“It’s to propose that we live by
the stories that
we have about
our lives, that these stories actually shape
our lives, constitute our lives, and that
they “embrace”
our lives.”
Michael White
John Stillman
Director
Our training staff
John is a co-founder and clinical social worker at the Caspersen Therapy Center. He received his master’s of social work degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1993 and had intensive family therapy training at the Philadelphia Child Guidance Center. John is married and has two young sons.
• Co-founded the Kenwood Therapy Center in Minneapolis in 2000 where he worked both as a therapist and the training director until October 2011.
• Member of the first diplomate program taught by Michael White and his colleagues at the Dulwich Centre in Adelaide, Australia.
• Member of training staff of the Dulwich Centre’s international training programs
• Therapeutic consultant to the Catalyst Foundation, which works with a community of people living on a garbage dump in Kien Giang, Vietnam.
• Author of Narrative Therapy Trauma Manual: A Principle-Based Approach (2010)
• Leading study at Minneapolis VA Medical Center of Minnesota and the U of MN measuring effectiveness of narrative therapy with military veterans
• Clinical consultant to Corner House in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which conducts forensic screening for child sexual abuse.
Angie Gwiazdon Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist
Angie has worked in a variety of different settings including, private practice, residential treatment, day treatment programs and schools providing on-site mental health. Angie utilizes narrative, postmodern approaches along with hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming. She works with a wide variety of problems including depression, anxiety, abuse issues, addiction, post traumatic stress, parenting issues, and couple/ family communication. She enjoys working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families.
John Simensen
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor
John works with adults, adolescents, couples and families facing a variety of issues in their lives and relationships. John is particularly interested in postmodern counseling approaches and mindfulness-based therapies. He has specialized training in narrative therapy and combines this approach with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). John has extensive experience working with men and families struggling with domestic abuse and its effects on their lives. He worked 17 years as a Senior VP and corporate officer with Fairview Health Services in Minneapolis allowing him to use clinical training with organizations and executives seeking growth and change and assist men and families with life transitions.
Kelsey Kreider Starrs
MSW, LICSW
Kelsey has advanced training in narrative therapy, and her way of working also includes solution-focused and motivational interviewing. She enjoys collaborating with adults, young adults, adolescents, families, couples, and groups who encountered issues including Depression, Anxiety, domestic violence, eating disorders, life transitions, chemical dependency, phobias, trauma and perinatal death and loss. She is particularly interested in holistic healing, mindfulness, and transforming identities through life transitions. Kelsey considers therapy a sacred space and is deeply honored to join people there to co-create new possibilities for their lives.
Sarah (Gravelle) Thoeny
MS, LMFT
Sarah is greatly influenced by the philosopher, Foucault's idea that the main interest in life and work is to become someone else that you were not in the beginning. Sarah consults with individuals, couples, families, & communities who hope for this. Sarah is a collaborative, narrative therapist. Sarah invites people to see people as people and problems as problems, and consider how they as a person may create a more preferred relationship with the problem or dilemma or the effects of the problem or dilemma. Sarah consults with people guided by these narrative therapy practices and principles, while also being guided by the person's unique hopes, dreams, values, preferences and knowledge.
Maureen Laufenberg
MA, LPCC
Maureen is a licensed professional clinical counselor with a background in counseling psychology and leadership development. As a solution-focused and narrative counselor, she integrates a variety of validated tools to help individuals and couples find strategies to improve communication barriers and interpersonal challenges, anxiety, depression, grief and loss, career discontent and life transitions. She likes to help clients find meaning in their current circumstances, as well as to support them in the strategic improvement of their lives. She has served on the MN Career Development Association Board and presented on topics including professional women’s wellness, millennials and strategic communications. She is honored to be a witness to people’s stories and walk alongside them as they journey through change.