Alex Iantaffi, PhD, MS, SEP, CST, LMFT *Currently not accepting new clients*
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist with over a decade of clinical experience. My main clinical practice is as a systemic therapist, specializing in addressing issues related to gender, sex and sexuality, and disability from a trauma-informed perspective. Systemic psychotherapy is based on Family Therapy approaches that were developed over the past 40 years, mostly from a Western perspective. I am trained in and practices Narrative Therapy, a form of therapy that focuses on the stories we tell ourselves and each other, as well as larger systemic stories (e.g., language, gender, culture), and the impact those stories have on us. Underlining this approach is a belief that clients are the experts in their own lives, and that my role as a therapist is to use tools and questions that facilitate the emergence and consolidation of the clients’ wisdom and preferred stories. In a systemic approach, even when I work with an individual in session, I bring an awareness of and curiosity about all the systems the client is part of (e.g., families, language, race/ethnicity, gender, faith/spiritual communities, and more). I am an AASECT certified sex therapist and am also trained in Somatic ExperiencingⓇ. I am also training in Dance and Movement Therapy, an approach mostly developed in the US and informed by modern dance, Authentic Movement, and developmental psychology. I strive to integrate mindfulness, breathing, embodiment and movement in my work as a healing practitioner. Nevertheless, I am always guided by my clients and their needs. A psychotherapy session with me can involve just sitting and talking as well as, if a client is willing and interested, movement, breathing exercises, drawing, writing and other forms of creative expressions. Therapy sessions with me are your time to focus on your needs and healing. Any ideas I offer is just and always an invitation. Therapy is your journey. I feel privileged to accompany my clients on their own healing journeys, if they think I might be a good guide for them, and I am always open to direct feedback.
Kaj Benson, MS, LAMFT *Currently not accepting new clients*
I am a licensed associate marriage and family therapist. As a marriage and family therapist, my lens as a therapist is always informed by all the systems that impact our lives and our relationships with ourselves. My priorities in our work together are believing that you are doing your best with the tools you have, supporting you in finding more nourishing ways to relate to yourself and your life, and co-creating a narrative about your life that brings you hope and gives you agency. I specialize in working with queer and trans people, people with chronic pain and illnesses, and neurodivergent people. I have been providing community care for queer and trans people since 2010. I enjoy working with developmental and complex trauma, and I am in my advanced year of training in Somatic Experiencing. Other focus areas that I prioritize include sex therapy, nonnormative relational orientations and structures, disability justice, body image, disordered eating, and marginalized religious and spiritual communities. I bring an integrative, radical, and queered perspective to therapy. I believe everyone deserves to have agency in their own life and to build a life they don't need to escape from.
Leisha Suggs, MS, LAMFT *Currently not accepting new clients*
I am a licensed associate marriage and family therapist. I received my Masters degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in 2017 from Saint Mary’s University. I am largely Experiential in my focus and am currently in my second year of Somatic Experiencing training. I do my best work in assisting folks experiencing trauma symptoms, life stage uncertainty, role differentiation, gender-feels, and self-esteem. For individual clients I view myself as a support or companion for your therapeutic journey. For couples I often provide support as an “enthusiastic cheerleader” for your relationship, whatever it looks like.
I enjoy working with the LGBTQ+ community, folks who are polyamorous or non-monogamous, kinky folks, folks with questions or concerns around sex and intimate relationships, folks questioning or playing with gender and gender expression, navigating difficult experiences and strategies from past relationships, racial and intergenerational trauma, healthy boundaries with social media and internet engagement, intersections of gender and race within nerd culture, and really anything queer and nerdy. I see and recognize the gentle balance we all must strike between the human we feel we must be, and the human we know ourselves to be. My hope is that through our work together you are better able to nurture and express your full and authentic self.
Kim Sherva, MS *Currently not accepting new clients*
People are amazing because they are resilient, because they are resourceful, because they can change their story. People can break patterns of abuse, can heal from intergenerational trauma, can validate their stories and who they are.
As a non-binary Korean adoptee, I resonate with people who work on changing their stories, who are healing themselves, who want to have families and relationships that are loving and caring and kind. I identify with the transgender/non-binary community as well as the polyam, pagan, and kink communities. I wish to work with individuals and families who come from these communities as well as those who are adopted and others from marginalized communities. I wish to work with those who live with chronic pain, who are physically disabled, and with neuroatypical folx. I also wish to work with sex workers, Two-Spirit folx, and BIPOC.
I like narrative therapy, solution focused therapy, Bowen Family therapy, strategic therapy, and emotionally focused therapy. I believe that each person and family knows which therapy would work best with them. My goal is to work with them, to communicate openly and honestly, to support, and to encourage. I work with individuals, couples, and families. I am your radical queer who keeps intersectionality in mind when it comes to the people I meet. Each person is valid. Each person deserves to be seen. Each person’s story deserves to be told. I am honored to hold these stories, to be a part of the healing of these stories, and to witness how people change these stories.
