Wendy Goffena, LCSW

Wendy Goffena is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with nine years of experience providing therapy in clinical settings and a cumulative 24 years working in mental health. She practices at a Community Mental Health Center in Central Montana, serving a diverse adult population ages 18 to 90, including military veterans, people coping with common mental health concerns, clients with severe mental illness and disability, and court-mandated individuals. Her clinical work addresses depression, anxiety, PTSD, victims of abuse and trauma, complex grief and loss, anger management, and interpersonal challenges that affect home, family, and work life. She offers individual, group, and family therapy using a strengths-based and motivational interviewing perspective to collaborate with clients on meaningful goals and practical skills.

Across her career she has worked five years in a rural Montana county mental health center; two years in medical social work providing therapeutic support to patients diagnosed with stage 4 and 5 chronic kidney failure; sixteen years in an inpatient residential treatment center for emotionally disturbed youth ages 8 to 18; three years in a Department of Justice correctional facility serving adolescent girls; one year in child protective services; and four years providing services and case management for partial and intensive outpatient day treatment in an alternative school. A Montana native from a farming and ranching background, she earned an undergraduate degree in elementary education from Montana State University Billings, taught in small communities for seven years, returned to graduate school in 2013, and graduated with honors in 2015 with a Master of Social Work from Walla Walla University Billings satellite campus. She completed licensure requirements and has held her Licensed Clinical Social Worker credential for nine years.

Her approach is client-centered, emphasizing that clients are the experts on their own lives. She integrates Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and other modalities to build coping skills, increase psychological flexibility, and help process traumatic experiences. Outside of work she enjoys Montana's outdoors including hiking, fishing, camping, exploring historical sites, rock-hounding, and gardening, and she is an avid artist.