Providers

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  We all attempt to understand where our beliefs, feelings, and habits are coming from, but connecting the dots alone can be confusing and frustrating. I provide the supportive and non-judgmental environment you need to comfortably process your attitudes, assumptions, and expectations about the world around you. I will approach our work together with empathy, curiosity, and a sincere interest in your emotional well-being. Our therapeutic alliance will enable you to cultivate new perspectives and promote increased insight. Together, we can explore the many layers of your unique self, and gain a deeper understanding of how your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are interconnected.

Effective psychotherapy is scientific in analysis and approach, yet highly personalized to each client, situation, and context.  I approach emotional challenges from an integrated framework of humanistic psychology, and utilizing cognitive-behavioral applications. My process is depth-oriented, with a focus on inter-relational models; going beyond simply employing coping techniques to reduce symptoms, but examining and addressing the root causes of your distress. My style is open, direct, accepting and patient, with a focus on presence and immediacy.  

In conducting assessment, diagnosis, and treatment planning, I draw from my experience in psychiatric hospitals, mental health agencies, and integrated care settings, to serve my clients in private practice. I have additional expertise in adolescent populations, attachment modalities, and trauma-informed care. As a National Certified Counselor (NCC), I am among the elite group of board-certified counselors who offer the highest standards of practice because we have met stringent education, examination performance, supervision, experience, and ethical requirements.

Therapy can open the door to increased self-awareness, healing, and personal growth. Don’t just survive…thrive!

Hello, my name is Dr. Don Hume.

I graduated with a BS and MA from Eastern New Mexico University and completed a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Oklahoma in 1971. I built and served as clinical director of Norman Counseling Clinic from 1984 to 2013, and have conducted a private practice since 1972. I have supervised a multidisciplinary clinical staff including MD, LCSW, PhD, and LPC with a wide variety of special interests and clinical acumen. Also, I served on both the adjunct and professional staff of the University of Oklahoma for many years, lecturing in the areas of psychotherapy, diagnostics, and therapeutic systems at Air Force bases around the world. I recently moved back to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to be close to my daughter and son-in-law, having grown up in Albuquerque this feels like coming home. People experience "problems in living" at some point in their lives, and therapeutic intervention can be beneficial.  Free from judgment or unrealistic expectations, therapy can provide the tools necessary to help a person better cope and be prepared to deal with these issues. I enjoy working with my clients to assist in finding better solutions that can reduce anxiety, and depression with the daily turmoil of life. 

Hello, my name is Jessica Gassdorf. I have been a licensed mental health counselor in NM since 2020. Choosing a counselor can be difficult and looking at making change can be an intimidating process, especially in the beginning. My goal is to try to provide a safe and non-judgmental space for your journey to a better and healthier you. Everyone's process is different, and every individual is different which is why I work to take a person-centered and integrative approach with each client.  I have focused most of my career on working with those who have struggled with adjusting to new life situations and/or stressors, low self-esteem, lack of motivation, depression, anxiety, trauma as well as addiction. I work with clients to not only talk out the things they are struggling with or want to change, but also make some of the changes by learning, or refining, healthy boundaries and coping strategies. Together we will work on trying to uncover any root issues and working on a deeper understanding of how to manage day-to-day life. 

Hello,  my name is Stephanie.  I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in New Mexico. I am a bilingual counselor working in both Spanish and English with adults, adolescents, children, and groups in a school setting, as well as in, hospital inpatient and outpatient treatment. When deciding to seek counseling I understand that each person comes with their own unique experience. I feel the counseling relationship is meant to honor such experiences, perspectives, and ambitions through a thoughtful collaboration between counselor and client. I feel that this aspect of counseling can help to resolve my clients’ specific concerns, and it enables them to think beyond mere problem-solving. Working with some issues and making changes can be challenging and every individual moves at a different pace. Counseling takes time that varies from person to person, but together we can work towards the changes you want to make. I take a more person-centered approach and you are in control of the counseling relationship. 

Hello, my name is Crystal Portillo, LMHC. I received my degree in Forensic Psychology in Los Angeles, at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. I have worked in school settings and psychiatric inpatient facilities, treating individuals struggling with a variety of issues ranging from stress, anger management, anxiety, depression, and mood disorders. Most of my pre-private practice experience has been at a partial hospitalization program incorporated as a step-down program from psychiatric hospitalizations. My clinical focus is on treating mental health issues with co-occurring substance dependency/addiction; utilizing the matrix model, dialectical behavioral therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy approaches. I integrate these constructs, within a person-centered approach to treatment, as effective therapy should never be a one-size-fits-all all approach.

Many struggle with addiction and maladaptive coping patterns. They can impact multiple facets of one's life; work, socialization, familial relationships, and much more. It is essential to know that no one starts using substances to become an addict, and I want to be there on your journey to begin living the life you want, and the one you deserve to live.

