MEET THE TEAM BEHIND MILLE LACS BAND MENTAL HEALTH DEPARTMENT
The Health and Human Services Mental Health Department is growing to meet the needs of the community and the changing face of HHS. Using a whole-health patient-centered care focus, providers are able to work with patients to treat the mind and the body.
The patient-centered care affirms the importance of the relationship between the physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual. Providers can work as a team with individual patients to coordinate both physical and emotional health needs.
L. Read Sulik, MD
Dr. Sulik is a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Adult Psychiatrist and Pediatrician, who is committed to improving the lives of children, adolescents, and adults through compassionate and collaborative psychiatric care. He is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Portages Health, a mental health care company based in Minneapolis. His team at Portages Health has created Portages, a whole-person mental health and wellbeing digital program to provide better access to better care. He has worked with many Indigenous communities and has years of experience serving Tribal Nations across Minnesota and the Dakotas, and he is the recipient of a Bush Foundation Fellowship Award to integrate primary care, mental health care, and traditional healing practices in Indigenous communities.
He has won numerous national awards for his work, and he is a popular speaker on mental health and wellbeing nationally and internationally. Dr. Sulik and members of his Portages Health team are serving the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe to enhance mental health and wellbeing for our entire community.
Michael Meyer, MSW, LICSW.
Michael is a therapist at the Ne-la-Shing clinic. He and his family live in Superior, Wisc., and spend a lot of time near or around Lake Superior. Michael has been working with kids and families in the Duluth area for the past 20 years and looks forward to continuing that work in Onamia. His therapy services are provided both remotely and in person.
Claire Kaehr, LMFT
Claire received her Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University and is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. Claire's ultimate goal within her therapeutic relationships is to walk alongside clients as they work to understand their story and continue their journey towards health and healing. Claire is also a Board Approved Supervisor for the Board of Marriage and Family Therapy in Minnesota.
Claire has a wide variety of experience but has extended areas of experience and training in couples work, and trauma-informed therapy from somatic and neurobiological lenses. Claire also recognizes and values the role of spirituality and cultural narratives in therapy and healing. Claire has extensive trauma training, including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy approaches for trauma and affect dysregulation, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and AIR (Adaptive Internal Relational) Network model therapy. Claire has also completed Level 2 training in Gottman Method Couples Therapy.
When she isn’t engaging in therapeutic work, Claire loves spending time with her husband and children. You can also find her immersed in another love of hers, the great outdoors. Warmer seasons include adventures in the family camper and colder seasons may include ice skating and skiing. All seasons include remaining active and chasing around her three boys and puppy.
Madi Lausten, LGSW
Madi is a Mental Health Therapist for Portages Mental Health. She is a licensed graduate social worker (LGSW) and has a Master's degree in social work from Capella University. She was raised in the small rural town of Sebeka, Minn., and still considers that community to be her home. In her free time she enjoys working out, exploring new food and music, visiting with friends and family, and spending time outdoors.
Madi absolutely loves being a therapist, and has experience providing therapy for individuals, families, couples, and groups from a variety of cultural, socioeconomic, and familial backgrounds. Before becoming a Mental Health Therapist she worked as a social worker in various roles where she discovered a love for connecting with people, engaging in deep conversations, and helping clients solve problems. She said she has been fortunate enough to find a career that incorporates these elements of connection into her daily work with clients. As a therapist she uses a strengths-based and trauma-informed approach to providing therapy. In doing so, she aims to assist clients in exploring and processing barriers that may be holding them back from how they’d like to show up in the world. Common issues addressed in a therapy session with her might include grief and loss, trauma, anxiety, depression, identity issues, self-esteem, as well as improving relationships with partners, family members, and friends.
Benjamin Olson
Benjamin Olson is a Mental Health and Wellbeing Coach for Portages Health, Bemidji State University, and Dakota County Technical College.
Benjamin loves working with and helping individuals in the mental health care field finding it incredibly rewarding. He is also a professional wildlife photographer, and his goal is to continue to work on conservation initiatives with his partners using his photography.
