Our Team

You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.

Plato

We are currently accepting applications for children’s counselors. If you are interested in applying, please send a cover letter and resume to [email protected]

Karla M. Kirtland-Schweyer

MA, LPCC-S, RPT-S

As Clinical Director, Karla oversees our Counseling and Case Management programs for adults, children, and adolescents. She has over fifteen years of experience as a counselor and is one of the few Registered Play Therapists in the area. Her exceptional application of classical and play therapy methods have made her services very sought after in the community. She continues to maintain counseling clients despite her role as Director.

Tabitha Maneese

MAEd, LPCC-S, RPT-S

Tabitha is motivated by a desire to help children whose experiences impair their ability to grow. She uses play therapy to give children a way of playing out those experiences so that they may be resolved. A child’s past and future are deeply dependent on the influences in their life. For this reason, Tabitha is adamant about including parents as participants in treatment.

Bob Buford

MA, LPCC-S

Bob joined us as an adjunct adult therapist in 2017 to help serve clients in our growing adult counseling program. Since that time, he has been invaluable for his specialty in depression, anxiety, anger management, and marriage and family counseling. He is a graduate of Ashland Theological Seminary, where he earned a master’s degree in clinical counseling as well as a master’s degree in Spiritual Formation.

Jennifer Killby

MA, LPCC-S, CPST Supervisor

As one of the organization’s most recent additions, Jennifer Killby brings a wealth of experience and clinical expertise to her position as a play therapist. She has spent time in some of Ohio’s most daunting communities and never backs down from the challenge of helping the struggling families of ours and neighboring counties.

Kim Ralich

CPST, QMHS

Kim is our resident case manager and is the heart and soul of our CPST program. Her years of experience working with our community made her a perfect fit to help our clients with the many needs that counselors can’t resolve. We treasure her work as a client care advocate, a teacher for parents, and a guide for connecting to community services. She is as invaluable as she is kind and compassionate.

Mary Volkmer

One of the organization’s original employees with Tabitha and Karla, Mary has been reliable and dedicated to the foundation for GWPT’s growth over the years. Mary also performs all tasks associated with insurance, billing, and accounts receivable. In addition, Mary has served on the organizations Board of Directors since its inception. On the organization’s administrative side, Mary works largely behind the scenes managing the organization’s operational tasks.

Angela Giorlando

CPST, QMHS

Angela has been serving as a case manager for over 18 yrs. She assists clients and their families to successfully maintain stability and independence. Angela’s primary goal is to enable families to learn to be self-sufficient and support that maximize independence, dignity, and quality of life. Angela is also a Parent Educator/Life Skills instructor who teaches adults and students how to manage everyday tasks to help them gain independence and move forward in life. She works on a one-on-one to help client with unique challenges develop basic life skills.   Angela is a fervent advocate and makes serving her clients a top priority. Nothing brings her more fulfillment in her work than seeing her clients thrive.

Arielle Dienstberger

LSW, Scribe, Administrative Assistant

Arielle started in April of 2017 as an Administrative Assistant and has been an enormous help to both our clinical and administrative personnel as a scribe and clinical support. She has a degree and license as a social worker and that expertise has made her an invaluable connection between the clinical and administrative worlds. She brings warmth, enthusiasm, and humor to all that she does, and she occasionally answers the phone or doorbell.

Amy Kucscik

CPST, QMHS, R-CYAMT

Amy has been teaching yoga since 2012 and joined us in 2018. Her work has evolved to focus on healing the body and spirit though body work with gentle yoga flow and restorative practice, as well as trauma informed yoga to compliment talk therapy.  Amy offers services with one on one and group appointments in conjunction with your counselor.

Jennifer Blackledge

Financial Analyst, K-12 Educator

Jennifer comes to us with a diverse background of education and finance. She has worked in the community for 21 years as an educator and 8 years previously as an accountant. She will be the Financial Analyst to help Ground Work Play Therapy remain fiscally stable and responsible.

Heather Dillon

CPST, QMHS

Heather has several different areas of specialty. Having a special needs child of her own has helped her understand and navigate the difficulties many parents deal with, including schools and doctors. Heather has many years experience in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and working with kids on all levels of need. She enjoys connecting with the kiddos and helping the entire family unit to make day to day life better for everyone.

Makayla Tuck

BSW, LSW

Makayla is one of our newest counselors to join us at Ground Work Play Therapy. She is otherwise known as “Kayla” around the office. Makayla is a licensed social worker and graduated from the University of Toledo. Makayla worked as an Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant in Toledo, OH.

She has years of experience working with children ranging from the age of 2 to 16 years old. She loves exploring different sensory activities with the children.

Anna Miller

Administrative Assistant

As one of the newest additions to the GWPT team, Anna is often the person to answer the phone or doorbell, and helps aid communication between clients, families, counselors, and CPST, as well as guide new clients though the intake process. She has years of experience in caring for children, and is passionate about connecting individuals and families with quality mental health care and resources in their community, and helping others to heal and grow to reach their potential.

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