Our Staff - 2011-12

The CPS staff is comprised of licensed psychologists and counselors. Licensed by National and State agencies, CPS professionals are schooled in the fields of counseling and psychology from accredited training programs and have a special interest/expertise in college student development. CPS also hosts advanced graduate students earning their Master’s and Doctoral degrees who are practicing under the supervision of licensed staff members.

If you aren’t comfortable with your counselor for any reason, please address this directly with her/him. Sometimes it’s helpful for counselors to know if there are problems in the counseling relationship so they can try to make adjustments to help you feel more comfortable. Other times, it may not feel like a good match. Regardless, bringing it up with your counselor will assure that you get the services you need, and if a reassignment is necessary your current counselor can help facilitate this.

Our staff is listed below with a summary of their areas of interests or specialized training. All of our professionals have broad-based general therapy skills and training, so even if a certain topic or problem isn’t listed they can still work with your concern.

If you see someone you think you’d like to work with in counseling, feel free to make a request. However, please be aware that scheduling difficulties may make it difficult to honor all requests, and you may be assigned to another counselor in order to provide you with the fastest and most appropriate services possible

Counseling Staff

Senior Staff

Dr. Betsy Asserson
Licensed Psychologist
Assistant Director of Training

Betsy is a generalist who works with a variety of concerns, including depression, relationship issues, sexual assault, trauma, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, eating disorders, crisis intervention, and career issues. Betsy enjoys group work and leading the Coping Skills Group at CPS.

Laura Bailey, M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor

Areas of interest: depression, anxiety, women’s development, relationship concerns, and LGBTQ issues. Laura works with students to help identify personal strengths and utilize them to create balance, meaningful relationships, and a better understanding of themselves.

Dr. Cheryl Blank
Licensed Psychologist
Director of Training

Areas of interest include helping students with depression & anxiety, grief and loss, stress management & biofeedback, trauma, women’s development, and dreamwork. Cheryl helps students focus on emotions and relationships to help them gain a deeper awareness of their relationships and experience of themselves.

Dr. Pat Donahoe
Director

Pat is a generalist who works with a variety of issues including depression, relationship issues, grief and loss, performance anxiety and sexual trauma. His areas of special interest include eating disorders, sex therapy and sport psychology. He has consulted about crisis management, trauma debriefing and workplace dynamics as well as leading the eating disorders and sexual trauma groups.

Brandi Fischer, M.S.
Licensed Professional Counselor

Brandi enjoys working with a variety of concerns including anxiety, depression, relationship issues, and identity struggles. She helps students focus on their emotions, beliefs, and relationship patterns in order to gain insight and awareness. Brandi enjoys outdoor activities with her husband and their rambunctious Lab/Retriever.

Aaron Grusonik, M.A.
Senior Staff Therapist

Aaron was previously a pre-doctoral intern at CPS and is excited to continue working with MSU students as a post-doctoral intern. He has Master’s Degrees from the University of San Francisco and the Wright Institute and is completing his doctoral degree at the Wright Institute. Aaron is interested in working with student Veterans and will be a liaison with the Office of Veteran Services. He also has interests in helping students with anxiety disorders, PTSD, depression, anger management, relationship issues, and minority/multicultural issues.

Dr. Mariah Hill
Licensed Psychologist
Diversity Coordinator

Mariah joined CPS in 2007. Her specific areas of interest include working with students on issues related to trauma, identity development, gender, adjustment, relationships, depression, anxiety, and culture/diversity.  In addition to working with individual students, Mariah also enjoys doing couples work and co-facilitating various groups which have included Grief Group and Talk Circle for Native American students.  In her spare time, Mariah enjoys hiking, biking, and skiing in the great Montana outdoors as well as traveling internationally.

Dr. Brian Kassar
Licensed Psychologist
Outreach Coordinator &
Men’s Services Coordinator

Areas of interest: Depression, anxiety, family issues, substance use, performance/motivation enhancement, college adjustment, academic difficulties, sexual/relationship concerns, and identity, gender, and life skills issues. Brian works collaboratively with students in setting counseling goals and increasing insight into relationships, behavior patterns and strategies for success. He facilitates the Men’s Group and specialty areas include men’s psychology, counseling male students, and presenting on Men’s Issues. He enjoys outdoor activities, traveling, movies, music, theater, and pop culture.

Chip Kern, M.S.
Senior Staff Therapist

Chip received his Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling at MSU. His main areas of clinical interest include depression, anxiety, adjustment issues, family concerns and couple's counseling. He enjoys movies and outdoor activities including skiing, fishing and sporting clays.

