Ms. Johnson is a clinical social worker with 16 years of counseling experience in mental health, medical health, and educational settings. She received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas. Her clinical experience includes individual and group therapy with clients experiencing a diverse set of needs, including depression, anxiety, grief and loss, relational conflict, issues related to workplace conflict, communication problems, previous trauma, and personality traits. She is an experienced presenter and workshop facilitator at both local and regional levels.

Ms. Johnson is also an ordained clergy in the United Methodist Church where she has served on the clergy credentialing board, and chaired the Commission on Diversity and Advocacy, which is active in issues involving gender, ethnicity, culture, and ecumenism. Ms. Johnson has been a member of the PRC® team for over 4 years and facilitating COPE for 4 years.

Ms. Johnson is eclectic in her use of therapeutic approaches utilizing what seems to be most helpful for each client she interacts with. Acceptance and commitment therapy are primary methodologies but she also incorporates DBT, skills, and use transactional analysis, thinking about core values, life meaning, and mindfulness. Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication approach in as well as other mindfulness approaches to communication and behavior that incorporate a strong component of the development of empathy.  I also rely on the approaches published by the Harvard Negotiation Project (e.g. Difficult Conversations, Thanks for the Feedback, Crucial Accountability), and utilize Brene Brown’s and John Bradshaw’s work on the experience of shame; approach early life and adult trauma from both the mindfulness perspective of the need to become aware of and more comfortable in one’s body in order to feel safe enough to allow one’s thought and feelings to come to the surface to be processed.  Journaling is also utilized as a tool to process trauma, as a spiritual practice to help articulate one’s deepest values and sources of meaning in life.