Meet Our Staff

Julie is passionate about growing personally and professionally. Over the years she has received a Permanency and Adoption Competency Certificate from the Center for Advanced Studies in Child Welfare (PACC) at the University of Minnesota. Julie completed training in Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health from the University of Minnesota, Julie has also completed training in Nurturing Parenting, Circle of Security Parenting, and Restorative Parenting curriculums.

It was in 2016 that Main Street Family Services opened its doors with Julie as the executive director. Julie’s passion is to see families work through their challenges and find the support they need so every family member finds healing, restoration, and belonging.

Jessica believes that all voices should be heard, and our unique differences are what make life beautiful. Her interests are in strengthening relationships, and she enjoys working with families to make a lifelong difference.

Her experiences have fueled her passion for helping others build and maintain strong, supportive family bonds. She believes in a holistic approach to family and community care and hopes to make a significant impact, one relationship at a time.

Char has over 20 years of experience working with children and families in a variety of roles. She has expertise in the child welfare system, infant and early childhood mental health, child development, DC:0-5 assessments, Circle of Security, foster care and adoption, suicide first aid, and attachment.

The majority of Char’s career has been spent working with children and adolescents in foster care, and their birth, foster, and adoptive parents with an array of presenting issues. She has experience working with individuals and families who have experienced trauma, are facing chemical use challenges, have experienced domestic violence, identify with the LGBTQ+ community, and have challenges related to anxiety and depression.

Char uses a variety of therapeutic modalities in her practice while focusing on client and family strengths, including components of cognitive behavioral therapy, trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, family systems, solution-focused therapy, neuroscience, and mindfulness and relaxation. Char carries a small caseload at Main Street Family Services, while providing supervision and oversight to other clinical staff.

Twelve years ago she began private practice specializing in using a Neurobehavioral Approach with people who have Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) and their families. That practice expanded to include families affected by other neurobehavioral conditions such as ADHD, Autism, and Tourette’s disorder.

Today the focus of Nikki’s practice is to support families affected by neurobehavioral conditions that have not responded to traditional mental health treatment. Often these conditions can be complicated by additional life factors such as history of foster care, adoption, trauma, and other mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

This can become very messy and confusing for all involved with supporting the person, but especially stressful for parents and caregivers. Nikki works with parents and caregivers in a family therapy setting to specifically address support for the person with the disorder and works with parents and caregivers individually for their own well-being.

Nikki is also trained in Brainspotting.

Cathy specialized in child and youth counseling in graduate school, and primarily works with young children, teens, and their families. She uses child-centered play therapy with younger children, and with teens and adults uses a variety of modalities including CBT, person-centered, solution focused, and ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention). She has experience working with anxiety, depression, OCD, trauma, and ADHD. Cathy loves seeing change and progress happen in individuals and families, and believes in the power of the therapeutic relationship. Prior to working in the mental health field, Cathy worked as a librarian and has lived in California, Texas, and Illinois.

Andrew also has training in several modalities including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical-behavioral therapy (DBT), eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), and trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy (TFCBT).

Monica is currently providing psychotherapy and psychoeducation to individuals and families, from age 6 into adulthood. Monica uses a variety of therapy modalities, including cognitive behavioral therapy, narrative therapy, DBT, and most recently was trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy. Monica prides herself on meeting people where they are at and finds it humbling to be able to provide support to work on what they want to work on. Monica understands that we are human, and as humans we all have struggles, and sometimes those struggles need a little extra help. When Monica is not working, she enjoys being a mom and wife while spending days outside, just relaxing, or camping.

Kristi’s areas of interest are building relationships with parents and their children through interpersonal communication. Kristi enjoys offering parent education that is tailored to the family, fostering curiosity and assisting parents to navigate through difficult, complex situations to strengthen and stabilize their families. Kristi considers it a great honor to be a part of her clients story.

Kristi’s goals while working with families are to offer parents a variety of skills and approaches to add to their “Parenting Toolbox” . It is her goal that parents will be comfortable using a multitude of educational tools so that they can build family units with safe, secure, loving and compassionate family foundations. Kristi enjoys modeling and practicing these educational tools (or skills) with her clients and watching parents integrate these approaches with their children.

Kristi loves everything family and the best days are the ones where she gets to spend time with her adult children and husband. She adores her church and friends and cooking, entertaining and spending time on the lake. She has a passion for animals and has three dogs and approximately 20 chickens (who is counting?) Haha! She attempts to garden and affectionally calls the garden “The land of Chaos” as you never know if or what will grow. God, people, pets and plants are what makes Kristi’s world go round and she feels blessed to be a part of this great adventure called life.

She has also had experience working as a university instructor, teaching topics on development and working in mental health and early childhood development settings. Brooke has training in Circle of Security, Restorative Parenting, and extensive knowledge/experience working with ACEs/trauma. She has had extensive experience in human development, working with parenting program content, & has a passion for mental health and trauma-informed care.

Brooke says her goal is to empower clients through education, skill-building, modeling, and compassion. She thinks one of the strongest ways we can help others is through reflective questioning, compassionate listening, and offering a safe place to be an imperfect human to recognize our areas of growth. One of her mottos is “When we know better, we can do better.” Brooke takes this with her to every meeting she has with clients.

Brooke loves spending time in nature, especially exploring MN’s state parks with her family and dog. She and her husband are game night enthusiasts. Brooke loves all things arts and crafts and baking and loves being able to share both of those with others. Aunty is one of her favorite titles, and she spends a lot of time hanging out with her nieces and nephews.

Jessica’s areas of interest are working with children and building relationships with their parents. She enjoys guiding clients and giving them resources that will strengthen them. Jessica is interested in reading books and gaining more knowledge to help her clients and herself.

Jessica’s goals while working with clients include building family skills, communication skills, and watching relationships grow in verbal and nonverbal skills. She values listening to her clients and hearing where they would like to improve and show progress, no matter the time frame. Jessica’s goal is for families to grow together and be united.

Jessica loves the outdoors and anything in nature. She enjoys relaxing and having quiet time in her garden; she feels refreshed by reading nonfiction and fiction books. Jessica truly values each person as an individual, and her faith keeps her strong.

In her free time, Amber loves having date nights with her husband, camping, fishing, and movie and game nights. She also enjoys watching her children participate in their activities, such as football and wrestling. Spending quality time with family and friends fills her love tank.

Michelle values earning a client’s trust by being honest, sincere, and providing grace. She supports her clients by developing mutual respect that provides the safety and understanding to develop the skills and self-awareness to allow them to build relational bridges.

Michelle is uniquely herself and believes that her clients are uniquely themselves.

“Unfortunately, many appear to be drowning in the vast sea of expectations. My hope is to throw them a lifesaver and coach, support, and cheer them on to learn the skills to swim, and sometimes provide the inspiration to keep swimming when seas get rough, and once they reach the shore and can stand on their own – celebrate and let them go…” -Michelle