I have received my Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2020. I have also completed a certification in sex therapy.
Eric Fawcett practicum student 2020-2021 *Currently accepting clients*
I believe that earning a client’s trust is both the starting point and cornerstone of successful therapeutic relationships. While several modalities influence my work, my approach is informed most by Narrative Therapy. As other therapists have explained in their bios, narrative therapists are very interested to learn about the stories a client tells them about their own lives, and to learn where those stories come from. Our stories, and the lens through which we view ourselves in the world, are powerfully impacted by culture, by our families, and by our own unique interpretation of our reality. Sometimes the stories we live by are consistently nurturing and helpful. Other times the stories we live by conflict with one another and cause us to hurt and feel stuck. Narrative therapists are all about helping clients to achieve their best life according to how clients themselves define what that means.
I offer an affirming therapeutic environment where queer, trans, nonbinary, cisgender and heterosexual people can explore questions and concerns, both personal and relational. I enjoy working with people hoping to enhance their intimate partnerships however they define them, whether open, monogamous, polyamorous or kinky. I welcome clients maintaining spiritual beliefs both alternative and those more commonly practiced. Prior to pursuing a career in mental health, I spent twenty five years in the music industry, both as a touring recording artist and as a creative entrepreneur. Throughout those years I collaborated on thousands of projects, with other musicians, with dancers and choreographers, with filmmakers, with poets, and with major corporations, among many others. In my therapy practice I love working with artists, and I approach this work, as I approach my work with all my clients, as a kind of sacred collaboration.
I love stories. I believe we create our world by the stories we tell ourselves and the relationships we hold dear, and I am consistently impressed by the resilience of people. I have worked in case management and with both kids and adults living with severe and persistent mental illness, as well as teaching sex education. In all my jobs I found myself falling in a therapeutic position, and count myself lucky to now do therapy full time. I enjoy working with the LGBT+ community as well as non-monogamous individuals and families. I have a special interest in chronic illness and disability, concerns around gender and sexuality, racial and intergenerational trauma, sexual trauma, intimate partner violence, spiritual/ religious trauma and purity culture. I work from a kink friendly, affirming and sex positive approach. As a biracial Latina, I am interested in intersectional identities and how we bring our most authentic selves to the surface. I love all things nerdy. Let’s talk about trauma in terms of your favorite stories and your to-do list in terms of D&D. I’m here to listen openly, ask questions, and work alongside you. Every superhero needs a sidekick and I’m here to wade through it alongside you. I am completing a masters in marriage and family therapy at St. Mary’s University. Between classes and clients I enjoy making art, lindy hop and blues dancing, reading fanfiction, and playing board games.
Mark Reese, MA, LMFT EMDR Trained *Currently not accepting new clients*
I am a licensed marriage and family therapist, and a graduate of the Alfred Adler Graduate School where I obtained my M.A. in Adlerian Counseling & Psychotherapy. I work from an Adlerian, systemic and trauma informed perspective, exploring how a client moves along their life path giving meaning to themselves and to the world. Life goals and the affective, cognitive, and behavioral strategies that people employ to reach those goals will be explored, especially from the context of the clients approach to, or avoidance of, five life tasks: self identity, intimate relationships, participation in community, vocation, and a personal spiritual connection.
I offer an affirming practice where queer, trans, nonbinary, cisgender and heterosexual people can explore issues of self-esteem, authenticity and communication. I also work with people seeking to enhance their relationships however they define them: open, monogamous, polyamorous or kinky. I welcome clients with alternative spiritual beliefs and practices as well.
I work with many clients who have experienced developmental and complex trauma. In working with these clients, I often utilize EMDR, a physiologically based therapy that can help a person recall distressing events, while their attention is diverted. This technique allows you to be exposed to the memories or thoughts without having a strong psychological response.
Prior to collaborating on Edges Wellness Center LLC, I spent ten years at the University of Minnesota working with the Families and Long Term Care Research Projects, predominately working with caregivers of people living with memory loss and dementia as they face issues of depression, anxiety, changing roles, end of life issues and family/relational conflict that often accompanies caregiving and various medical diagnoses. Working with caregiving related issues is still a passion.
