Lisa Rowe, MSW, LCSW, CPLC, RYT 200

Founder, CEO & Clinical Director | Relationship Therapist | Creator of the Rooted Method

Kali Rowe, MSW, LCSW

Licensed Clinical Social Worker & Operations Manager | Child, Adolescent & Family Therapist | Parenting & Reunification Support

Hi, I’m Kali. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Operations Manager at Rooted Therapies in North Port, Florida. I work with children, adolescents, young adults, adults, parents, and families who are navigating transitions, relationship challenges, emotional and behavioral concerns, family changes, trauma, and the many complexities that can arise as people grow and relationships evolve.

I have always been drawn to helping children and teenagers feel understood—not simply correcting a behavior, but becoming curious about what may be happening underneath it.

Children often communicate distress differently than adults. A change in behavior, increased anxiety, anger, withdrawal, difficulty at school, conflict at home, or trouble adjusting to a transition may be the visible part of something much deeper. My role is to create a supportive environment where young people can begin to understand their emotions, build confidence in themselves, strengthen coping skills, and develop healthier ways of communicating what they need.

At the same time, I believe meaningful change rarely happens by working with a child in isolation.

Families are systems. When one person is struggling, the entire family can feel it. Because of this, my work increasingly includes parenting support, family therapy, parent-child relationships, and helping caregivers better understand the needs and behaviors of their children.

Sometimes parents come into therapy wondering, “How do I help my child?” Other times, the deeper question becomes, “How do I want to show up as their parent?”

I enjoy helping parents slow difficult moments down, recognize patterns within the family, understand development and behavior through a different lens, and become more intentional about the relationship they are building with their child. Parenting support is not about creating perfect parents. It is about helping families develop greater understanding, connection, consistency, and trust.

I have also developed a particular passion for reunification therapy and complex family relationships. Separation, divorce, high-conflict family dynamics, ruptured parent-child relationships, and extended periods of disconnection can create significant emotional complexity for everyone involved. These situations often require patience, structure, thoughtful pacing, and an understanding that repairing a relationship cannot be forced.

My goal in reunification work is to create a clinically grounded space where relationships can be explored carefully, communication can begin to shift, and families can work toward healthier and more sustainable ways of relating when appropriate.

My clinical interests also include life transitions, anxiety, emotional regulation, self-esteem, family conflict, relationship difficulties, and identity development. Although children and adolescents remain an important part of my practice, I genuinely enjoy working with young adults and adults as they navigate changing relationships, adulthood, family dynamics, boundaries, and transitions in their own lives.

My approach is warm, relational, practical, and trauma-informed. I believe people make the most progress when they feel safe enough to be honest, understood without being excused from growth, and supported as they learn new ways of responding to themselves and the people around them.

I am currently expanding my training in play therapy, including supervised development of play-based therapeutic skills for children. Play can give children a developmentally appropriate way to communicate experiences and emotions that may be difficult to express through words alone.

I am also beginning the long-term process of developing animal-assisted therapy services at Rooted Therapies. Our future therapy dog is expected to begin integrating into the practice in January 2028, following an extensive period of training, socialization, and preparation. This intentional process is designed to support safe, thoughtful, and clinically appropriate integration into therapeutic work with children, adolescents, families, and other clients who may benefit from animal-assisted support.

As both a clinician and part of the leadership team at Rooted Therapies, I care deeply about creating an environment where therapy feels personal, thoughtful, and responsive to the whole person and the whole family.

Whether I am sitting with a teenager trying to understand where they fit, a child struggling to communicate what they feel, a parent questioning how to respond differently, a family attempting to reconnect, or an adult moving through a season of change, I want therapy to offer more than a temporary solution.

I want it to create understanding that changes what happens next.

When we understand what is happening beneath the behavior, we have a better chance of changing the relationship around it.

Leanne Shevchenko, M.A., RMHCI

Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern | Intake Coordinator | Child, Teen, Young Adult & Women’s Therapist | Anxiety, Life Transitions & Self-Esteem Support

Hi, I’m Leanne. I am a Registered Mental Health Counselor Intern at Rooted Therapies in North Port, Florida. I work with children, teens, young adults, and women who are navigating anxiety, stress, relationship difficulties, self-esteem concerns, emotional overwhelm, and seasons of significant change.

I believe every person brings a story into therapy, and that story deserves to be understood with curiosity rather than judgment.

Sometimes people come to counseling because something clearly difficult has happened. Other times, life may look fine from the outside, but internally they feel overwhelmed, disconnected, uncertain, or stuck in patterns they do not fully understand.

Therapy can create a place to slow those experiences down.

My goal is to provide a warm, supportive environment where clients feel heard, understood, and safe enough to explore what may be happening beneath the surface. Together, we can begin identifying patterns, understanding emotions, recognizing strengths, and building practical tools for moving forward with greater confidence and self-awareness.