Hello,  my name is Nicole Harvey-Navarro, and I am an LMHC therapist with a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from New Mexico State University. I have worked in many different practice types, including schools, psychiatric facilities, and outpatient individual settings. My clinical focus is centered around cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectic behavioral therapy (DBT) as well as mindfulness-based approaches. I work primarily with adult populations who have difficulties with anxiety, depression, grief, stress, anger management, co-occurring disorders with substance use, mood, and interpersonal difficulties. It is important to recognize not everyone fits into one particular box, and adjusting my approach to fit client needs is something I strive for.  

Hello, my name is Maureen Colligan and I am an Independently Licensed Clinical Counselor residing in Southern New Mexico since 2016. I was raised in a small city in upstate New York, where I earned my Associate’s, Bachelor’s, and then a Master’s Degree in Humanistic Education. Shortly after receiving my Master’s Degree, I continued earning a Credentialed Addiction and Substance Abuse Counseling License. In 2011, I completed a second Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling, and I am working towards completion of my Doctorate in Healthcare Administration.

I entered the United States Army Reserves while in college, working short tours of active duty, and was honorably discharged in 1987. I have worked as an advocate for persons with disabilities and as an addiction counselor for over 20 years in outpatient, inpatient, and detoxification treatment settings. I am currently seeing clients with unresolved trauma and PTSD, eating disorders, mood disorders, pet loss grief, and those experiencing family or marital Conflict. I see individuals, adolescents (over age 12), and Couples. My primary approach to counseling is from a Cognitive Behavioral perspective, but I incorporate Brainspotting Phase 1 and use a client-driven eclectic approach with each person. 

Hello, my name is Ruth Wagner, and I am a bilingual Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC), dedicated to providing compassionate and culturally sensitive therapy services to clients in both English and Spanish.

I believe that mental health is essential to overall well-being and that therapy can be a powerful tool for achieving it. My approach is client-centered while working collaboratively with clients, children, adolescents, and adults. Whether you are dealing with life transitions or stressful situations, you’ve lost yourself, there is low self-esteem, feel unmotivated, depression, anxiety, and trauma, I am here to work with you in understanding, and meeting your unique needs and goals to move past the obstacles that prevent you from living a happier life.

I draw from a variety of evidence-based interventions, including therapeutic art techniques, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). I also have the training to to conduct EMDR as a therapeutic intervention. My goal is to provide a safe, non-judgmental space where my clients can feel comfortable exploring their thoughts and emotions.

As a bilingual therapist, I am committed to helping individuals who may feel more comfortable expressing themselves in their native language. I understand that language can be a barrier to accessing mental health services, and I am dedicated to bridging that gap. I look forward to working with you and supporting you on your journey toward mental health and well-being.

My name is Shiloe Valles, and I am a provisionally Licensed Mental Health Counselor. I graduated with my Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2022 from New Mexico State University. I was raised here in Las Cruces, and have lived in New Mexico for my entire life. This community is special to me, and I have a passion for helping those who live here thrive and flourish.

I believe that counseling should consider the whole person- mind, body, and spirit/soul. By approaching my work in this way, I aim to ensure that the entire health of your being is taken into account. I desire to help you reorient to your center and rediscover balance in your life. I take a feminist, person-centered approach to my work, which simply means I honor and witness the person sitting across from me while cultivating an open, honest, and collaborative relationship with you. I intend to hold a sacred space for you to share who you are and what you are going through without judgment, as I listen with empathy, compassion, and understanding. I work alongside you to help you make sense of your current challenges, discover your strengths, leverage those strengths against your current struggles, gain insight into how your past may be affecting your present, and make meaning out of the things you have experienced. With a background in yoga, I also incorporate mindfulness and bodily awareness/movement into my work, as appropriate. I am bilingual in English and American Sign Language, and I currently work with adolescents, young adults, and mature adults.

I look forward to meeting and working with you!

My goal is for you to feel valued, and heard. Sitting in the room with anyone is an honor and a privilege as they take the courageous step towards treatment. If you find yourself constantly overworked, stressed, burnt out, struggling to say no to others, and/or having difficulties separating your self-worth from your accomplishments. We just might be a good fit!

I have experience in numerous clinical settings including inpatient, school counseling, and outpatient settings.  I work primarily from the clinical approach of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). My goal is to teach you tools to help accept your emotions for what they are and use them to make informed choices as opposed to reacting to them. Hardship and struggles are part of the human experience. Still, through integrating strategies such as mindfulness, self-compassion, and experiential learning, I hope to assist you in feeling empowered to face whatever life throws at you and to live in congruence with your values.

