Counseling Center Staff

Rhonda Lesley

Rhonda Lesley (she/her/hers) joined the MSU Counseling Center team as Director in 2015. She has over 25 years of practice as a Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri, focusing her career mainly in higher education and private practice.  She has also worked in community mental health settings.  Her specialties include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and she uses biofeedback, mindfulness/meditation and resiliency in the treatment of anxiety, depression and a variety of other student mental health concerns.  Rhonda also provides EMDR Therapy for helping survivors of trauma.  Rhonda is a Certified Gottman Therapist, treating couples in research-based therapy, and she is a Registered Yoga Teacher with the National Yoga Alliance and provides yoga and mindfulness classes to students, staff and faculty on campus.  She was a former Chair of the Suicide Prevention Coalition of the Ozarks.  In her spare time, Rhonda can be found riding her horses on an Ozarks trail, hiking with her dogs, cooking a plant-based meal, playing the piano, or enjoying a campfire with family and friends. 

Tammy Dixon

Tammy (she/her/hers) is the Counseling Center’s Assistant Director and she came to the Missouri State University Counseling Center in 2003 as a Mental Health Clinician following a short career working in therapeutic foster care in Oklahoma.   She obtained both of her degrees from Oklahoma State University with her masters being in Counseling and Student Personnel.  She has been licensed in the state of Missouri since 2004 and has provided supervision for graduate assistants and provisionally licensed clinicians for the past 17 years.   Areas of interest for Tammy include student development, eating concerns, LGBTQ+ support and trauma.  Tammy enjoys spending her free time with her family (yes, the dog is considered family), volunteering in the community, reading and enjoying the beauty of the Ozarks.

Jane Henke

Jane Henke (she/her/hers), MS, is a Licensed Professional Counselor who joined the MSU Counseling Center in 2018, after working in private practice for over a decade in St. Louis.  She initially served as the Victims Services & Advocacy Specialist, and she is now a Mental Health Clinician who specializes in Trauma.  Jane is a certified EMDR therapist.  In her free time, Jane enjoys walking at Nathaniel Greene Park with her dog, Caroline. 

Divya Thakkar

Divya Thakkar (she/her/hers) completed her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Mumbai, India. She moved to Ohio in 2017 to pursue her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health counseling from Kent State University. After working as a community Mental Health Therapist in Ohio for about 2 years, she joined Missouri State Counseling Center in December 2021.

Divya believes in a person-centered approach while working with people struggling with anxiety, depression, relationship issues, substance use, identity issues, trauma, and adjustment related issues. Being from a diverse background and an international student herself, Divya is keen on helping people from varied backgrounds/cultures. Divya is trained in EMDR and Motivational interviewing. She just received her Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC). Divya loves dancing, being out in nature, and practicing yoga.

Chiara Citterio

Chiara (she/her/hers) is a Licensed Professional Counselor and EMDR-trained clinician, who joined the Missouri State University Counseling Center as a full-time mental health clinician in 2019. 

Chiara moved to Springfield, MO from Milan, Italy in 2012.  She obtained her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Gerontology from Missouri State University in 2016 while also being part of the MSU Women’s golf team.  She then completed her Master of Science in Clinical psychology in 2018 at Missouri State University.   

Chiara’s areas of special interest include LGBTQIA+ support, diversity, adjusting to college and navigating life in the United States as an international student.  In her free time, Chiara enjoys spending time with family and friends, as well as woodworking with Christie Fletcher.

Christie Fletcher

Christie (she/her/hers) completed her MS in Counseling from Missouri State University in 2020. She is an EMDR-trained clinician and is currently in her EMDR certification process. She spent a few years working in the Springfield community as a trauma-focused clinician, but returned to the MSU Counseling Center as the Victim Service and Advocacy Specialist in early 2021. She joins the Project HEAL team to focus on education, prevention, and response to domestic and dating violence, stalking, and assault, a constant passion in her professional career.

Christie is originally from Kansas City, MO, she and her spouse have two rabbits, and she loves to spoil her nieces every chance she gets. Outside of work she also spends her time woodworking with Chiara Citterio.

Julie Brauch

Julie Brauch (she/her/hers) is from Independence, Missouri. She has been in Springfield since 2013, where she attended Missouri State University and earned a Bachelors in Psychology, a Masters in Clinical Psychology, and a Specialist degree in Counseling and Assessment. Julie began working at the MSU Counseling Center in 2021 and was promoted as a full-time Mental Health Clinician in 2022. Julie is a Provisionally Licensed Professional Counselor (PLPC) in the state of Missouri and a Certified Trauma Professional. She enjoys making a difference in her clients’ lives and has a passion for working with those who have experienced childhood and developmental trauma. Outside of her work, Julie enjoys her role as a mother and loves spending time with friends and family any chance she gets.

Holly Reynolds

Holly, (she, her, hers) is a Provisionally Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, graduating from Friends University in Wichita, Kansas.  Holly is also trained in EMDR, Play Therapy, and Sand Tray Therapy.  After completing her master’s degree in 2020, Holly moved to the Springfield area and worked in a private practice.  Holly has been with the Counseling Center since 2023 and will complete her full licensure requirements this year.

Holly uses an approach to therapy that allows individuals to author their life.  Holly integrates an attachment, brain-based and trauma-informed lens when working with individuals and incorporates emotion regulation and mindfulness techniques into her practice.  Holly has experience working with concerns including mood disorders, anxiety, trauma and addiction recovery as well as relationship struggles and adjusting to new journeys in life. 

Outside of her therapeutic work, Holly enjoys time with her family and animals as well as spending time at the lake, exploring nature, traveling and going to concerts.