Dr. Ryan Niehus
Licensed Psychologist

Areas of interest include depression, anxiety, physical and sexual trauma, men’s psychology, and grief and loss. Ryan also enjoys working with student athletes to address a variety of factors that impact performance and overall well-being. He strives to support and empower people to explore the issues they find troubling and to make decisions and changes that are healthy for them.

Dr. Louise Ryder
Senior Staff Therapist

Louise has a wide array of experience and maintains interest in helping students with eating disorders, depression, anxiety, as well as developmental, identity, and relational issues.  She works collaboratively with students to help them gain greater clarity, to create meaningful relationships with both themselves and others, and to establish a foundation of well-being based upon their own unique strengths. 

Sylwia Stamm-Nawrocka, M.S.
Senior Staff Therapist

Sylwia received her Master’s Degree in Marriage & Family Counseling at MSU. Her main areas of clinical interest include anxiety, adjustment issues, identity and body image issues, physical and sexual trauma, and grief & loss. In addition to working with individual students, Sylwia also enjoys working with couples and families. In her spare time she enjoys hiking, swimming, spending time with her dogs, watching movies and traveling the world.

Intern Staff

Maggie Durham
Post-Master’s Intern

Maggie received her Master's Degree in Marriage and Family Counseling at MSU. Her main areas of clinical interest include depression, eating disorders, trauma and identity issues. Maggie works with students to help them increase insight and awareness around relationship patterns and gain a better understanding of themselves.

Jenny Fiebig
Pre-Master’s Intern

Jenny is currently working on her masters degree in Mental Heath Counseling from MSU. Before starting her master's program, Jenny has worked as an outdoor educator, wilderness therapist and an international travel consultant. Jenny spends as much time as she can exploring the mountains and rivers in the Northern Rockies and is happy to call Montana her home.

Katie Kowalchuk
Post-Master’s Intern

Katie received her Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling at MSU and is currently working towards attaining her license in Mental Health Counseling.  She finds working with students in therapy to be extremely rewarding and is interested in working with trauma, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, sexual identity issues, and family of origin issues.  In her spare time she enjoys the wild beauty of Montana, crafting, and spending time with friends. 

Jen Millner
Pre-Master’s Intern

Jen is currently pursuing her Master's degree in Mental Health Counseling. Her areas of interest include depression, anxiety, relational issues, and identity issues. She is also interested in alternative and experiential therapies including outdoor/recreational counseling and animal-assisted therapy. Jen enjoys traveling and being outdoors in any capacity, especially skiing, hiking, and windsurfing.

Melissa Mitchell
Pre-Master’s Intern

Melissa completed her undergraduate education at MSU and is currently a Master’s student in Mental Health Counseling. She is a Montana native with experience in providing mental health services in a variety of capacities, and in her spare time enjoys the outdoors and rooting for the Bobcats.

Chris Bartel, M.A.
Pre-Doctoral Intern

Chris earned his Master’s degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology where he is also a doctoral candidate in clinical psychology. He has also completed prior graduate work in counseling psychology at the University of San Francisco and is currently a pre-doctoral intern at MSU. Chris enjoys working with individuals, groups, couples, and families around a variety of concerns including diversity/multicultural/social justice-related issues, relationship conflict, trauma/abuse, anxiety, depression, stress management, life transitions, and gender/sexuality.

Todd Lindsley , M.A.
Pre-Doctoral Intern

Todd is a pre-doctoral intern from Utah State University and earned a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego. Areas of clinical interest include couples/relationship issues, anxiety, depression, adjustment difficulties and multicultural issues.

Adam Moller , M.S.
Pre-Doctoral Intern

Adam earned his master’s degree in Experimental Psychology from Western Washington University in 2007. He is in the final stages of his doctoral program in Counseling Psychology at West Virginia University, and is currently a pre-doctoral intern at MSU. He enjoys helping students with concerns around depression, anxiety, multicultural issues, relationships, grief and loss, and trauma.

Front Office Staff

Tammy Haas

Tammy joined the CPS staff in 2005 and serves as the Agency Manager.  She assists students in scheduling their counseling appointments and serves as the Training Director’s administrative support.   In her free time Tammy enjoys Quilting and Embroidery.

Melissa Schaak

Melissa has been the Front Office Manager at CPS since May 2010.

In addition to broad-based generalist psychotherapy skills, the staff members have training and expertise in the following areas:

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