Jennifer Polse Payne is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and serves as our Lead Counselor here at Holden. This semester she will be doing a one hour CHECK-IN group and teaches an elective social science course titled SOCIAL RELATIONS. She attended Humboldt State University in Arcata, Ca. and received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Master’s of Arts in Counseling Psychology. Besides working at Holden, Jenn has a private therapy practice in Berkeley and continues to be a full time assistant manager for an apartment complex in Alameda.

Jamie McLaren is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern leading a BASKETBALL group and an EXPRESSIVE ARTS group at Holden. She received her BA in Psychology and Justice Studies at Rhode Island College in Providence, RI; her MA in Counseling Psychology at JFK University in Pleasant Hill, CA; and has just begun her PhD studies at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Clinical Psychology with a Depth Psychology emphasis in Santa Barbara, CA on weekends. Jaime completed her MFT traineeship at the Holistic Counseling Center in Oakland, CA. and has worked in a child/adolescent psychiatric ward, domestic violence advocacy center, and group homes throughout southern Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She completed a 9-month trauma training through the Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute and is finishing up an Expressive Arts certificate through JFK University’s CE department. Her outside interests include mythology, dreams, the Slow Food Movement, good stand-up comedy, old-school rap, health and wellness.

Jeff Benson is a Marriage and Family Therapist Intern here at Holden. He has a Bachelors of Science in Physical Education- Teaching from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois, and a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from the SF Bay Area Campus of Argosy University. He is a member of both Gaylesta and CAMFT. His outside interests include running, biking, yoga, cheerleading, gymnastics, knitting, and watching movies.

Lora Schoen is a Marriage and Family Therapy Trainee here at Holden and teaches
YOGA TO MUSIC and a RELATIONSHIPS Group. She has a B.A. in English from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, a Teaching Credential in English from Cal State East Bay, and an M.A. in Counseling with an emphasis in Somatic Psychology from JFK University. She has discovered through yoga the value of becoming embodied and believes any healthy practice that gets a person to really feel comfortable in one’s body is a deeply healing and enlivening experience. In addition to yoga, her outside interests include the healing arts, Native American ceremony, literature, ethnic studies, dance and movement. She is also a member of the Defenders of Wildlife.

Rory Jelinski is a Marriage and Family Therapist Trainee here at Holden and teaches COPING SCALES. She received her BA from Beloit College in Wisconsin in Psychology and Music and is currently attending the California Institute of Integral Studies working toward her MA in Counseling Psychology. She is a music enthusiast and has training in guitar, bass guitar, cello, and piano.

Sara Ouimette is a Marriage and Family Therapy Trainee at Holden. She received her BA in Psychology from Claremont McKenna College, where she studied children with Autism as well as American Indian Psychiatry. She is now a second year Masters in Counseling Psychology student at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Sara practices daily yoga and plans to become a certified instructor once finished with graduate school. She also enjoys hiking, road trips, music festivals, writing short stories, philosophy, film, and spending time with friends and her year old niece.