mental health. Jacob discusses how his work integrates psychological and spiritual...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with Dr. Tina Fornwald, founder of the nonprofit Widowhood Real Talk with Dr. Tina, about grief, widowhood, and the journey of rebuilding life after losing a loved one. Dr. Tina explains how her organization connects people through social media, podcasts, grief resources, and in-person events designed to help individuals process grief whi...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with Natasha D'Arcangelo, QS, LMHC, NCC, CCTP, CCFP, a trauma-informed therapist and compassion fatigue educator, about the emotional toll that helping professionals face. Natasha D'Arcangelo shares how the COVID-19 pandemic sparked her deeper work in compassion fatigue education and how clinicians can better understand the impact of seco...

In this episode of  Therapist Voices @ ReachLink , we speak with Wendy Wollner, Founder and CEO of Balancing Life’s Issues (BLI), about employee assistance programs, work-life balance, and the evolving role of workplace mental health support. With more than 25 years of experience in the EAP field, Wendy shares how personal life challenges shaped her mission to help individuals and organizations be...