​Cassandra Perryman, LPCC began their counseling journey at Hearts and Hands and received their Masters degree in clinical counseling in 2021. They are very proud to have been a part of Hearts and Hands. They are currently a licensed mental health counselor in Washington State while living on beautiful Orcas Island! Cassandra owns Madrona Counseling Institute where they specialize in Narrative therapy, Contemporary Psychoanalysis, and EMDR. They are also working towards becoming a supervisor in Washington to help others become licensed counselors and provide the same support they received during their time at Hearts and Hands.

​Christina Villanueva, LMFT​​ is currently working in private practice in the Sacramento area, where she has been offering telehealth since the start of the pandemic. She has been licensed for five years and was at Hearts and Hands TEN years ago! She says, "Hearts and Hands provided me with a great safe environment to not only practice as an intern, but to learn from great mentors. I couldn't have asked for a better place to work. I'm thankful to be a part of the Hearts and Hands family." Her website can be found here: www.ChristinaVillanueva.net

Mary Williams LMFT is grateful for the training and fellowship the received at Hearts and Hands from April 2016 to August 2018. At Hearts and Hands, Mary worked with children and adult individuals, couples, families and groups to hone her practice and clinical sensibilities. Mary was licensed in 2021 and is currently working at Mind to Mindful in Roseville, CA. Mary’s clinical work at Mind to Mindful is similar in nature to the work that she did with clients at Hearts and Hands, and she is delighted to be working with similar populations. Mary uses an integrated approach to therapy, integrating genuine positive regard for clients coupled with psychodynamic and family systems approaches.

Of the many wonderful experiences she had at Hearts and Hands, two of her favorites are the use of the play therapy room, and co-facilitating a weekly women’s process group. Mary often refers clients to Hearts and Hands for affordable, sliding-scale counseling in order to ensure that counseling continues to be available to all people regardless of their financial situation. 

Renee Gama, LMFT valued the time she spent learning and training with Hearts & Hands from June of 2018 to December of 2020. She was licensed in May 2021 and has been working with Lyra Clinical Associates since August 2021 providing telehealth services for Lyra Health, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that serves companies inside and outside the United States. Renee provides Blended Care Therapy (rooted in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, CBT) for clients in CA by incorporating Lyra's technological platform of digital lessons and practices to help clients achieve treatment goals. Clients have a safe space to process thoughts and feelings in addition to learning skills and tools that help them navigate and address clinical issues and needs. Renee primarily treats clients seeking to increase anxiety and depression coping, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, stress management, assertive communication, and strengthening of relationships.

Roy Bettencourt, LMFT credits Hearts and Hands for the mentorship and training that helped him develop the skills to start his own private practice. Roy started at Hearts and Hands in July of 2018 through October 2018. He greatly enjoyed the opportunity to work with children,
couples, families, and individuals who typically don’t have access to high quality therapy. Working at Hearts and Hands will always be one of Roy’s most meaningful experiences. While at Hearts and Hands Roy saw clients and helped redesign the website but his favorite role was answering the phones and connecting new clients with a Hearts and Hands counselor. Roy continues to refer clients and trainees to Hearts and Hands.
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Please visit his website
www.therapychances.com

Troy Shugars, LPCC values the experience and training he received at Hearts and Hands from 2017 to 2018. Coming from working in residential substance abuse treatment prior, Troy was able to refine his counseling skills and work with a variety of individuals, families, groups, couples, and children while working on a mental health counseling internship. He went on to primarily work in community mental health settings from 2019 to 2024 with a focus on supporting youth and families by providing individual therapy, family therapy, and case management services and became licensed as an LPCC in 2023. Lately Troy has been working for Two Chairs since 2024, providing teletherapy to adults using an approach rooted in CBT as well as DBT with a focus on supporting clients through life stressors, anxiety, depression, navigating relationships, and healing from C-PTSD.