Nexus-FACTS Family Healing

Outpatient/Community Mental Health Services

I have always wanted to do something in life that involved having a purpose and making a difference.

Regina, HR Specialist at Nexus-FACTS

Our Approach to Therapy

Our Approach to Therapy

Getting therapy early can prevent more intense issues in the future, so we’re here to support you where you are when you need it. Our team of licensed therapists is specially trained in trauma and stress, and we’re committed to helping families stay together, heal, grow, and move forward. We’re here to support the child and the family.

Learn more about Nexus therapy.

Our Therapy Programs

Telehealth or In-Person Mental Health Therapy

Birth to Adult

Our clinicians support clients of all ages through in-person and telehealth video therapy. This includes individual, couple, relationship, and family therapy. We provide guidance, support, skill-building, and healing around many common issues, including:

Depression
Anxiety
Oppositional behavior
Abuse
Trauma
Parenting issues
Partner/marital conflict

Our team is committed to bringing positive change and is trained in many specialty and evidence-based practices, including:

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)
EMDR
Play therapy
Art therapy
Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT)
The Gottman Method
And more

Collaborate Intensive Bridging Services (CIBS)

(Ages 8-17)

Research shows that a child is best treated with their family, in their home. Our Collaborate Intensive Bridging Services are based on this approach. The treatment model involves a combination of intensive in-home therapy and a brief placement in an intensive residential treatment center, and it’s designed to help kids who struggle with:

Aggression/fighting
Self-harm
Depression
Truancy
Acting out in-home or school
Theft
And more

Our program is designed to help:

Stabilize the child’s behavior so they can live at home and access community-based services.
Equip parents to support their child and the rest of the family.
Improve the family’s ability to manage a crisis.
Streamline services and minimize the confusion of having multiple service providers across differing stages of treatment.

Families in this program experience a three-part approach, over the course of six to nine months:

First, we provide therapy to the child and family in their home or another community setting to help prepare them for residential treatment.
While the child is in a residential treatment placement (usually for 30–45 days), we provide in-home therapy to support and equip the family.
And finally, after the child returns home, we continue to provide in-home therapy to the child and family, to support a smooth transition and ongoing success.

Parents who choose to participate must be willing to stay involved with their child’s treatment program—and with their own therapy as well. This includes engaging with their child during their residential treatment (calls, home visits, therapy sessions, etc.) and participating in in-home therapy before, during, and after the stay.

Early Childhood Therapy

(Ages 0-5)

When a child is hurting or acting out, the whole family is affected. We know young children need special care and attention to overcome the challenges they are having, and we’re here to help. We specialize in supporting small children who struggle with emotional and behavioral disturbances caused by mental health disorders, neurological vulnerabilities, and traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, exposure to domestic violence, exposure to drugs or alcohol, disrupted attachments to adults, and significant changes in the family.

These issues can sometimes cause:

Defiant behavior
Aggressive tantrums/anger management
Depression/anxiety
Attachment issues
School issues
Emotional regulation

To address these issues, young children attend our program for three hours a day, four days a week. We focus on helping them form trusting, secure attachments to their parents or primary caregivers, which is crucial to their development.

In addition, we help them develop adaptive coping, problem-solving, and social skills so that they can regulate their emotions and better control their behavior.

Families have a strong involvement in our program and receive support and guidance to help them transfer these positive coping skills to the home.

This program includes a range of services and treatments, including:

Individual and family therapy
Play therapy
Training for parents, child care providers, and schools
Support and consultations at daycare centers and schools
Coordination with other providers
PASS Day Treatment (see below)

PASS Day Treatment

(Ages 3-5)

When small children need extra support, we’re here to help. Our PASS Day Treatment program provides consistent, ongoing care, every Monday through Thursday from 8:30–11:30 a.m., for young kids who are struggling with:

Following directions
Throwing temper tantrums
Calming down
Talking back
Fear
And/or general unhappiness

Our team of mental health professionals are uniquely trained to help young children gain skills that can help them better manage their behavior. We create an individualized plan for each child, to address their unique needs and strengths.

Transportation is provided for children who are eligible for the program.

Intensive Home-Based Services

(Ages 0 to 17)

When needed, we provide intensive, in-home, family-focused services for kids ages 8 to 17 who have significant emotional and behavioral problems. Our treatment approach is called Systemic Family Therapy (SFT), which helps address:

Depression
Anxiety
Oppositional behavior
Abuse
Trauma
Delinquency
And more

We also provide intensive treatment for children ages 0 to 17 who are in foster care. We work with the children as well as their foster parents and birth/adoptive families.

learn more about us

Are you or your child in need of mental health services at this time?

Set up a telehealth video therapy session today by calling 651-397-9800.

Stories of Hope

Read Nikki's Story... The Best Kind of Gift

Download intake forms.

Upcoming Events

All events have been postponed at this time.

