Therapy
Someone who will actually listen first.
Individual, couples, and family therapy for teens and adults. We start by understanding what's actually going on — not by handing you a worksheet and starting the clock.
What we work on
People come in for all kinds of reasons, and often not the one they lead with. Some of what we see most:
- Trauma and PTSD — including combat trauma, adult survivors of childhood abuse, and complex trauma that never got a name
- Anxiety and depression — the kind that's been there so long it started to feel like personality
- Adolescents and their families — when nobody in the house can hear each other anymore
- Couples — disconnection, communication that's stopped working, rebuilding after a rupture
- Anger and emotional dysregulation — reactions that are bigger than the moment calls for
- Personality disorders — where skills work and self-understanding have to happen together
- Life transitions, grief, and chronic illness — the things that look survivable from outside
How we actually work
We're not attached to one method. What we're attached to is whether it's helping you — and we measure that rather than assume it.
EMDR
For trauma that talking about hasn't resolved. Works with how the memory is stored, not just how you describe it.
TF-CBT
Trauma-focused CBT, especially with children and adolescents. Structured, evidence-based, and built for families.
DBT
Concrete skills for emotions that feel unmanageable — distress tolerance, regulation, relationships.
CBT
For mood disorders. Finding the thought patterns underneath the feeling, and testing whether they're true.
Family systems
Sometimes the person in the chair isn't the problem — the pattern around them is.
Couples work
Both people in the room, working on what's happening between you rather than relitigating it.
We measure whether it's working. We use feedback-informed treatment — short check-ins each session that track your actual progress and how the relationship feels to you. If therapy isn't helping, we'll both know within weeks, not months. And then we change it.
Who you'd see
Bernie Menge, MA, LMFT
Trauma and PTSD, including veterans and adult survivors. Adolescents and families. Couples. Anger and complex trauma. Certified in TF-CBT, DBT, ADHD, and parent coaching; completing EMDR certification.
Kelly Brasher, MA
Strongest with adolescents, ages 13 and up. Also adults, couples, and families. Depression, anxiety, adjustment, chronic illness, trauma. Completing DBT certification. Practices under Bernie's supervision.
Not sure who?
Call us and we'll help you decide, or just book with whoever has an opening that works. If the fit isn't right after a session or two, say so and we'll switch you.
One note on scheduling. Dr. Karena Rother is not currently taking new therapy-only patients. Kelly Brasher is not able to accept Optum plans. Everything else is on the Booking & Insurance page.
Common questions
What happens in the first session?
Mostly, we listen. You'll tell us what brought you in, what you've already tried, and what you want to be different. We'll ask questions to understand the shape of it. By the end you should have a sense of what working together would actually look like — and whether it feels right to you.
I've been in therapy before and it didn't help.
That's worth telling us on day one. It usually means one of three things: the fit was wrong, the method was wrong, or nobody was checking whether it was working. All three are fixable. Feedback-informed treatment exists precisely because "just keep coming and hope" isn't a plan.
Do you offer telehealth?
Yes. You must be physically located in Minnesota at the time of your appointment — that's a licensing requirement, not a preference.
My teenager doesn't want to come.
Almost none of them do. That's normal and it isn't a reason not to start. Bernie and Kelly both work extensively with adolescents, and part of that work is earning a kid's trust when they'd rather be anywhere else. Sometimes the first appointment is with the parents.
Can therapy and medication happen at the same time?
Often that's the strongest combination. Because psychiatry, therapy, and TMS are all under one roof here, your therapist and your prescriber can actually talk to each other — which is not how it usually works.
Is it covered by insurance?
We're in-network with most major Minnesota plans. The full list is on the Booking & Insurance page.
Start with one conversation.
You don't have to know what's wrong before you come in. That's part of what we do together.