The Mental Health Team provides acute, affordable therapy services to children and teens (ages 8-17yrs old) and adults survivors who have been impacted by physical, sexual or emotional violence. The focus of their work is to help process traumatic events and provide healthy coping skills to assist with the healing journey. The Mental Health Team also offers Domestic Violence Support Groups for adults in need of a encouraging, judgment free environment. Each group is lead by a licensed therapist who specializes in trauma centered work.
“My therapist has helped guide me through being a parent to a child with severe trauma and mental health diagnoses while also simultaneously helping me to continually come back to my own center and ground myself back into my own healing process.”
– Mental Health Services Participant
About Therapy
Cornerstone’s licensed therapists have expertise in helping adults and youth explore and work through a variety of issues, and do so through creating a safe and non-judgmental environment where you can begin to overcome life’s challenges and live your authentic life. People come to us after experiencing domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking or general crime, and our therapy team uses collaborative, strengths-based and trauma-informed approaches as they listen, assist and support you with gaining insight into your life to achieve a sense of well-being.
Our therapists believe in joining you wherever you are at in your journey and identifying goals that we can work together to achieve. We can help you with a range of issues, including anxiety, depression, trauma recovery, grief and loss, relationship concerns, processing through difficult life transitions and disrupted family functioning. Therapy is offered on an affordable sliding fee scale based on income and household size, we do not take insurance.
Scroll down to meet our Clinical Services Team!
Youth Therapy
Cornerstone’s therapists provide assessment, treatment and support for children and youth ages 6-17 and their families who have been impacted by abuse. The focus of their work is to help children process traumatic events and provide healthy coping skills to assist with the healing journey.
What To Expect
About Support Groups
We offer online support groups to women identifying victims/survivors of domestic violence or intimate partner violence.
Below is a list of Cornerstone support groups currently offered, please note that support group availability and formats vary throughout the year.
Available Support Groups
Enroll Now for Beyond Trauma Groups Coming (Jan – May 2026):
Beyond Trauma, A Healing Journey for Women is a 12-week curriculum enriched and lead group with weekly excises and tasks to guide one’s learning. There are firm attendance expectations for this group, with no more than 2 absences permitted to remain in enrolled.
Beyond Trauma: A Healing Journey (Thursdays virtually via Zoom)
Facilitator: Claire Anderson, MA
Dates: Jan. 22- April 9, 2026
When: Thursday nights 6pm-7:30pm
Beyond Trauma: A Healing Journey (Tuesdays virtually via Zoom)
Facilitator: Ellen Gormican, MPH, MSW, LICSW
Dates: Feb. 24- May 12, 2026
When: Tuesday nights (Weekly from 6pm-7:30pm).
* All groups are held virtually via Zoom, unless otherwise stated upon enrollment. Call the Clinical Services Line, 952-646-6554, if you have any questions.
Domestic Victims (DV) Open Support Group has a more flexibleattendance requirement as it is not curriculum specific, and is designed to meet women where they are in their journey, offering an emotionally safe and supportive space encourage each other. Group norms and expectations will be provided to members prior to joining the group. Planned absences should be communicated with your facilitator.
DV Open Support Group: This group is held weekly, Wednesday nights from 6pm-7:30pm has openings year-round.
Facilitator: Mindra Fox, MSW, LGSW
If interested in learning more or being enrolled in a group, please call the Clinical Service Line at 952-646-6554 or email: VenusB@cornerstonemn.org or ClaireA@cornerstonemn.org.
What To Expect
Understand what to expect when you reach out to Cornerstone for Support Group services:
How To Enroll
To ensure the safety of our support groups participants, Cornerstone has an intake process for all groups and therapy.
To inquire about enrolling in one of our groups or therapy, please call our intake line: 952-646-6554, this line goes directly to voicemail. Please leave a detailed message including your name, what group you’re interested in, and a safe call-back number. Our intake specialist will call you back at the safe number provided within 48 hours.
If you would prefer to email, please email Venus B. at venusb@cornerstonemn.org. Please ensure that the email address you are using to send the email is safe for our intake specialist to reply to.
