Our Staff

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Michelle Potter, LCPC: Michelle Potter is the Co-Owner of Phoenix Family Center, LLC. Michelle is responsible for clinical leadership of all programs including; training and supervising therapists, researching, designing and writing therapeutic groups and workshops and overseeing the development of new programs. Michelle shares responsibility for daily business decisions in conjunction with her partner including, strategic planning, budgeting, purchasing, and staff management. Michelle received her Master’s degree in counseling with a specialization in Art Therapy in 1994. She is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Specialist (CSOTS). Michelle’s prior therapeutic employments include: Larkin Center, Mooseheart, and St. Charles Youth Center.
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Dennis L. Graf, MS: Dennis is a co-owner of the Phoenix Family Center. As managing partner he is responsible for all the business aspects of the practice and helps to insure that the Phoenix Family Center operates at the highest possible professional level. Dennis has had a 37 year career in Social Services. He possesses a BA from Judson University, and a MS in Social Service Administration from Spertus University. He joined the staff at Larkin Center in 1975 as a child care worker, and finished his tenure there as Executive Director. He also served as the the President of the Illinois Council on Training, Co-chair of Child and Adolescent LAN 47, was a founding member of the Kane County Mental Health Advisory Board,and is a past President of Kiwanis.
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Lauralynn Alton: As our special education expert, Lauralynn is responsible for the smooth functioning the afterschool program, educational workshops, groups run in the school district and academically oriented tutoring programs. Lauralynn received her Bachelors degree in Education with a specialization in Special Education in 2002. She has a LSB1. Lauralynn was a special education teacher for Catholic Children’s Home -School Department for eleven years. In this role, she was responsible for the education, behavioral management and classroom milieu in a therapeutic day treatment setting. She was a member of the anti-bullying, school improvement and curriculum development committees. Lauralynn wrote and implemented all classroom lesson plans, classroom behavioral management plans and individualized education plans. She designed individualized incentive programs for the youth in her classroom and specialized in successfully teaching the Federal Constitution test to children that normally underachieve.

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Doug Alton: Doug Alton is the Financial Manager at Phoenix Family Center, LLC. Doug is responsible for the financial stability of the organization, he projects, forecasts and manages cash flow and plans for the agencies growth.
Doug received his Bachelors degree in Management and possesses a MBA.

For the past 23 years, Doug has worked at Wolff Construction as a Real Estate Manager and Controller. This job entailed managing numerous commercial buildings throughout Illinois, Missouri and Kansas. In addition, he was responsible for all accounting functions, interacting with the President, and Board of Directors.
Doug was also responsible for interacting with company lawyers in various states concerning legal matters.

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Suzanne Richoz: Sue has worked in the mental health field since 1984. Sue has her associate’s degree from ECC and continued her education at Judson University. She had over 20 years’ experience with the Larkin Center in Elgin, IL. Sue started out working in with children with behavior disorders and participated in starting a new group home for children. Several years later Sue was part of a team that developed a group home program for severely mentally ill young adults. Sue ended as a co-supervisor of the young adult group home and was responsible for maintaining the effectiveness of daily functions and treatment within the setting. Sue has also worked for Ecker Center in Elgin, IL as a part of the transition team. Sue participated in extensive training through The Linehan Institute in DBT therapy and has experience utilizing DBT techniques with clients.
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David De Lafuente: David is a bilingual and bicultural Spanish-speaking mental health counselor who received his B.S. in Social Work from Bowling Green State University in Ohio. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force. David provides individual, family and group therapy and has worked at the Chicago Northwest Mental Health Center, the Larkin Center and the Ecker Mental Health Center. He is on the board of directors for the Association for Individual Development (AID), the Club Guadalupano Scholarship Committee and other organizations in the Elgin Area.

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Tracy Groesser, LMFT: Tracy received her Master’s degree in 1997 from Northern Illinois University and has worked in the mental health field since that time. She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) but has worked with a wide variety of clients and in many different settings, including in-patient hospitals, group homes, community and private agencies, and church settings. In addition to extensive experience working with children and adolescents, Tracy also enjoys working with couples and adult individuals with a focus on finding solutions and helping them to improve their quality of daily living.

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Shari Weber, MS. Shari earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Southern Illinois University and her Master’s degree in Counseling from Northern Illinois University. Her experience includes eleven years as a counselor in the Rockford Public Schools and work as a Mental Health Specialist at the Elgin Mental Health Center.
Shari volunteers with the American Red Cross on their Disaster Mental Health team and she plays the flute.

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Dan McFadden, LCSW. Dan has been in the mental health field since 1983. He obtained his MSW from the Jane Addams College of Social Work in 1989, concentrating in Occupational Social Work. He has worked in addictions and mental health settings including time with McHenry Co. Family Services, Lutheran Social Services of Illinois and the St. Joseph Hospital Psychiatric Focus Unit. He has directed the full-time Church of the Brethren volunteer program, Brethren Volunteer Service, since 1996, placing and managing volunteers in positions around the world and throughout the United States. He enjoys working with youth, co-teaches a Jr. High Sunday school class, and has extensive experience working with young adults. Older adults too.

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Erin Brumfield Grima, LCPC is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and holds a Master’s of Science in Human Services and Counseling from National Louis University. Erin has more than 20 years’ experience working for non-profits and 10 years’ experience as a leader of behavioral health treatment programs. Erin has extensive experience working with children through play therapy interventions and trauma informed care; as well as in providing services to adults with severe mental illness. Passionate about helping people connect to their own resiliency, Erin believes that each individual must feel accepted and valued regardless of the challenges they may be facing.



Phoenix Staff Calendar