Our Therapists

Shelly Melroe

SFT Therapist

Shelley brings a trauma-informed and strengths-based perspective to the challenging dynamics within family systems. Her passion is to use the latest evidence-based practices to serve families in struggle. She is trained in DBT, EMDR, and polyvagal techniques and brings years of collaborative problem-solving experience to the families she serves. Shelly holds a master’s degree in Marriage & Family Therapy from Bethel University.

Lindsay Hjermstad, LGSW

Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician

Lindsay provides in-home services for children and families and collaborates with schools, daycares, and other systems on their behalf—to help ensure the best support possible. Lindsay is passionate about helping to provide early interventions that enhance the parent-child relationship. Lindsay received her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota in 2012 and her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work through St. Kates University/University of St. Thomas in 2017. In her free time, Lindsay loves spending time with her children, going to the lake, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Lauren Kizaur, LICSW

Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician

Lauren joined Nexus-FACTS in 2016, providing early childhood mental health services, and she leads our morning PASS Day Treatment Program. In addition to working with children and families, Lauren collaborates with schools and daycares and provides outpatient services as well. Lauren earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Minnesota and her master's degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of St. Thomas/St. Catherine's University.

Nora Smyth, LGSW

SFT Therapist

Nora provides in-home Systemic Family Therapy (SFT) to at-risk youth in Dakota and Scott county. Previously, she provided school-based mental health services to middle school students and their families in ISD 197. Nora is passionate about mental health and she enjoys using holistic health modalities, including mindfulness meditation. Nora has experience facilitating a variety of groups, including an Educational Series for Assaultive Behavior for men with disabilities, a drop-in group for women with various issues, a co-occurring disorders group for women, a women’s Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) skills group for co-occurring disorders, and a Relationship Violence Intervention program for court-mandated men. She has also provided incarcerated women who are pregnant with education and group-based support to help nurture healthy mother-child relationships and increase their parenting confidence. Nora received her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from St. Catherine University and University of St. Thomas in 2017.

Rachel Henly, LICSW

Early Childhood Mental Health Therapist

Rachel has been with Nexus-FACTS since February of 2016. As part of our Early Childhood team, she works with families—both in the community as well as from our Mendota Heights office. Rachel received her undergraduate degree in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota in 2012, and her master’s in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014, and she is currently pursuing certification in Maternal Mental Health, and is part of the current Child Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) training cohort through the State of Minnesota.

Valerie Klingberg, LGSW

Early Childhood Mental Health Therapist

Valerie joined Nexus-FACTS in 2018 as an Early Childhood Mental Health Therapist. She provides in-home therapeutic services to children and their caregivers and offers consultation support to Head Start classrooms. Prior to Nexus-FACTS, Valerie spent six years providing early childhood mental health and case management services to families. She received her master’s in Social Work from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities.

Colleen Kelly, LAMFT

Early Childhood Mental Health Therapist

Colleen joined the Nexus-FACTS team in 2018 as an Early Childhood Therapist. She provides services to families in their homes and also works in FACT’s mental health day-treatment classroom. Colleen received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota in 2012 and her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Purdue University Northwest in 2015.

Julie Jackson, LPCC

Licensed Professional Therapist

Julie started her career at Nexus-FACTS in 2014, providing intensive, in-home family therapy. She’s trained in trauma-focused cognitive, behavioral therapy and she currently provides trauma therapy at our juvenile service center for adolescents and their families. Julie graduated from Adler Graduate School in December 2013 and has been a licensed professional clinical counselor since October 2017.

Kaitlin Salscheider, MSW, LICSW

Lead Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician

Kaitlin provides outpatient therapy services in our early childhood program as well as mental health consultations for CAP Agency- HeadStart. She is also the lead clinician for our PASS day-treatment program. Kaitlin is passionate about working alongside caregivers and young children to help provide interventions that strengthen the caregiver-child relationship. Kaitlin uses directive and non-directive play therapy interventions and other relationship-based interventions to support the client and the family’s goals. Kaitlin is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) and is an attested clinical supervisor in the state of Minnesota. She received her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from St. Catherine University/University of St. Thomas. Kaitlin is currently enrolled in the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Certificate Program at the University of Minnesota Institute of Child Development.

Corrine Poole, LICSW

Outpatient Therapist

Corrine works with all ages of children and adults. Prior to working at Nexus-FACTS, she worked with children and their families in day treatment and as an in-home crisis therapist. Corrine has specialized training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EDMR) and Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP). Corrine received her BA in Social Work from Gordon College in Massachusetts, and then her master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Minnesota.

Sonya Calgren, LICSW

Outpatient Therapist

Sonya provides therapy to children, adolescents, adults, and families and believes everyone is doing the best that they can with the skills available to them. She strives to provide a safe, comfortable, non-judgmental space to work through challenges and struggles together. Sonya has been providing mental health services for kids and families for the past 12 years. She attended University of St. Thomas where she received a master’s degree in Social Work. In her free time, she enjoys time with her family, exercise, and reading.

