Staff

SERVICE PROVIDERS

Psychiatrist

Natarajan (Bob) Laks is a board Certified adolescent and adult psychiatrist with extensive clinical experience. He provides psychiatric evaluations, therapy and medication management at the Chesterfield and Sunset Hill offices. Services can be accessed through private insurance.

Psychologists

Services available through CTS, Medicaid and Private Insurance.

Warren A. Kass is a doctoral level Licensed Psychologist who has years of experience providing psychological and educational evaluations and therapy to diverse clinical population. Since receiving his doctorate in 1973, he has worked extensively with children, adolescents and adults involved with the Division of
Family Services, Juvenile Justice System, Special Education and in the general population for over thirty (30) years. He specializes in the assessment and treatment of ADHD and Oppositional Children and Adolescents. Dr. Kass provides therapy services at both the West and South County offices. He provides Educational Evaluations and advocacy for the educationally handicapped.
Robert Schnidman is a doctoral level Licensed Psychologist who has years of experience providing psychological evaluations and therapy to a diverse clinical population. He has worked extensively with children, adolescents, and families since receiving his doctorate in 1979. He is thoroughly familiar with the issues of those involved with the Children’s Division, the Juvenile Justice System and with educational diagnosis and special education concerns. Dr. Schnidman conducts psychological evaluations at the West County office various hospitals and at the Children’s Division office as well as therapy services at the West County office.
Scott Schaeffer is a doctoral level Licensed Psychologist who has extensive experience working with children and adolescents. In addition to his position as a School Psychologist with the Special School district of St. Louis County, Dr. Schaeffer provides individual and family therapy to children, adolescents and adults. Dr. Schaffer also provides couples therapy. His specialties include educational evaluations and treatment for AD/HD, anxiety and depressive disorders. Dr. Schaeffer is available to provide educational, AD/HD and general psychological
evaluations. He provides therapy services to children, adolescents and adults and he is available to assist parents with appropriate 504 plans and IEP's.

Counselors

Services available through CTS, Medicaid and Private Insurance.

Dawn Bergman is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the Executive Director for Family Care Center. She has extensive experience with adolescents and adults with mental health and substance abuse issues. Dawn has had specialized training in substance abuse, cognitive behavioral therapy, and marriage and family therapy. Dawn uses a cognitive behavioral, solution focused approach to counseling focusing on goal oriented treatment. Dawn has worked in hospital settings, intensive outpatient treatment, and EAP assessment and referral. Dawn has experience with the Children’s Division, Juvenile Justice System and provides counseling at the West County office as well as in home.
Bridget Thomas is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Bridget has experience with children, adolescents and families who have been abused and neglected. She provides in office counseling at our West County office. She has worked for the Division of Family Services, and at Marygrove. She is also in charge of Adoption Services at Family Care Center which includes training other staff, planning and speaking at seminars on international adoption and overseeing the program. Bridget has supervised several provisionally licensed counselors until they were licensed.
Wincel Tomlinson is a Licensed Clinical Social worker who has extensive experience with culturally diverse populations. He completed a two year training program in Marriage and Family therapy through the Karl Manager School of Psychiatry and Mental Health Sciences. Additionally, he completed an extensive training program in advanced clinical trauma treatment. Wincel has provided clinical services to children, adolescents and families in a wife variety of settings over the past twenty –five years. He is familiar with and comprehensively understands the issues involved with people who receive services from the Children’s Division and the criminal justice system. Wincel also holds the position of Qualified Substance Abuse Professional.
Debbie Green-Gegg is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has extensive experience as a school social worker in the St. Louis City and County Public Schools. She has experience with crisis intervention, home visits, parent education, collaboration with other professionals and individual counseling. She has presented workshops on the topics of child abuse, effects of divorce on children, absenteeism from school and poverty.
Amy Murphy is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has experience working with a wide variety of populations especially individuals with disabilities. She has provided individual and group therapy sessions. She has been an evaluation coordinator who worked with evaluations to determine aptitude, achievement, intelligence and diagnosis. She has also provided counseling to children and adolescents in the foster care system.
Lisa McCulloch is a Licensed Professional Counselor. She has experience working with individuals and families with emotional disturbances, behavior problems, relationship issues and mental illness. Lisa provides therapy in the Chesterfield office to individuals, couples and families. Specific issues common to Lisa’s practice include anxiety, depression, marital discord, and people seeking parenting advice, stress and anger management skills.
Rhonda Collins is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has experience in crisis intervention, assessment, and the educational environment. She is knowledgable about the special needs of foster children and has developed and presented at many training sessions regarding abuse and neglect issues. She provides individual and family counseling services.
Brenda Lee Casey, MSW, LCSW. Ms. Casey has a Master Degree in Clinical Social Work from Washington University and basis her practice on the use of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. She has a strong background in crisis intervention, at-risk adolescents, and DSMIV Diagnosis, such as depression, bipolar, and adjustment disorders. Ms. Casey provides individual, couples and family therapy. Most recently, Ms. Casey has been focusing her practice on major issues women face in life; emotionally, physically and environmentally and encouraging life coping skills to deal with these issues in a productive manner.
Becky Sidwell-Douglas is a Licensed Professional Counselor. Becky has worked with Life Skills Foundation for several years and has experience with adolescents with developmental disabilities and behavioral issues. Becky has a unique understanding of behavioral interventions and provides client centered counseling. Becky provides in home and in office counseling services.
James Carroll is a Licensed Professional Counselor who has extensive experience working with culturally diverse populations. He has worked in a variety of settings, such as inpatient, outpatient and residential, with children, adolescents and adults. Jamie has experience with the juvenile justice system, substance abuse issues and mental health issues and takes a cognitive-behavioral approach to counseling. He provides in-home and in-office individual and family counseling.
Courtney Schaffner is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. She has utilized a strength-based approach in her extensive work with children and families involved with the Children’s Division. She has provided intensive crisis intervention and treatment planning for youth with mental health issues and has worked with schools and family court. Courtney has experience providing individual, group, and family therapy and has specialized in children and families dealing with divorce.
Ellie Poulis is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been working with children and families for 16 years. Ellie's experience includes providing services within in-patient hospitals, residential treatment centers, school-based, and in-home settings. Ellie has specialized in clinical services with children, youths, and families, child abuse and neglect, trauma work, family and marital therapy, and play therapy. Ellie works with clients from strengths-based, solution-focused, and cognitive behavioral therapy approaches. Ellis also is experienced in providing parenting education, consultation with issues surrounding special education services, home visits, and crisis prevention. Ellie also has a great deal of experience with working with children, youths and families handling social and peer interaction concerns, relationship issues, Bi-Polar Disorder, ADHD, Reactive Attachment Disorder, PTSD, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Ellie is available for in-home and in-office therapy sessions.