His hobbies include camping, backpacking, canoeing, photography, and creating other forms of art.
Aaron S. Bucci, MSW, LICSW, Clinical Supervisor/ Associate Director Mental Health Department
Father, friend, mentor — Aaron holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from the University of Minnesota and a degree in Social Work from the University Wisconsin. Aaron brings a unique experience in that he was a carpenter prior to becoming a social worker.
Aaron has worked as an Adult Rehabilitation Mental Health Specialist (ARMHS), a Children’s Therapeutic Selective Service worker (CTSS), children’s mental health case manager, and a mobile crisis responder prior to becoming a licensed therapist. He uses strengths-based and trauma-informed treatment modalities with a wide range of formal training in various modalities of therapy.
Aaron’s hobbies include his love of the outdoors and he is a true enthusiast of music, art, and motorcycles.
“The nails I used to pound are now life ideas."
Anna Bankey, MS, LGSW Mental Health Therapist - Fourwinds
Anna holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Saint Mary’s University, Minneapolis BSW, College of Saint Scholastica, Duluth.
Anna incorporates treatment methods of Individual Therapy utilizing Solution-Focused Therapy (SF), Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR), Trauma Center/Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Body Movement (TCTSY), Mindfulness, and Experiential and Somatic Therapy Techniques.
Anna works with individuals from all walks of life — especially those struggling with issues related to anxiety, depression, self-worth, adjustment, self-sabotage, trauma, stress and PTSD.
Her hobbies include spending time with family and partner, enjoying nature, relaxing, and spending at least three hours per month in the Sensory Deprivation float tanks at Sanctuary Float Spa in Minnetonka and Awaken for Wellness in St. Paul for 100% self-care.
Catherine Colsrud, MSW, LGSW
Catherine Colsrud has her Master’s degree in Social Work from Augsburg University and is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker. She brings experience of working with individuals and groups. Grounded in her community and continually seeking opportunities to further her understanding of cultural teachings, she believes that connections to our Indigenous cultures are vital to understanding and honoring our place in the circle of life. Identifying and creating opportunities to connect with our culture in meaningful ways is an area of interest, and together with others, she works to identify ways to honor those connections.
Catherine has experience working with a variety of areas including anxiety, depression, grief, and loss, as well as trauma. Recognizing that trauma, both on the individual and collective level, is a reality that many of us are living with today, she uses her gentle sense of humor, a deep kindness, and a trauma-informed approach to assist others in their recovery and the reaching of their self-identified growth goals. She practices two main therapies: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to support staying focused on the present moment and accepting thoughts and feelings without judgment. It aims to help you move forward through difficult emotions and begin healing. She also practices Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) helping to develop life skills in problem-solving through understanding the relationship between our beliefs, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. She also incorporates Mind-Body Medicine and Mindfulness awareness to gain understanding of the interconnection of mind and body, and the influence of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors on overall health.
Catherine has experience working with those who live with addiction, those impacted by addiction, and those working on their sobriety. She has also worked in the adult rehabilitative mental health services (ARMHS) field. She is a certified trainer in Positive Indian Parenting; Freedom from Smoking; Mothers of Tradition; Linking Generations by Strengthening Relationships; Building Native Communities: Financial Skills for Families; and Credit as an Asset. Meeting individuals where they are on their journey, Catherine brings a mature approach, assisting others with finding meaning of life during times of change and transition.
Catherine is a proud Mille Lacs Band member from the Aazhoomog community; did foster care for over 20 years; enjoys gardening, sewing, and spending time with family and friends.