Yajaira Chaidez, MSW

SFT Therapist

Prior to working with Nexus-FACTS, Yajaira worked as family advocate in a childcare center for six years. She has 10 years of local experience working with children and families in a variety of settings. Yajaira received her BA from Northeastern Illinois University and her master’s degree in Social Work from Dominican University in Illinois.

Danielle Hance, MA

Early Childhood Mental Health Clinician

Danielle is a part of the early childhood team at Nexus-FACTS but she sees clients across the lifespan at the clinic. She is passionate about the ability of the arts to heal and believes that people come to therapy not because something is wrong with them, but because something happened to them. As an active artist (in music, writing, and drama), Danielle knows how powerful artistic modalities can be. Her approach is often unconventional, and she especially enjoys working with difficult cases of complex trauma. She can also provide therapy in Spanish, French, and German. Danielle received her master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a Specialization in Expressive Arts Therapy.

Luke Spiegelhoff, LICSW

Clinical Director

Luke has a passion for helping children and—especially—for helping their parents navigate the difficulties of raising children with challenging behavior. Luke has been practicing for over 25 years in a variety of mental health positions, including as an in-home therapist, outpatient therapist, school social worker, and clinical supervisor. He has served mainly school aged children and their families—especially adolescent-aged clients.

Sara McGee

Early Childhood Program Supervisor

Sara has a passion for working with parents and young children to help provide interventions that support positive parent/child relationships that support the children’s mental health and well-being. Sara is a clinical supervisor and is trained in Trauma Informed Child Parent Psychotherapy, Circle Security and Conscious Discipline. She has experience providing in-home and outpatient services to families and also serves as a reflective practice/infant mental health consultant. Sarah has a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy and is endorsed at Level III in infant and early childhood mental health through the Infant and Early Childhood Division of MACMH (MACMH-IEC).

Max Meketarian, MA

In-home Therapist

Max joined the Nexus-FACTS staff in 2009. Previously, Max practiced family systems work in Washington and Ramsey Counties. He received his Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Political Science from Illinois State University and his master’s from St. Mary’s in Family Counseling. In his free time, Max spends time traveling with his family enjoying the outdoors. Max is also the founder and director of Armenian Youth Initiative, a non-profit that provides humanitarian assistance and services to at-risk and disadvantaged youth in Armenia. Max has visited Armenia 12 times since 1991.

Monica Turner

Mental Health Practitioner and Parent Educator Facilitator under Circle of Security

Monica has experience with at-risk youth of all ages who are diagnosed with behavioral and mental health concerns. She is passionate about the continuous intervention growth developing for youth so they can reach their fullest potential. "Our children are our future" is a quote that inspires Monica as she helps children and families in their journey to resilience. Monica graduated with a bachelor's degree from the University of Minnesota Twin Cities in 2014 majoring in Child Psychology and minoring in Family Social Science. She is currently pursuing her master’s at Adler Graduate School for Marriage and Family Therapy.

Pat Rogers

Clinical Supervisor

Pat has a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Minnesota and is licensed in Minnesota as an Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW). She has worked over 25 years with children, teens, adults, families, and couples in a variety of settings which include residential, day treatment, home-based and outpatient mental health.

Pat believes that in the general course of life things happen that are difficult and that at some point most of us will feel overwhelmed and look for support. She is passionate about the opportunity to be a partner in the work to get to a better place. At FACTS Pat works with individuals, couples and families, and also provides Collaborative Divorce Coaching and Child Specialist parenting assistance to guide families through an out-of-court, respectful, child centered divorce or separation process.

Anna James

Mental Health Practitioner

Anna is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a bachelor’s degree in Child Psychology from the University of Minnesota and a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from St. Mary’s University of Minnesota. She has over 10 years of experience supporting young people and their families in community, day-treatment, and outpatient settings. Anna has special interest in developmental differences, families with high levels of conflict, and intergenerational trauma. She currently provides outpatient therapy at FACTS focused on helping individuals and families notice their emotional and communication patterns, increase positive connections, and develop empowering stories to support growth through difficult times.

Scheduling and Fees

Scheduling

For outpatient therapy, sessions may be scheduled in various time increments based on need or preference. A 24-hour notice for cancellations is requested.
For community-based therapy, as referred by county social services or corrections, please discuss scheduling with your therapist and your county worker.

Fees

For outpatient therapy, please call 651-379-9800 to discuss the rates for our services. Sessions are billed by the therapeutic hour (50 minutes).
Payment or co-pays (depending on your insurance coverage) are due at the time of service. Cash, personal checks, and Visa/MasterCard/Discover are accepted. Other payment methods accepted: Insurance and Employee Assistance Programs.

Charges for out-of-office work, travel time, and telephone consultation will be billed to you at the next session and payment will be required at that time. Routine calls fewer than 10 minutes and time spent scheduling appointments will not be billed to you. For community-based therapy, as referred by county social services or corrections, please discuss fees and payments with your therapist and your county worker.