I’m Jason Smith, a 5th-generation Las Crucen and a 3rd-generation counselor. The grandson of Mexican immigrants, I speak 3 languages (only one truly fluently, however), and love learning about and appreciating the various and diverse cultures we’re fortunate to have here in Las Cruces and New Mexico more broadly. A lover of music ranging from Jazz and R&B to classical and New Wave, I’m a visual artist whose medium is photography, and a lifelong martial artist as well. I’ve lived on both coasts of the US as well as in large and small towns in between, but I’ve spent most of my life in New Mexico and have always considered it home.

As a counselor, I approach each case with empathy and curiosity and do my best to help clients become more mindful of the cognitive, emotional, cultural, social, and historical dynamics in play in their lives that all of us are likely aware of but not always conscious of how they can profoundly influence our mental health. I then try to help clients use that newfound consciousness to begin making adaptive and constructive changes to better self-regulate their emotional state. While I often draw upon theories and techniques including EMDR, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems, and mindfulness, I always attempt to meet clients where they are and utilize an integrative and holistic approach that incorporates and draws from each client’s cultural perspective, personal strengths, creativity, and uniqueness. 

I work with individuals 14 and up, and I especially enjoy working with people from diverse backgrounds (ethnic, national, LGBTQ+, religious/non-religious, socioeconomic, and cultural) who may be dealing with issues ranging from mood disorders and trauma to relationship and workplace challenges. I strive to facilitate healing by providing a safe environment for clients to be authentic about their situations and feelings, providing resources and psychoeducation when appropriate, and encouraging reflection, insight, self-acceptance, and self-forgiveness, and sometimes even transformational epiphanies.

“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you.” -Fred DeVito

Therapy is hard, and hard work. If you’re ready to make a change for your mental well-being; I’m ready to provide information, observations, feedback, and support.

I am licensed in both Texas and New Mexico as a professional counselor (LPC, LPCC), and as an addiction counselor (LCDC, ADAC). I have met the educational requirements for Marriage and Family Therapists and have 40 hours of training specifically for Play Therapy.  

My therapeutic approach is characterized by utilizing the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental, physical, and social factors.  I use strong foundations in Cognitive Behavioral, Person-Centered, and Reality-Based Therapy. I work with a variety of issues* and populations**.  

At its most basic level, I view therapy as conversations with a purpose. The therapeutic space of these conversations will provide comfort, safety, respect, confidentiality, and a working alliance. I aim to help you make changes that bring you closer to the life you want.

*AD/HD, Anxiety, Anger, bipolar disorder, Chemical Dependency, Co-Dependency, Depression, Disability, LGBTQ+, OCD, Personality Disorders, Phase of Life Changes, C/PTSD, etc.

**Children, Adolescent, Adult

Hello, my name is Jose Cera, a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New Mexico. My experience includes psychiatric inpatient and outpatient services with a variety of ages, backgrounds, and psychopathology.  I work with clients from early to mid-adulthood using a Person-Centered and Narrative approach to guide individuals in navigating their mental health journey. I assist clients in assessing their needs, identifying goals to work towards, developing effective ways to cope, and exploring previous events that may be impacting them in the present. 

We will work together in honoring your story, utilizing your strengths to process the past and build resilience as you take on a new tomorrow. My role isn’t to tell you how to manage your life but to support you as you build the confidence and skills to rewrite the narrative and reach a unique outcome. 

Areas of interest I work with include emerging adulthood, life transitions, stress management, insecurity and confidence, trauma, grief & loss, emotion vs logic, and utilizing symbolism, and imagery to explore the self. 

Hi friends, my name is Vanca! I highly value individuality and strive to ensure that each of my clients feels genuinely appreciated as a unique and distinct person. My main focuses are within the realms of neurodivergence, adolescence, and LGBTQ+ identity. I adopt a humanistic approach that is specifically tailored to each client. Every human being is different, and each person deserves to be truly understood regarding their own unique situations and struggles. 

I strive to create a nurturing environment where you can freely express yourself. I embrace the opportunity to embark on this journey with you, celebrating your quirks as strengths, and evolving toward a more vibrant and authentic life. Let’s become a team so we can work together on your personal growth, guided entirely by you and your needs. You deserve a life filled with happiness and authenticity.

Hello, my name is Kimberly DuVernois and I am a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). I

have experience in providing services utilizing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), including trauma focused and eating disorder focused CBT; integrated with a person-centered approach.

I have provided services in inpatient/outpatient programs, crisis intervention/prevention, and long term care settings. I have experience treating children, adolescent and adult populations, as well as individuals with intellectual/developmental delays. I believe therapy can be beneficial for all age ranges, as a reflective journey, promoting change through self awareness and processing. What does therapy mean to me? I believe therapy should be conducted through a person centered approach to achieve productive outcomes. What do I wish for my clients to experience? I feel anyone embarking on their own therapeutic journey should benefit from an authentic empathetic approach.

“Rarely can a response make something better. What makes something better is a connection.” 

- Brenee Brown