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AmeriCorps has assigned three talented, dedicated full-time volunteers to Porchlight for the next year through the VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) program. Our VISTAs will visit college campuses and make presentations to community groups and houses of worship to educate about college sexual assault. They also will help Porchlight attract needed support and volunteers. We welcome former VISTAs in the Chicagoland area who would like to continue serving by becoming community volunteers for Porchlight!
Helen Bailey, Outreach & Resource Coordinator (provided by AmeriCorps VISTA program)
Helen Bailey grew up in Wheaton, Illinois. She graduated from Grinnell College with a degree in Anthropology. During her college career, Helen traveled to Tanzania where she learned a great deal about gender roles within the Maasai community and elsewhere in Tanzania. Once back in Grinnell, Helen completed an internship at a sexual assault and domestic violence shelter. During her time at the shelter, Helen worked closely with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. She also organized a fundraising and awareness-raising event called Walk a Mile in Her Shoes. Helen believes sexual assault is not only a women’s issue. She strongly supports causes that ask everyone in the community to become involved. She hopes to spend her year at Porchlight increasing volunteer involvement with the organization and reaching out to the community.
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Megan McKendry, Outreach & Resource Coordinator (provided by AmeriCorps VISTA program)
Megan McKendry hails from Minooka, Illinois, a small town located southwest of Chicago. She earned her Bachelor's degree in English literature with a minor in Gender and Women's Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009. At the University of Illinois, Megan promoted sexual assault awareness and sexual health through peer education groups and community-based theatre initiatives. She also worked closely with survivors of domestic violence, advocating for the holistic needs of local women involved in abusive relationships. Megan enjoys studying reproductive health issues as they emerge in works of American fiction. She's ridden her vintage Schwinn Le Tour from New Orleans, Louisiana, to Charleston, South Carolina, in the name of reproductive justice. Megan hopes to spend her time with Porchlight Counseling Services generating funds to support survivors of sexual assault and assisting with outreach and education efforts throughout Chicagoland.
Stephanie Boehmer, Outreach and Resource Coordinator (provided by AmeriCorps VISTA program)
Stephanie Boehmer grew up in the Twin Cities area in Minnesota. She studied at Concordia College in Moorhead, MN where she majored in social work and minored in women’s studies and sociology. Throughout her education, Stephanie had the opportunity to work with and learn from many women. She traveled to Tanzania to study women’s issues and completed an internship at the Fargo-Moorhead Rape and Abuse Crisis Center where she served domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. In her year at Porchlight, Stephanie aims to increase the dialogue and knowledge throughout the Chicagoland area about rape culture in hopes of lowering the occurrence of sexual assault.
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Lisa Baron
Lisa Baron earned her Masters degree at the University of Connecticut and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She is enrolled in a Doctoral program at the Institute for Clinical Social Work. She currently teaches graduate courses in social work and counseling at both Loyola University and National Louis University.
Lisa's area of expertise is women's issues. She has 24 years of clinical experience providing treatment to survivors of sexual assault and other violations of the body, mind, and spirit. She has extensive experience treating clinical issues that are the result of sexual assault including depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, relationship concerns, panic disorder, and suicidal ideations.
Her approach to therapy is to develop a trusting relationship with clients so that they can achieve the lives they hope for within a safe and ethical environment. She believes that it is absolutely essential to seek counseling in order to recover from rape.
"Our work will help clients to get back to who they were originally meant to be. Even though the assault has de-railed them from themselves, I will do my best to help them to get back on track."
-Lisa Baron, LCSW
Becky Carter
Becky Carter holds a Masters degree in Human Services Counseling from National Louis University. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with eight years of clinical experience working with issues such as abuse, domestic and dating violence, sexual assault, grief, sexuality, body image, depression, anxiety and relationship concerns.
Becky provides a safe and empathetic environment for clients to comfortably discuss their experiences at their own pace. Becky uses guided imagery, body work, and mindfulness to help clients process and validate their emotional, physical and spiritual experiences. Becky observes that "counseling helps to decrease the shame and guilt that surrounds sexual assault. It equips the client with the tools needed to heal."
Becky has conducted presentations for the Clothesline Project, a sexual assault awareness program aimed at removing the silence that surrounds sexual assault. She also completed the sexual assault certification program from the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault.
"Through traumatic experiences, we may lose our ability to be advocates for ourselves. Our work will focus on helping you to reclaim your voice."