For more information about our Clinical Services, leave a message on our intake line 952-646-6554 or email us at info@cornerstonemn.org.
Meet The Team
Dr. Felicia Washington Sy, Director of Mental Health and Therapy Services
Dr. Felicia Washington Sy is a licensed independent clinical social worker, traumatologist, and educator with over 20 years of experience providing trauma-informed care to survivors of sexual and physical violence. She earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Minnesota and her doctorate from the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work.
Dr. Sy combines mindfulness-based practice, intercultural theory, and social justice frameworks to support individuals, families, and institutions in creating conditions for deep healing and systemic change. She leads healing circles, and consults with organizations across the Twin Cities on diversity, equity, inclusion, and collective wellness.
Dr. Sy has taught in area colleges and universities for over a decade and currently co-teaches an advanced practice therapy cohort at Anam Cara Therapies. Her publications focus on bullying in schools and the professional use of self in trauma-informed care. She holds a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Certificate from Cornell University.
A practicing Buddhist for over 14 years, Dr. Sy is a member of Clouds in Water Zen Center, where she co-facilitates the BIPOC sitting group and brings her contemplative practice into every dimension of her personal and professional life.
Ellen Gormican, MSW, MPH LICSW
Ellen is a Clinical Therapist and Licensed Graduate Social Worker by the MN Board of Social Work. She has Master’s Degree in both Social Work and Public Health (Maternal and Child Health). Ellen has worked in the field of domestic and sexual violence prevention and response for over 10 years. Her work is grounded in trauma-informed and client-centered approaches such as Somatic (mind/body) Experiencing, Attachment, Theory, and Cognitive Processing Therapy. Ellen’s professional work has focused on exploring childhood and adult trauma, developing usable coping skills, and deconstructing negative self-talk or anxieties that can keep people feeling stuck, dissatisfied, or depressed.
Ellen is passionate about creating a space where folks feel comfortable accessing their vulnerabilities, exploring their identities, working through trauma, and healing childhood wounds.
Mindra Fox, MSW, LICSW
Mindra Fox is a licensed social worker providing mental health services to adults experiencing a wide range of emotional, cognitive, and behavioral challenges. She specializes in trauma-informed care, working with individuals from diverse backgrounds, and provides individual and group therapy. She works collaboratively with clients to identify the core source of their distress, create goals, and work towards desired outcomes.
Grounded in a strength’s-base, client-centered, holistic approach; Mindra integrates evidence-based practices to assist clients in building resilience, process difficult experiences, and move toward meaningful change. She uses a variety of psychological, psychosocial, and somatic interventions to assist clients in reducing, managing, or eliminating symptoms.
A personal note from Mindra~ Trauma can leave lasting scars, affecting how we see ourselves and the world. Trauma does not define us. Asking for help is a courageous step toward healing. Healing takes time and patience, and each step forward builds strength and restores hope. I’m here to take the steps with you.
Claire Anderson, Pre-licensed Professional Counselor
Claire Anderson is a passionate and pragmatic therapist who has over 15 years of clinical mental health experience, which includes specializing in a variety of presenting issues including intimate partner violence, eating disorders and substance abuse. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Counseling and Psychological Studies from Saint Mary’s University and is in pursuit of her LPCC licensure. Claire specializes in working with clients through an attachment-based, family-systems approach to assist clients in forming a deeper understanding of how present issues are developed, while empowering clients in taking an active role in changing their present narrative. She assists clients in unpacking how early childhood trauma directly impacts how attachment styles show up in relationships, and by providing tools to obtain healthy, meaningful and safely secured relationships with others and most importantly, themselves.
Claire believes that one of the most important pieces of therapy is the relationship between the therapist and the client. Therapy is a safe space to practice vulnerability and to grow as an individual. Everyone deserves to find a space where they can be their authentic self, heal their emotional pain, and find joy in their life.
You have inherited a lifetime of tribulation. Everybody has inherited it. Take it over, make the most of it and when you have decided you know the right way, do the best you can with it.
-Dr. Murry Bowen
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