Betsy Funk – LCSW LIMHP MPA REAT
Betsy is a Clinical Social Worker, Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, and Registered Expressive Art Therapist in private practice and co-founder of Omaha Therapy and Arts Collaborative. She has been a certified social worker for 20 years and has worked with various agencies including Goodwill Industries, Phoenix House Domestic Violence Shelter, Nebraska Health and Human Services, and Lutheran Family Services. Currently, she works with people coping with challenges of all kinds with a specialty in trauma and abuse related issues. She has specialized training in EMDR, Brainspotting, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Child Parent Psychotherapy, Circle of Security Parenting, and Expressive Arts Therapy. She is also currently a Reiki Practitioner in Training. Her passion involves bringing the arts into treatment in a way that promotes healing and resiliency. She is the developer of the “GREAT” Teen and Kids Groups, which are Expressive Arts therapy groups she facilitates in the OTAC studio and in area elementary and middle schools.
Jea theis – LCSW LIMHP MSW
Jea has been working in the social services and mental health field for over fifteen years, starting out in the area of family violence, as a men's domestic violence counselor and CPS worker. After completing her MSW degree, Jea practiced in a community mental health counseling center, then worked with children and families impacted by sexual abuse and other trauma. Jea spent three years working as a grief and loss counselor prior to moving into private practice.
Jea has received specialized training in EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), CPP (Child-Parent Psychotherapy), TFCBT (Trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), Parent-child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Teacher-Child Interaction Training (TCIT), and Compassion Fatigue, and holds certifications as a Trauma Professional and Compassion Fatigue Educator. Jea is passionate about increasing awareness around compassion fatigue - providing education and consultation to agencies and supporting those working in helping professions in our community. Jea is the co-founder of Omaha Therapy and Arts Collaborative
Lesley Turner – LCSW LIMHP
Lesley Turner is a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) and licensed independent mental health practitioner (LIMHP) in the state of Nebraska. Lesley spent the early years of her career as a special education teacher in Denver, Colorado before moving back to her hometown of Omaha with her husband. After teaching for six years, Lesley decided to pursue a career in mental health to provide services she felt were missing in the public school setting. After graduating from the University of Southern California with her Master's in Social Work, Lesley worked in the medical field as a hospice social worker. Later, she joined Heartland Family Service where she was a KidSquad consultant and outpatient therapist. Lesley has been a private practice therapist with OTAC since early 2016.
Lesley specializes in providing evidence based therapeutic services to children and adults. She is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP), Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (CBITS), Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization an and Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR), Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), Motivational Interviewing, Circle of Security Parenting, and other evidence based treatment modalities. Based on her experience as a special education teacher, Lesley enjoys working with children and adults with special needs and their families, and has extensive experience working with persons with Autism. Lesley has experience working with children and adults who have experienced trauma, and she enjoys working with children and families who are coping with grief and loss.
Jeanie Stuto – LCSW LMHP
Jeanie comes to OTAC with several years of experience working with people as a clinical social worker in the Omaha metro area. Her work has included interventions with adolescents and adults struggling with addiction and life transitions. For years, Jeanie has worked for local hospitals as a medical social worker assisting elder adults and their families with difficult changes. She also has vast experience with bereavement and grief support and is able to lend an empathetic ear for all who may be going through a difficult time. Jeanie has a profound respect and appreciation for the wisdom and strengths of elder adults and their families. She is attuned to the needs of the whole family, as roles change and people age. Her empathy and understanding is an immeasurable gift.
Vickie Peyton – LIMHP LCSW
Vickie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner (LIMHP). She has been practicing for 40+ years and has specialized in the treatment of trauma. She first worked as a therapist and Clinical Supervisor at Uta Halee Girls Village for 20 years, a residential psychiatric facility for adolescent girls. Over the past 20 years she has worked with a team of dedicated professionals to develop the RSafe Program at Lutheran Family Services, a program for families impacted by sexual abuse with particular emphasis on helping children who have acted out sexually. She most recently worked for 7 years as the Clinical Director at Nebraska Children’s Home Society. At NCHS she developed programming to provide mental health services to teen and young parents in North and South Omaha, family members in the adoption circle, and grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. She recently stepped down from agency work to focus on her private practice at Omaha Therapy and Arts Collaborative.
