Casie McGee Bracy, MS, LMHC
Owner and Therapist
Casie McGee Bracy earned her B.S. from Northwest Missouri State University where she studied psychology and sociology. Casie started her career in college working with families and children as a Family Assistance Worker. After college she gained experience working with at-risk adolescents in a residential facility, completing home studies for potential foster/adoptive families, facilitating training for potential foster/adoptive families, and became a statewide trainer for those wishing to facilitate the training for potential foster/adoptive families.
Casie earned her M.S. from Bellevue University in 2009. Casie enjoys working with people from all walks of life and celebrates our differences. She specializes in infertility and adoption issues. Casie sees couples and individuals 6 years and older. Casie is also a Certified Adoption Investigator.
Jessica Schmidt, MS,LMHC
Owner and Therapist
Jessica earned her B.A. in Social Work with a minor in General Business Concepts from the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. During her time at the University of Northern Iowa, she volunteered at the local substance abuse counseling center. This volunteer experience would later inspire her work in substance abuse helping people on their recovery journey. She later went on to pursue her M.S. in Mental Health Counseling through Walden University.
Jessica’s journey in mental health counseling began in 2012, when she accepted a position as an outpatient counselor in Marshalltown, IA and worked with an agency serving children and families. She worked in that role until 2014 when she accepted a new position working in substance abuse where she completed clinical assessments and assisted individuals through group and individual treatment modalities on their recovery journey. In 2015, she started working part-time in the private practice setting and eventually transitioned to private practice full-time in 2016. Jessica shared that it has been an honor to return to her home area of Poweshiek County and serve the rural communities. In 2021, Jessica and Casie McGee Bracy took over ownership of Healthy Homes Family Services. There is a unique need in rural Iowa for mental health services, it is a passion of Jessica’s to help address barriers to receiving mental health services and continue to offer consistent services to those in Poweshiek County.
Jessica enjoys working with a wide variety of clients, including children (ages 6+), college students, adults, and families. Jessica’s areas of clinical interest include issues related to self-esteem, depression, anxiety, parenting, healthy relationship dynamics, academics, grief/loss, sexual orientation, gender identity, and the mental health needs of neurodivergent children, adolescents, and adults. Jessica’s approach in therapy is integrative, consisting of cognitive behavioral, interpersonal, client-centered, mindfulness, and DBT.
Robert Ludwig, MA, LMHC
Therapist
Robert is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC). He received his B.A. as a dual major in Psychology and Human Services in 2012, and later returned for his Master’s in Education for Mental Health Counseling from Buena Vista University in 2022. Robert has previously worked as a Behavioral Health Intervention Service (BHIS) provider – working with children and their families to learn and utilize skills to help manage behaviors in children ages 6 – 17. He has also worked at Grinnell College where he worked with young adults to build leadership and innovative skills.
Robert uses talk therapy rooted in Adlerian theory as a method to help clients explore their own needs (identified by the client). He uses humor, empathy, and a belief that the client is the expert in their own life to empower the client to recognize their needs and to build the skills to manage maladaptive behaviors and emotions. His strengths include working with clients on issues with self-esteem, anxiety, and guilty feelings.
While some clients may not feel they would be comfortable seeing a male therapist there can be advantages. Some of which include a different perspective which may be beneficial in relationships or past experiences with men. For example, women who have issues with men (possibly related to fathers in childhood, male authority figures, ex-boyfriends/husbands, abuse/trauma, etc.) are sometimes better helped by working with a male therapist. This is because the therapeutic relationship helps to bring to light those issues and provides a safe place to work through those challenges in a more direct way.
Robert is a cis-het male who strives in allyship with the LGBTQA+ community.