-Becky Carter, LCPC
Denise Duval
Denise Duval is a psychotherapist with over thirteen years experience working with young adults and college students concerning issues such as surviving violence and trauma, self-care, relationships, and substance abuse. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute for Clinical Social Work. Her dissertation examined the experiences, relationships, and needs of homeless young adults. She earned her Masters of Social Work degree with a Mental Health Concentration from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois.
Denise teaches social work and child development classes at a graduate program that is offered through a partnership of the Erickson Institute and Loyola University. She has written articles on the neurological effects of exposure to violence and has conducted numerous studies and training seminars for therapists such as "Therapist's Lifeline: The importance of Consultation when Treating Trauma" along with Gail DeLyser. She is currently working on several publications including, "Understanding and Treating Young Women Survivors of Sexual Assault: Self Psychology and Relational Perspectives". She also worked as a therapist at the Chicago Women's Health Center providing individual therapy to women addressing mood disorders, interpersonal relationships, career, and other life issues.
"I think it is important for survivors of sexual assault to know that trauma elicits a sometimes overwhelming number of memories, feelings, and beliefs about the self. In order to not only deal with the trauma of sexual assault but experience a sense of wholeness and self understanding, longer-term treatment in a safe, consistent, empathetic environment with someone who can guide them through the self exploration process is highly beneficial."
-Denise Duval, PhD, LCSW |
Maria Nanos
Maria Nanos has twenty years experience as a psychotherapist working with children and adults concerning issues such as sexual abuse, sexual assault, intimacy problems, trauma, and substance abuse. She completed her Ph.D. coursework at the Institute for Clinical Social Work. She is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and earned her Masters of Social Work degree from the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois.
Maria's experience includes clinical supervision of psychologists and social workers at several different programs. She has been a visiting lecturer at the Jane Addams College of Social Work on numerous occasions. She is also an adjunct professort at Loyola University. She has conducted many training seminars on topics such as child sexual abuse and therapeutic approaches to treating children with sexual behavior problems.
Maria's approach to therapy is to provide a safe, trusting, and empathetic environment for non-intrusive therapy.
"Everyone deserves to be happy. Everyone deserves to feel well."
-Maria Nanos, LCSW
Bernadette Hayes
Bernadette Hayes is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor who provides therapy to individuals and families. In her practice, Bernadette focuses on early attachment, anxiety, sexual assault/ abuse, incest, grief/loss, life transitions, and relationship issues. She received her Masters degree in Counseling and Human Services from DePaul University and received additional training in Domestic Violence through the Chicago Metropolitan Battered Women's Network.
Bernadette views the therapeutic space as an environment that offers clients a safe haven and the opportunity to make discoveries, find hope, develop self-awareness, and gain clarity through exploration. "I support clients in recognizing their inner voice as they discover their strengths, gain insight into self-defeating patterns, and work toward self-acceptance."
Bernadette trusts her clients' pace in the healing process and respects their choices in the therapeutic setting while bringing her experience to guide each session. Bernadette works with clients in guiding them to explore how they create meaning from their personal experiences to help them each find their own answers. Bernadette believes each individual has the internal resources and the ability to live a fulfilling and authentic life.
"At different points in our lives, many of us find ourselves "stuck." I collaborate with clients to help them identify barriers that keep them stuck and together we work to transition beyond them. It is possible to move forward and toward our greater potential."
–Bernadette Hayes, LCPC
Amy Morgan
Amy received her Masters Degree in Social Work from Loyola University, where at the same time, she received a Masters Degree in Child Development from The Erikson Institute. The combination of these degrees provides a developmentalist perspective that adds a depth and richness to her therapeutic services. Amy is a licensed clinical social worker and supports children and adults with a range of issues including mood disorders, trauma, anxiety, relationship issues, grief and loss, and family dynamic issues.
Amy believes that the relationship between client and therapist is the cornerstone of effective therapy. A positive, trusting, and emotionally safe relationship with one's therapist is tremendously important when dealing with difficult and personal material. Amy works hard to understand her clients' lives and what is important to them.
Working with clients who have experienced some level of trauma is a passion of Amy’s. Supporting her clients as they work through traumatic experiences, Amy assists her clients in feeling safe once again and serves as a guide to help clients regain their sense of self and identity.
“Survivors of trauma often feel alone and isolated and feel that people cannot relate to or emotionally handle their experiences. I give my clients a place where they are accepted and where their story can be heard.” |
