Tara Merchant, LMHC

Ian Sanders is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) with 13 years of experience working with teens, adults, and couples. He is passionate about helping people navigate anxiety, depression, trauma, and major life transitions. Ian values a collaborative, strengths-based approach and strives to create a supportive, affirming, and nonjudgmental space for all clients, including LGBTQ+ individuals and those exploring identity or relationship concerns.

Clients working with Ian can expect an active, collaborative experience focused on practical growth. He blends evidence-based therapies with clear, actionable skills so clients leave sessions with tools they can apply in everyday life. Ian believes therapy should feel empowering and approachable, and he prioritizes open communication, emotional safety, and individualized care for each person or couple he supports.

Ian begins by gaining a clear understanding of each client’s goals, challenges, and strengths. Together, they develop a straightforward treatment plan tailored to the client’s needs. Sessions focus on building insight, strengthening coping skills, and tracking progress over time. Ian also incorporates psychoeducation for families and caregivers when appropriate and works with couples to improve communication and address relationship challenges.

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Penny Clark is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who earned her Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey in 2004. Penny also completed a one-year training to become a Certified Health Coach through the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York in 2017. Penny has more than 20 years of counseling experience and has worked with individuals, couples and families, beginning by working with 9/11 displaced workers and recovery workers, including police, firemen and EMTs, and then Hurricane Katrina and Superstorm Sandy families, after which she worked with bereaved military families, homeless veterans, and other homeless men. Penny has done individual, couples, career and relationship counseling. Penny has worked in various levels of care including inpatient, outpatient, intensive outpatient and partial care programs. Penny has answered the National Suicide Prevention Hotline 800-273-TALK, has worked in a psychiatrist’s office, and in her own private practice. Penny also worked at a drug and alcohol detox and rehabilitation program.  Penny has worked with individuals with Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, health and medical challenges, substance abuse, and the specific challenges that seniors face.

Penny provides a safe, therapeutic environment in which clients can share and process their thoughts and feelings, gain insight, and set and reach realistic and achievable goals. Penny’s primary goal is to develop a trusting relationship with her clients and helping them to improve their lives.

Penny uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, (CBT,) Positive Psychology, Psychodynamic Therapy, Solution Focused Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, and Psychoeducation while working with clients. Penny enjoys assisting clients in determining where they are and where they would like to be, the steps they need to take to get there, and in identifying and overcoming any obstacles that may be in their way.

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Tracey Elle is a licensed clinical social worker specializing in psycho-somatic manifestations of stress, anxiety, trauma, perinatal support, postpartum/variable presentations of depression, parenting support, and grief (loss of loved ones/menopause/life transitions/unfulfilled goals).

Tracey utilizes psychodynamic, CBT, and solutions-oriented approaches to patient centered care. Tracey has worked with individuals from all walks of life, LGBTQIA+ community and age groups.  

Tracey is committed to providing a comfortable and safe therapeutic environment in order to support the journey to a new path of emotional freedom and wholeness of mind, body and spirit, judgment free. She is committed to working alongside you to fine tune the coping strategies that you already have and help you uncover new mechanisms to add to your self-care toolbox.

Carly Frix-Rhyne is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), in both Texas and Arkansas, who has extensive experience working in the mental health field. She has worked directly with clients of various demographics, living with a variety of mental health conditions. Carly attended undergraduate and graduate school in her hometown of Texarkana, Texas at Texas A&M University - Texarkana. She completed her practicum and internship working as a therapist in therapeutic foster care, with children, teens, foster parents, and biological families. Carly has been practicing for 7 years as a LPC, focusing on individuals working to cope with trauma, stressful life events, anxiety, depression, and issues coping with and communicating their own needs. Carly has worked for community mental health agencies, non-profit agencies, and private practice organizations. Much of Carly's past work involves providing therapy services to children, teens, and adults who survived abuse/trauma. Carly enjoys working with clients of all ages and with a variety of different presenting mental health needs. She uses different techniques including cognitive behavioral approaches and attachment-based approaches, while maintaining a person-centered theoretical orientation with all clients. Carly utilizes a range of therapeutic tools in hopes of providing clients with practical skills they can begin using immediately. She believes in meeting clients exactly where they are and helping them understand their own needs.

Dr. Cheryl Thomas' experience spans nearly two decades working with many who struggle to find their way through different life challenges. She will collaborate with you to identify and attain goals. Getting to know you is the first step and that is achieved through a variety of approaches that are grounded in family systems, cognitive behavioral therapy, and understanding any types of trauma that may have been experienced. Many have had trauma and what she has learned is that talking about the details of the trauma is not always helpful. It may be a component of healing, but there may be other ways to make progress. Dr. Thomas utilizes a combination of approaches to be helpful in working with clients. Some may include person-centered, solution focused, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing. She has experience in different treatment settings in Ohio and enjoys working with those who have mental health and substance use disorders. Dr. Thomas works with ages 18 and up that include mental health issues like depression, anxiety, grief, stress management, trauma, communication, and relationship issues. She enjoys seeing a client shift perspectives and report feeling more at peace as they reach their goals. Dr. Thomas completed her doctorate degree in Counselor Education & Supervision in Counseling and Marriage and Family Therapy in 2012.

Angel Vest is a licensed clinical/independent social worker with extensive experience working in the mental health and substance use fields. Angel has worked with patients of various populations with differing levels of need. Angel's undergraduate university, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in psychology, is located in Portsmouth, OH. Her graduate school, where she completed her Master's of Social Work with a concentration in advanced clinical practice, is located in Minneapolis, MN. Angel's internships were completed in Portsmouth, OH, and academic residencies were completed in Atlanta, GA. Angel has been treating substance use disorders since 2016 and other mental health conditions since 2019. She uses an eclectic and trauma-focused approach with a foundation in Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, accompanied by somatic interventions to enhance the mind-body connection. Angel specializes in the treatment of Insomnia Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, depression, anxiety, and trauma-related disorders. Angel prioritizes the therapeutic relationship as a collaborative one and will work with you to address any barriers to overall health, happiness, and well-being.