Crystal Weckert, LMFT, LICSW
Crystal is dually licensed as an independent clinical social worker and a licensed marriage and family therapist. She has been working in the mental health field since 2008. She has worked in the Health and Human Services field throughout her professional and educational journey; originally working as a Health and Human Services outreach worker, she transported clients to their mental health and substance use appointments. She is now committed to assisting clients in reaching their optimal mental health as a Mental Health Therapist. Crystal uses two primary theories of mental health treatment, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Narrative Therapy. CBT is an evidence-based approach that has been proven to help many different mental health symptoms and diagnoses, including depression, trauma, anxiety, and addiction. It focuses on identifying unhelpful thinking patterns that keep people experiencing emotional distress and acting out unhelpful behaviors. Narrative therapy focuses on separating people from their problems. It allows people to externalize their problems in order to see the problem more clearly, understand their past in a meaningful way, and move forward with a new relationship to their life situations.
Crystal graduated with her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the College of St. Scholastica. She worked as a child protection social worker for three years with the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. Crystal graduated with her first Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Argosy University in 2008. She worked as a marriage and family therapist for seven years before accepting a director’s position in 2013. In 2013, Crystal received her second Master’s Degree in Tribal Administration and Governance from the University of Minnesota. She had overseen the substance use department and mental health services for Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe for over six years. She has been back to providing direct mental health services to clients for almost two years and loves being with the clients again. Crystal is a certified specialist in anger management and has a permanency in adoption competency certification.
Crystal is a Mille Lacs Band member. She has worked in Health and Human Services field since 2002. Her and her husband have been licensed foster parents for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe for over 10 years. Crystal served on Gov. Dayton’s task force for mental health in 2016. She served on the Minnesota American Indian Mental Health Advisory Council for over eight years.
Crystal has been working with mental health and substance use departments within the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe throughout her professional career. She is deeply committed to working with and helping Native American communities.
Jean Wenz, Mental Health Case Manager
Jean holds a degree in Criminal Justice and has completed Rule 79 education through DHS, as well as multiple training courses in suicide prevention, ethics, motivational interviewing, and Family Peer Specialist to highlight.
Jean has worked in juvenile treatment centers, adult re-entry and on a youth act team where she worked with youth involved with the criminal justice system as a case manager. Jean brings experience in targeted case management and has worked with families in the home and community on life skills development.
Jean is currently enrolled in an addictions certificate program graduating in December 2024. She enjoys helping others find needed resources.
Her hobbies include camping, fishing, going on road trips and exploring new places, being with her kids and grandkids, and also simply doing nothing but enjoying quiet.
Richard Colsen B.A., LADC, Director of Behavioral Health
Richard has 25 years experience in the human services field with 23 of those year working in tribal communities and programs. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota-Duluth and a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). He specializes in staff development and partnerships that grow programs that can make positive change. He has helped to develop tribal policies/resolution that allowed for licensing of programs on/off reservation; tribal licensing of clinical staff, and working with college and university to develop native counselors and therapists
Amanda Johnson Fleming — APRN, CPNP-PC, PMHS Pediatric Nurse Practitioner, Pediatric Mental Health Specialist
Amanda Johnson Fleming is a board-certified Pediatric Nurse Practitioner with five plus years of independent practice in the child and adolescent field of psychiatry in the outpatient setting. This is coupled with previous years of RN experience working alongside pediatricians who specialized in behavioral health treatment in primary care as well as Lead RN experience in both the child/ adolescent and adult outpatient settings of psychiatry. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) degree and Public Health Nurse registration from St. Catherine University in 2013. This was followed by completion of her Masters of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree from St. Catherine University in December of 2016. She became board-certified and licensed shortly after in January of 2017. She completed further training as a Pediatric Mental Health Specialist in December of 2017.
Amanda provides diagnostic assessments and can provide medication management services and ongoing care for patients whose ages range from 4 to 17 years old. She has clinical interest in multiple areas including but not limited to ADHD, anxiety, depression, gender identity concerns, trauma, and OCD.
Amanda is committed to providing care in a holistic way to individuals with their families and focuses on emotional wellness. Treatment plans are individually developed based upon evidence-based research and collaboration with the patient’s entire health care team if possible. She believes that communication between treating individuals is very important. She is passionate about access to mental health care and equality of services. She believes in developing healthy working relationships and getting to know her patients as individuals to develop the most effective treatment plan.
