Our Staff
Karen MacCausland | M.SW. Licensed Clinical Social Worker | Founder of Families in Focus
Linda Luecke | M.A. Licensed Professional Counselor
Linda graduated from Lindenwood University in 1995 with a Master of Arts in Professional Counseling. She also holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Washington University. Linda has been counseling individuals, couples, and families since 1997. Her counseling experience includes a former private practice in St. Louis, counseling with school-age children and their families, working as an employment counselor for the State of Missouri, and a contract therapist for Catholic Family Services and In-Glo Christian Counseling.
Her theoretical orientation is a combination of cognitive-behavioral, existential, and spiritual approaches in treating a variety of issues. Issues she has experience working with include generalized anxiety, depression, bereavement, co-dependency, anger and stress management, and communication problems with couples and families.
Her accomplishments include serving as a secretary of Chi Sigma Iota (honorary society for counseling graduates), receiving an outstanding achievement award and director’s recognition in the St. Louis County Probation and Parole Job Placement Program, spending two months in Kenya working with business owners and social service employees, and volunteering at Powell Terrace Food Pantry, Food Outreach, Toys for Tots, and Life Crisis Services.
When Linda is not counseling, she is parenting her toddler son, and enjoys attending sports events with her husband, Kenn, reading the Harry Potter series, having lunch with her girlfriends, cooking and experimenting with new recipes. She is also working on a children’s book.
Margaret Cook | M.Ed Licensed Professional Counselor
In addition to providing counseling, she consults with organizations to foster healthy relationships and adapt processes to achieve outcomes. Almost anyone can benefit form life coaching with Margaret. Entrepreneur and counseling services in the office. Career coaching offers people at any stage of their career the opportunity to focus on effective planning and goal attainment when the market is competitive and the economic landscape is challenging. Margaret organizes some career services into group teleconferences. Families in Focus offers employers contracts for service for employees when there are significant organizational changes and in the event employees are let go. Employers may contract for one employee or for large groups.
Margaret provides seminars and group experiences and welcomes opportunities to help established organizations navigate the interpersonal difficulties that times of change and stress often magnify. Margaret has experience in corporate, not for profit and educational settings professionally helping people become more effective.
Appointments available evenings and Saturday afternoons.
Kenneth Barrett | M.SW. Licensed Clinical Social Worker | M.SW. George Warren Brown School of Social Work | Washington University | Post-Graduate M.SW. Fellowship, Yale Child Study, New Haven, CT
Ken has been providing outpatient counseling for twenty years, working with children, teens, and adults/couples to address such issues as depression, anxiety, Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, and trauma. Ken assesses teens and adults for addictions such as alcoholism and marijuana abuse, and has had a great deal of experience with working with teens who are exhibiting acting-out type of behaviors at home and in school.
Mary Wenom | Licensed Clinical Social Worke | B.S.W., Edinboro University, Edinboro, PA | M.SW., George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University
Mary has had a wide variety of experiences in the mental health field, both as a counselor and as a caseworker. Her work as a counselor began in 2000, first at Catholic Family Counseling and later at the Hyland Behavioral Health Counseling Center at St. Anthony’s Medical Center, both in St. Louis County. She also maintained a private practice. Her work during this time addressed life adjustment disorders, chemical dependency recovery, and depression and anxiety outpatient counseling, giving her a rich base of experience from which to address families and individuals in need. Mary is also skilled in conducting play therapy for children between ages 4 and 11 and groups that focus on chronic pain in adults.
Prior to earning her M.SW., Mary did extensive work with families in crisis, providing intensive casework when special parenting skills were needed because of physical and/or mental developmental delays in young children.
A mother of three grown children, Mary enjoys outdoor activities in her spare time.
Our administrative staff
Sara Thies
Our receptionist and office manager is Sara, whose recent B.A. from Lindenwood University is in Social Interactions. She has been a valuable part of the Families in Focus staff for three years. Her primary responsibility is to assist the client, from the first phone call through subsequent appointments. She helps to ensure that the client has the necessary information, including insuranceissues and directions to our office, before the first visit. Sara also will try to help manage anyuneasiness about that first appointment.
Sara played varsity soccer both in high school and at Lindenwood, and also enjoys other outdoor activities and going to concerts.
Norman Eisenberg
Norm has been a part-time administrative assistant at Families in Focus for four years. He assists callers and visitors when Sara is not in the office, and otherwise has primary responsibility for insurance claim recovery and pre-authorizations.
He is a retired Management Analyst with the National Archives and Records Administration.