Qualified Mental Health Professionals / Professional Counselor Associates
Mara Benson, MS, NCC Mara Benson earned a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern Oregon University. As a therapist Mara works to create an accepting, collaborative and empowering environment in which clients can develop towards self-understanding, self-compassion and healing. Mara’s approach to counseling is based in the belief that both our unique perspectives and our interaction with the world around us shape our experiences. Mara uses eclectic tools drawn from Person Centered, Feminist, Narrative, Creative Arts Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, DBT and Attachment modalities. Mara brings empathy, curiosity and creativity to her work with children, families and adults who are seeking support for mental health, adapting to life’s changes, parenting challenges, and seeking overall growth. Outside of the counseling room, Mara spends her time with her fantastic husband and two incredible kids exploring the beauty of Southern Oregon (where she was born and raised), gardening, and dusting off her skills as a trained Pastry Chef.
Desiree Coutinho, CSWA (she/they)
Desiree completed her Masters Degree in Social Work from Portland State University. She is passionate about guiding clients through embodied grief processes, as a powerful tool for individual and collective healing. Desiree draws upon somatic, creative arts, narrative, trauma focused-cognitive behavioral therapy, internal family systems, mindfulness, play and eco-therapy techniques in her therapeutic approach. She works closely with clients to cultivate self-acceptance, stability, inspiration, and growth. Desiree’s experience working with youth and families in a day treatment milieu setting has shaped her lens on trauma and deepened her capacity to support clients through crisis. She is especially interested in supporting fellow queer/LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC community members, as well as young adults navigating the challenges and grief of living in uncertain times. Desiree is a poet and mother, who loves gardening, cooking, and movement. She has been dedicated to community healing, youth education, and mutual aid/organizing around issues of social, environmental, and racial justice for over a decade. Her work is rooted in a deep love for life and sustained by her relationship to the earth and all beings.
Stephanie Teazis, MS
Stephanie completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern Oregon University. As a therapist, Stephanie works to create a safe and collaborative environment in which clients can build upon their self-compassion, self-awareness, and tools. Stephanie is passionate about various therapeutic modalities including person-centered therapy, emotionally-focused therapy, internal family systems, cognitive behavioral therapy, and attachment theory. Stephanie has a background in working with survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault. While at the Community Counseling Center, she is excited to work with people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Outside of work Stephanie loves spending time with family and friends, baking, traveling, skiing, and crafting. Stephanie currently lives in Ashland with her basset hound, Daisy.
Shelby Wanser (they/them), MS
Shelby completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern Oregon University. They are passionate about providing an accepting and empowering space for children, teens, and adults to engage in self-exploration and personal growth through individual counseling. They utilize approaches based in Relational-Cultural Theory, Person-Centered Counseling, Internal Family Systems Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming to support clients to explore their experiences and values, deepen their self-compassion, and pursue their goals. Shelby is passionate about working with people of all ages, genders, identities, and backgrounds, and especially those who are LGBTQIAPP2S+, neurodivergent, disabled, and/or members of racial or ethnic minorities. Outside of counseling, they enjoy training and spending time with animals of a wide variety of species, dancing, traveling, spending time with friends and family, and hosting game nights. Shelby currently lives in Medford with their dog Finley and bearded dragon Buddy.
Graduate Student Interns
Nireka Dhameja, Graduate Student Intern
Nireka is completing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern Oregon University. She is passionate about providing a warm and energetic space where each client can move towards psychological balance and wholeness. She utilizes approaches from cognitive-behavioral therapy, psychodynamic and existential-humanistic therapy, internal family systems, and positive psychotherapy. Nireka believes that we all have a spark within us that needs to be discovered and cherished. Her approach encourages a deep exploration of the psyche to reconnect with our vitality and uniqueness as individuals. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, and adults of all genders and backgrounds. Outside of work, Nireka loves yoga, playing the piano, singing, skating, traveling, and spending time in nature.
Erin Kaminker, Graduate Student Intern
Erin is completing a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Southern Oregon University. She offers a compassionate, person-centered approach to counseling, providing each client with a warm, accepting, empowering space for self-exploration and healing. She is passionate about helping people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds move through the challenges of life with more ease, comfort, and grace. Erin has been an acupuncturist, nutritionist, and herbalist for over 15 years bringing an informed lens to counseling that is holistic and unique. Erin draws on her background and various counseling modalities including Person-Centered Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Internal Family Systems, Attachment Theory, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and mindfulness-based approaches. Erin fosters a collaborative environment for those seeking support with relationship challenges, life transitions, anxiety, depression, empowerment, and holistic health and wellness. Erin enjoys hiking, exploring the beauty of Southern Oregon, playing violin, and spending time with her family.
Jaclyn Steinmann, Graduate Student Intern
Jaclyn is completing a Masters degree in clinical psychology through Antioch University Los Angeles. She is passionate about utilizing techniques from Internal family systems and self compassion practices to aid people in fostering a deep sense of inner wholeness. Using existential, humanistic and transpersonal orientations she encourages people to connect with their inner wisdom and feel safe and well in their unique human experience. Jaclyn has done extensive research and focused much of her work in graduate school on obsessive compulsive disorder and obsessive compulsive personality disorder and is a mental health advocate for NOCD, an online community supporting those suffering from OCD. She has a background in holistic wellness practices and yogic philosophy. Outside of work she is a mother, a writer, a home chef and an avid yogi.
Formerly Associated with the Community Counseling Center of Ashland