I especially enjoy working with children and adolescents as they navigate the emotional, social, and developmental changes that come with growing up. Anxiety, friendship challenges, school stress, self-esteem, family changes, identity development, and difficulty managing emotions can all feel especially intense during these years.

My role is not simply to focus on what a young person is doing, but to become curious about what they may be experiencing underneath the behavior.

I also work closely with young adults navigating the transition into adulthood. This stage of life can bring questions about identity, independence, relationships, career, boundaries, family expectations, and the pressure to know what comes next. Therapy can offer space to explore those questions without needing to have all the answers immediately.

Women in different seasons of adulthood are another meaningful part of my work. Relationships, caregiving, changing family roles, work demands, identity shifts, aging, loss, and life transitions can leave women feeling pulled in many directions. Sometimes the work is about getting through a difficult season. Other times, it is about reconnecting with yourself after spending years focused on everyone else.

My counseling approach is compassionate, collaborative, trauma-informed, and individualized. I incorporate evidence-based therapeutic practices while also taking a holistic view of the person in front of me.

Our thoughts, emotions, behaviors, relationships, and life experiences are deeply connected. Understanding those connections can help us recognize why certain patterns developed and what may need to change in order to feel more grounded and connected.

Together, we may work on strengthening coping skills, improving emotional regulation, building self-esteem, developing healthier boundaries, navigating relationships, increasing self-awareness, and creating realistic goals that reflect what matters most to you.

I do not believe therapy is about a therapist having all the answers.

It is about creating a space where you can ask better questions, understand yourself more deeply, and develop tools that allow you to navigate life with greater resilience and confidence.

I am committed to continued learning and professional growth so that the care I provide remains thoughtful, current, and responsive to the individual needs of each client.

Outside of the counseling room, I am a wife and dog mom who loves spending time outdoors, making memories with family and friends, and enjoying the simple moments that help life feel grounded. Those relationships continually remind me how important it is to feel connected, supported, and genuinely known.

Whether you are a parent looking for support for your child, a teenager trying to make sense of everything changing around you, a young adult figuring out who you want to become, or a woman entering a new season of life, therapy can be a place where you do not have to have everything figured out before you begin.

Sometimes growth begins by creating enough space to understand what you are feeling, what you need, and where you want to go next.

Aisha Rosario, MSW, RCSWI

Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern & Community Engagement Coordinator | Trauma, Relationships & Substance Use Support

Hi, I’m Aisha. I am a Registered Clinical Social Worker Intern and Community Engagement Coordinator at Rooted Therapies in North Port, Florida.

I believe people have the ability to create a new life when they are willing to understand and accept the life that came before it.

Many of the people who find their way to me already know something needs to change. They may be navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, complicated relationship dynamics, family conflict, the impact of substance use, identity concerns, or a major life transition. Sometimes they know the decision they need to make but struggle to trust themselves enough to make it—or stand by it. Other times, they simply know they are tired of repeating the same patterns.

That is where our work can begin.

I work with adolescents, young adults, and adults who are ready to look beyond what is happening on the surface and become curious about what is underneath it.

My approach to therapy is authentic, compassionate, and straightforward. I am willing to sit with discomfort, ask difficult questions, challenge familiar ways of thinking, and help you recognize patterns that may be keeping you stuck.

I believe therapy should be a safe and nonjudgmental space where you can show up authentically, even when what you are carrying feels messy, complicated, or difficult to say out loud.

But I also do not believe therapy is simply a place to vent.

Being heard matters. So does becoming curious.

Why do I respond this way?
Where did I learn this?
What was this behavior once protecting me from?
Does it still serve me?
And if it does not, what might choosing differently look like?

Those are the conversations that interest me.

My clinical work is trauma-informed and incorporates approaches including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS). I have also completed training in Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT), including Foundations of AF-CBT.

I have a particular passion for working with trauma, relationship patterns, self-discovery, family dynamics, and individuals and families impacted by substance use.

Substance use rarely affects only one person. It can influence trust, communication, boundaries, roles within a family, and the way people learn to protect themselves and one another. I enjoy helping clients better understand those dynamics while identifying what belongs to them, what does not, and what healthier relationships may require moving forward.

I am fascinated by the ways our experiences shape our behavior—especially the behaviors we eventually begin to believe are permanent parts of who we are.

I see it differently.

A behavior can have a history.
A pattern can have a purpose.

Understanding where it came from gives us the opportunity to decide whether we want to continue carrying it.

My connection to this work is personal, too. As a teenager, my own life was impacted by a social worker and therapist during a pivotal season. That experience showed me what can happen when someone is willing to look beyond a person’s circumstances and recognize what is still possible within them.

My experiences with motherhood, personal growth, education, and healing have continued to shape the therapist I am today.

I became a mother young and am especially proud to now be a mother of three who continued pursuing my education through graduate school. I earned my Associate degree from Florida SouthWestern State College, my Bachelor of Social Work from Florida Gulf Coast University, and my Master of Social Work through the Advanced Standing program at the University of South Florida.

