Meet our Staff

To schedule an appointment with one of the Counseling Center staff members, please call 402-481-5991. You do not need a physician's referral.

Our staff includes psychologists and therapists with special training to work with children, adolescents, adults and families. We offer compassionate, experienced treatment for depression, anxiety, relationship issues, adjusting to life changes and many other areas including the shock, anger, grief and other emotions that can accompany a medical diagnosis or chronic health condition (health psychology).

Kathleen Barrett, PhD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Kate
Barrett

Kate specializes in treatment for adults. She offers counseling for individuals with life stressors that get in the way of their ability to function at home, work or school. These can include difficulty coping with feelings of anger, sadness, shame, anxiety or numbness. Kate also works with clients who deal with stigma or stereotypes arising from their mental health struggles and/or identity. She also provides psychological assessments for bariatric surgery and spinal cord stimulator evaluations.

Dr. Barrett earned her doctoral in counseling psychology from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Molly Burns, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Molly
Burns

Molly Burns specializes in treatment for adults. She offers individual and family therapy/counseling to help adults adjust to life changes. She also provides psychological assessments including bariatric surgery evaluations. Dr. Burns is trained in health psychology and helps individuals cope with chronic health conditions including cancer, asthma, diabetes, chronic pain, obesity, gastrointestinal issues and autoimmune disorders. She enjoys helping people create healthy lifestyle choices to improve their lives. Health psychologists are trained to know about disease processes and physiology in order to help a person deal with issues that may be a part of specific illnesses.

Burns completed her training at Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, Mo., and the University of Kansas School of Medicine.

Tom Cardwell, PhD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Tom
Cardwell

Tom provides treatment for people of all ages. He offers individual and family therapy to help with stress, anxiety, mood and adjustment disorders. Dr. Cardwell has expertise in gerontology and the assessment and treatment of substance abuse and addictions. He enjoys helping people work through life transitions of all kinds. He is interested in helping people improve their lives by learning to be as mentally and physically healthy as possible at every age. Successfully managing one’s life involves attention to sleep hygiene, nutrition, and exercise, and being engaged in life. Work, hobbies and/or volunteer activities tailored to people’s age, health and motivation can help them to more fully optimize their life satisfaction. Dr. Cardwell also provides psychological assessments that include bariatric surgery and spinal cord stimulator  evaluations.

Dr. Cardwell earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. 

Katherine Otto, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Katherine
Otto

Katherine Otto is trained in health psychology and specializes in working with individuals with heart conditions, high blood pressure, diabetes and chronic pain. Health psychologists are trained to know about disease processes and physiology in order to help a person deal with issues that may be a part of specific illnesses. Working in conjunction with medical physicians, health psychologists address the additional, sometimes silent, symptoms of chronic illnesses such as depression, anxiety and stress that can impact a person’s quality of life. The goal is to help individuals cope better and learn to empower themselves on their path to recovery. She also helps clients with communication skills, stress management, relaxation strategies and assertiveness training. 

Otto received her doctorate in clinical psychology from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology in Springfield, MO.

Melinda Pearson, PsyD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Melinda
Pearson

Melinda Pearson specializes in treatment for adults and older adults. She offers individual therapy to assist clients in coping with stress, anxiety, depression, chronic mental illness and changes in cognitive functioning. Dr. Pearson works with clients with a variety of medical diagnoses including diabetes, autoimmune diseases, high blood pressure, cognitive deficits stemming from mild traumatic brain injury, progressive cognitive decline, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and cognitive impairment secondary to other medical conditions. She also provides psychological assessments including bariatric surgery evaluations.

Dr. Pearson earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from George Fox University in Newberg, OR.

Stacy Waldron, PhD
Licensed Psychologist

Dr. Stacy
Waldron

Stacy Waldron provides treatment for individuals of all ages across the lifespan and specializes with adolescents and adults. She offers individual and family therapy to help clients with stress, anxiety, mood disorders, life transitions and chronic pain. This includes helping clients with stress management, assertiveness training, communication and problem solving skills as well as relaxation training. She also provides psychological assessments that include bariatric surgery evaluations.

Waldron earned her doctorate in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Pam Bowles, LICSW
Therapist

Pam Bowles

Pam Bowles provides therapy to adolescents, adults and geriatric clients with a wide range of conditions such as depression, postpartum depression, anxiety, chronic mental illness, adjustment disorder, grief and relationship concerns. Pam specializes in providing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) and also specializes in working with victims of domestic violence and with men who have a violent relationship history. Additionally, she works with clients with a variety medical diagnoses including: cancer, heart conditions, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Bowles earned her master of social work degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Sandra Breach, LICSW
Therapist

Sandra Breach

Sandra provides therapy for individuals of all ages who have mood disorders, schizophrenia spectrum disorders, personality disorders and trauma disorders. She works with adolescents, helping address problems with their family, support systems, and emergence of psychiatric disorders. She also works with older adults who are struggling with end of life issues, general loss, and the psychosocial impact of managing complex co-occurring disorders. She provides therapy for those with chronic disorders such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes and fibromyalgia. Sandra has training in hypnosis, cognitive behavior therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy to teach effective strategies for living with chronic psychiatric or medical conditions.

Breach earned a master of social work degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Cindy Hollister, LICSW
Therapist 

Cindy Hollister

Cindy Hollister specializes in treating personality disorders and severe trauma disorders. She has training in EMDR, hypnosis, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Additionally, Hollister works with clients with a variety of medical diagnoses including: cancer, autoimmune diseases, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, mild traumatic brain injury, chronic headaches and chronic pain conditions including fibromyalgia.

Hollister earned her master of social work degree from the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Andrea Ruiz, MA, LIMHP
Therapist 

Andrea Ruiz

Andrea provides therapy to clients of all ages and she has extensive experience working with adolescent and young adult clients. She has had experience and training working with clinical presentations of anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), attention deficit/hyperactive disorder (ADHD), posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, bipolar disorder, eating disorders and autism spectrum disorders. Andrea specializes in providing Neurofeedback training for those who are able to benefit from it and she has been specifically trained in eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) therapy techniques.

Andrea earned her Masters in Counseling degree from Doane College in Lincoln.