Serenity K. Curtis, MS, LAMFT *Currently not accepting new clients*
I view life as a complex, ever changing and evolving tapestry. My hope is to invite my clients—to whatever level they are able to tolerate at any given time—to start critically examining the stories that they have carried with them thus far, and begin making conscious choices that enrich their lives and speak to their authentic truths. I work from a trauma-aware, culturally responsive, and intersectional stance combining Feminist, Narrative, Solution-Focused, Internal Family Systems, Intergenerational, and Cognitive-Behavioral (CBT) modalities. I always try to balance an understanding of how the past impacts the present with a future-orientated approach towards enacting worthwhile changes that will allow clients to create their desired way of living (solution-focused, CBT). I approach issues directly but compassionately, always encouraging my clients to continue making progress and moving forward even if just by baby steps. I celebrate my clients’ successes and support them through setbacks by helping to debrief what went well, what didn’t, what did they learn, and what do they want to try differently the next time. Due to a long-standing interest and specialization in human sexuality, I am also skilled at working with members of the LGBTQ+ communities, non-monogamous folks, kinky folks, and anyone who has questions or concerns around sex, intimate relationships, sexual and/or romantic orientation, gender identity and/or expression, and erotic orientation. Prior to entering private practice, I worked within community mental health for 2 years. I have worked with couples, individuals, families, and children (my preferred age range is 9 years old and up). In addition to my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from UW-Stout, I also completed the Sex Therapy Professional Development Certificate.
lora strey, MS *Currently not accepting new clients*
i believe that all people are resilient. i believe that all people know themselves better than anyone else could ever know them. i believe that the stories that we tell about ourselves and our worlds create the worlds that we live in. sometimes people get stuck in a certain story or belief system that leaves them feeling powerless and helpless. a lot of the time, these stories and belief systems come from outside of us: internalized oppression and other people’s ideas about what is the right or best way to live can be very painful to hold if we do not fit neatly into a norm. my goal in therapy is to listen to client stories and help them unstick themselves using the tools that my education/work/life experience/etc has taught me. when we feel less stuck, then we have more freedom to redefine our lives and our relationships to others. different people need different things from therapy: i will always listen to feedback and workshop therapy sessions with you so that we can co-create the type of therapeutic experience that will be the most helpful for you. i lean toward narrative family therapy, art therapy, and somatic therapies that focus on body-awareness and movement. i work with individuals, couples, and families.
in the past i have worked as a wilderness therapy field guide and a mindfulness guide at a minneapolis middle school. i received my master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Saint Mary's University in 2019 and i am currently training in Somatic Experiencing.
Becky Poe, MS *Currently not accepting new clients*
I view life as story. I view the process of therapy as understanding and rewriting our stories. I believe we all possess what we need to change our stories, but sometimes we need a little help along the way. It can be difficult to create our own unique stories in a world that is constantly telling us who we should (or shouldn’t) be. My goal as a therapist is to help you discover what is and what is not working for you in your current story. My goal is to cocreate new and better stories alongside you.
I provide individual therapy for adults and adolescents, family therapy, and couple therapy for any relationship configuration (polyamorous, open, monogamous, etc.). My therapeutic work is informed by Narrative and Internal Family Systems theories and I take a collaborative approach to therapy. I have special interest in working with LGBTQ+ youth and their families as well as non-traditional relationship configurations. I am currently in graduate school at Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota and will receive a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy in the fall of 2020. In my spare time, I enjoy live music, painting, paddleboarding, patios, and watching all the TV shows. I am thrilled to be starting my practicum at Edges Wellness Center LLC under the supervision of Alex Iantaffi.
Marie Houser practicum student 2020-2021 *Currently accepting relational clients*
Our internal worlds are vast and ever-shifting: we are joyful and sorrowful, triumphant and travailing. But sometimes we feel stuck, (un)moored by an internal state or external situation, and our capacity to live hopefully and with self-regard dims. Oppressive cultural concepts and traumatic experiences can especially dim hope and self-regard.
My goal is to help clients work with meanings, stories, and skills to retrieve alternate ways of thinking and doing. We make explicit what has been implicit and amplify what helps. But as someone who has multiple identities, including disabled and agendered, I understand that neither life nor identity follows a template. Likewise, our work will be guided by your unique needs and hopes.
Areas of special experience or interest include LGBTQIA+ issues; chronic illness and pain; recovery from intimate-partner violence; ageism; and veganism. I offer a kink-affirmative, sex-positive approach. I believe that the outlier’s perspective can “open[] up a world of possibility”—that is, a world of strengths—that therapy can help identify. As such, I practice radical nonjudgment about consensual life choices, providing a space in which you are allowed to feel imperfect and to voice what you otherwise might not. For partners and other romantic/erotic and familial systems, I provide a safe, neutral space in which you may feel free to articulate your desires and needs.
My therapeutic frameworks are narrative therapy, CBT, bibliotherapy, Bowenian theory, and, when welcome, I offer somatic techniques such as breath-work and meditation. I am an MFT student at St. Mary’s University who is excited and grateful to be supervised by Alex Iantaffi.