It has always been important to Vickie to live and work in diverse cultural settings, practicing an attitude of open mind to individuals’ lived experience and their personal world view. She is trained in Family Therapy through the Menninger Foundation, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization Therapy (EMDR), Training for Adoption Competence (TAC), Motivational Interviewing, Sand Tray Therapy, Problematic Sexual Behavior Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and multiple trainings in working with children, youth and adults impacted by child sexual abuse. In addition, she worked collaboratively with Dr. Glendora Patterson, PhD, MSW, and Janet Guillfoyle, LIMHP, in developing a program for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Working with others on their emotional journey in the aging experience is a particular interest.
Collaboration and consultation have been consistent hallmarks in Vickie’s practice. She has often joined other clinicians in offering expertise as the family therapist, or as the individual therapist for a parent or sibling of a child who is being seen by another clinician. She offers consultation to agencies and individuals, and has supervised many graduate students in the UNO Master of Social Work program. She also serves as a member of the Douglas County Sexual Abuse Treatment Team which is facilitated through Project Harmony’s Child Advocacy Center. First a Social Worker, all of her clinical work is grounded in an understanding of the whole person, in the context of the world around them. To contact Vickie directly please email her at vickierpeyton@gmail.com or call at (402)-880-8535.
Amanda Ike – LCSW CMSW
Amanda is a Licensed Mental Health Practitioner (LMHP) and a Certified Master Social Worker (CMSW) in the state of Nebraska. She is also a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) through the Association of Play Therapy. Amanda has worked with children and families in various roles for over 10 years. She has worked as a medical social worker, school social worker, child welfare case manager, crisis responder, and a permanency specialist.
As a trained social worker, Amanda understands the importance of social and familial influences on a person’s development and works diligently to offer interventions needed to expand an individual's or family’s capacity for growth and healing. Amanda values being a part of her clients’ journey toward their personalized goals and holds space for their vulnerabilities as she walks alongside them.
Currently, Amanda is in training to become certified in TraumaPlay, a model created by Paris Goodyear-Brown. Amanda is a Registered Play Therapist (RPT) and she has specialized training in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Theraplay (Level 1), Cognitive Behavioral Intervention for Trauma in Schools (C-Bits & Bounce Back), Training in Adoption Competency (TAC), Grief Facilitator training, and certified training in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (MSU, Minot, ND).
To contact Amanda directly please email her at amandaike.msw@gmail.com or call at (701) 580-0662.
Megan Donovan — MS, LIMHP
Megan is a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner and Nationally Certified Counselor who has been working as a therapist for 8 years in both Nebraska and Kentucky. She has worked in various settings such as crisis centers, medical advocacy, domestic violence shelters, social services, and community mental health agencies/practices.
Currently, she works with people coping with various concerns and has specialized training in working with children, youth, and adults impacted by sexual, physical, and psychological abuse as well as traumatic grief.
She is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), as well as having training in other evidence based treatment modalities.
Megan is currently working towards certification in Perinatal Mental Health Therapy to help women who may struggle with depression or anxiety during and after pregnancy as well as have those that have experienced birth trauma.
Rachael Pigsley — PLMHP, PCMSW
Rachael Pigsley is a Provisionally Licensed Mental Health Practitioner and Provisional Clinical Social Worker. She graduated from the University of Nebraska Omaha with her Master’s in Social Work. Rachael joined OTAC with several years of experience working with individuals seeking recovery from anxiety and depression, domestic violence and abuse, grief and loss, trauma, and life transitions. She has worked in a variety of settings, including in a domestic violence shelter, substance use & mental health treatment center, and within senior-living communities.
Rachael enjoys working with children, adolescents, young adults, and seniors. She specializes in grief and trauma-based therapies, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Motivational Interviewing, Solutions Focused Therapy, and strengths-based techniques to work with clients navigating various challenges in their lives. She is also certified as a Dementia Care Practitioner (CDP) in her work with our aging population.
She has vast experience with bereavement & grief, which allows her to offer an empathetic ear for all who may be going through a tough transition or loss in their life.
Her greatest passion is helping clients to feel empowered throughout the healing process by providing unwavering support, respect, and acceptance along the way. She will walk beside you through moments of challenge & change that may be causing you emotional distress and discomfort. She considers it an absolute blessing to guide you through this journey as you discover who you were created to be & the life you were created to live.
To contact Rachael directly, please email her at rachaelptherapy@gmail.com or call at 402-277-8710.