Those experiences taught me something I carry into the therapy room every day:

Growth rarely happens in a perfectly straight line.

I do not expect perfection from the people I work with, but I do believe in accountability.

Therapy is ultimately your work. I can help you recognize patterns, offer new perspectives, teach skills, ask questions, challenge you, and sit beside you through the uncomfortable parts. I can help you understand how trauma, relationships, family experiences, and previous ways of coping may still be influencing your life today.

But the direction has to belong to you.

My hope is that our work helps you develop both grace and accountability—grace to understand why you became who you needed to be, and the courage to challenge yourself to discover who you want to become next.

As Community Engagement Coordinator at Rooted Therapies, I am also passionate about extending conversations about mental health beyond the therapy room and helping connect individuals, families, schools, organizations, and community partners with meaningful mental health resources and support.

Outside of therapy, I am a mother of three who is continually learning how important it is to pour back into myself, too. For me, that looks like protecting my gym time, dancing, continuing my own self-study, and being honest about my headspace and capacity.

If you are looking for therapy that stays comfortably on the surface, I may not be the therapist you are looking for.

But if you are ready to understand the root of what brought you here, recognize your patterns, challenge yourself, and discover what exists beyond the ways you learned to survive, I would be honored to help you navigate that process.

You lead the work. I’ll help you get to the root.

Desiree Zwiefelhofer, CMHC Intern

Clinical Mental Health Counseling Intern | Trauma-Informed Therapist | First Responder & Helping Professional Support

Hi, I’m Desiree. I am a Clinical Mental Health Counseling Intern at Rooted Therapies in North Port, Florida, currently pursuing my degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the University of Wisconsin–Superior. I also hold an Associate’s degree in Criminal Justice–Law Enforcement and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology.

My passion is providing trauma-informed, culturally responsive counseling to individuals navigating trauma, chronic stress, burnout, difficult life experiences, and the emotional weight that can come from spending so much of your life caring for or protecting others.

I have a particular passion for supporting first responders, veterans, healthcare professionals, and helping professionals who are navigating the unique demands of careers built around crisis, responsibility, and service. Before entering the counseling field, I worked as an emergency telecommunications operator, corrections officer, and EMS professional in both Wisconsin and Florida. I was also trained as a Peer Support and Critical Incident Stress Management team member.

Those experiences gave me firsthand insight into what it means to work in environments where staying calm, capable, and composed is often part of the job. Critical incidents, repeated exposure to trauma, organizational stress, moral injury, hypervigilance, burnout, and compassion fatigue can accumulate over time—even when you are good at what you do.

When you have built a career around being the person others rely on, acknowledging that you need support yourself can feel unfamiliar.

Therapy can be a place where you no longer have to carry all of it alone.

My own professional, personal, health, and therapy experiences have also shaped the counselor I am becoming. They have deepened my understanding of the connection between mental health and physical well-being and strengthened my belief that prolonged stress does not simply live in our thoughts. It can affect our bodies, relationships, sleep, sense of safety, identity, and the way we move through everyday life.

Because of this, I approach counseling with curiosity about the whole person—not only what happened, but how your experiences may still be showing up in your body, relationships, work, and daily life.

While first responders and helping professionals are a particular area of passion for me, my work is not limited to those professions. I welcome individuals who are navigating stress, trauma, relationship challenges, work-related burnout, major life transitions, emotional overwhelm, or the pressure of carrying too much for too long.

I believe what happens at work does not always stay at work.

Whether you are responding to emergencies, caring for others, leading a team, working in a high-pressure environment, raising a family, navigating relationship challenges, or simply trying to keep up with the demands of everyday life, those experiences can begin to influence how you feel and function outside of the environment where the stress began.

My goal is to help you understand those connections and develop realistic, sustainable strategies that support you both inside and outside of the workplace.

I want therapy to feel like a place where you can take off the armor.

You do not have to be the strong one here. You do not need to have all the answers, minimize what happened, or explain why something affected you. You can show up as you are, without judgment, and together we can begin making sense of what you have been carrying.

My approach to counseling is collaborative, practical, and deeply human. Therapy does not have to mean something is wrong with you. It can be an opportunity to better understand yourself, process what you have experienced, reconnect with what matters, and build tools that continue working long after you leave the therapy room.

The goal is not simply to function better at work. It is to help you feel more present, connected, and grounded in your relationships, your family, and your life outside of the roles you hold for everyone else.

Outside of counseling, I am a first responder wife and dog mom. My husband and I enjoy exploring Florida with our two doodles, staying active, spending time outdoors, and finding any excuse for a day at the beach. I value fitness, a healthy lifestyle, and the quieter moments that allow us to slow down, recharge, and enjoy life beyond the demands of work.

You spend a great deal of your life showing up for other people. Therapy can be a place where you get to show up for yourself.