Diane Young, LMHC

Diane is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with Master’s Degrees in Counseling Psychology and Early Childhood Education. She has been at Children’s Friend for 6 years. During the past three years, she had been Site Director of the Salem Site where she managed the largest site and had a clinical staff of 15 Master’s level clinicians. Currently, Diane is now the Vice President of Clinical Services and oversees four Site Directors and a staff of 70 clinicians, as well as oversight for our Youth Mentoring, Teen Parent and Juvenile Court Clinic Programs. Diane has a strong background in emergency psychiatric work and was trained in an inpatient psychiatric unit. In addition, Diane is the Program Manager for the organization’s Brief Strategic Family Therapy (BSFT) program, which is based on a family systems approach in treating families with acting out children and adolescents. She went through a rigorous training program and is now a Certified BSFT therapist. Finally, Diane specializes in treating youth who have both learning disabilities and mental health issues.

Janel Weiner

Janel is a LICSW who joined Children’s Friend and Family Services in March 2007 as a fee-for-service clinician. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in Social Work from St. Bonaventure University and her Master’s in Social Work from Salem State College. Janel has experience working with adolescent and adult survivors of trauma. Janel became the Amesbury Site Director in July 2008 and works with a team of clinicians serving children, adolescents and their families.

Lisa da Silva, LMHC

Lisa recently took on the position of Site Director in the Gloucester office, but has been with the organization for over 3 years as the Assistant Site Director and a clinician in the Salem site. Lisa also manages the Neuro-Psych Testing Program for Children’s Friend. She received her Masters in Clinical Psychology from San Francisco State University and has published research in the area of adolescent tobacco use. Lisa’s main focus, as a clinician, has been working with Spanish and Portuguese speaking families around domestic violence, immigration/ acculturation issues, substance abuse and trauma. She also has completed the Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy training and has been able to utilize it with Latino and Portuguese families. Lisa is excited to be part of the Gloucester team and looks forward to working with the Cape Ann community.

Kristen Homan, LICSW

Kristen is an LICSW who has been with Children’s Friend since August 2002. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology with a concentration in Women’s Studies from Holy Cross and her Master’s of Social Work from Boston College. Kristen has experience working with pre-school and school-aged children, survivors of domestic violence and clients with anxiety issues and trauma histories. Kristen is currently with Site Director of the Lynn Site of Children’s Friend, where she works with a team of 10 clinicians serving children and families in the greater Lynn area. Kristen recently assumed the role of Salem Site Director after successfully leading the Lynn clinic for the past three years.

Kristen Ewing