Our Team

A woman with glasses and a tattoo on her wrist sitting on a tan couch, with a plant nearby.

Me at a Glance

I am a co-founder of Sova Counseling and a Certified Case Manager providing systems-focused support to individuals and families. My work includes supporting individuals navigating disordered eating or eating-related concerns through collaborative meal planning, care coordination, and thoughtful guidance across mental health and support services. Support may take place in-office or in-home to best meet individual and family needs.

I value transparency, collaboration, and dignity, and I bring a steady, grounding presence to my work. I am especially mindful of reducing barriers and creating affirming support for individuals and families who have historically felt unseen within mental health systems.


Jamaica Shires

Co-Founder | Director | Case Manager

My Approach

My approach as a certified case manager is values-based, trauma-informed, and ACT-informed, with a strong foundation in compassion and dignity. I believe behavior always makes sense in context and that individuals and families are often doing the best they can with the tools available to them. Rather than focusing on fixing or correcting, I focus on understanding, collaboration, and building practical supports that fit real life.

ACT-informed care guides my work by emphasizing values clarification, flexibility, and building a meaningful life alongside difficult thoughts or emotions rather than trying to eliminate them. My areas of focus include supporting individuals and families navigating eating-related concerns, emotional regulation, identity exploration, and complex systems of care. I prioritize curiosity, self-trust, and sustainable change, and I believe progress does not need to be linear to be valid.

Background

My work has been rooted in the mental health field for nearly a decade, with a strong focus on supporting youth and families navigating high-acuity and complex challenges. Throughout my career, I have worked closely with young people experiencing chronic suicidality, significant emotional distress, and patterns of behavior rooted in trauma, fear, and unmet needs. Alongside this work, I have partnered deeply with caregivers, supporting families through some of their most overwhelming and vulnerable moments.

For over five years, I have served in program leadership and director roles, overseeing intensive day treatment programs and supporting multidisciplinary teams. I began this work as a behavior manager and case manager, where I developed a strong foundation in safety planning, skill development, system navigation, and family collaboration. These roles shaped how I approach care today, with an emphasis on practical support, clear communication, and reducing barriers for families who are often navigating multiple systems at once.

A significant part of my leadership experience includes directing a Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) day treatment program serving high-acuity youth and their families. In this role, I supported young people with chronic safety concerns while engaging caregivers in intensive family work focused on emotional regulation, communication, and rebuilding trust and stability at home. This work required steadiness, flexibility, and a deep respect for the complexity of each family system.

Building on that foundation, I later developed and led an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) day treatment program from the ground up. This included designing the program structure, developing curriculum, training and supporting staff, and overseeing day-to-day operations. I ran this program for two years, supporting youth and families in building psychological flexibility, reconnecting with values, and learning how to move toward meaningful lives even in the presence of distress. Family involvement remained central to this work, with a strong belief that lasting change happens when caregivers are supported alongside their children.

Across all of my roles, my work has consistently centered on high-acuity care, intensive family involvement, and systems-level support. I bring a deep understanding of how programs function, how treatment models translate into real life, and how to support both families and staff through emotionally demanding work with clarity and care.

As a founder of Sova Counseling, I am deeply committed to building services that are ethical, accessible, and human. Sova was built to fill a gap in the community that I noticed over the years, where families often struggled to find care that felt steady, collaborative, and grounded in dignity. My goal is to help create support that feels transparent, compassionate, and rooted in hope for both individuals and the families who walk alongside them.

What It’s Like to Work With Me

Working with me is often described as warm, grounding, and collaborative. I bring honesty, curiosity, and steadiness into each interaction, whether we are meeting in an office or in your home. My approach to case management is hands-on and supportive. This may look like helping you navigate systems, coordinate care, problem-solve barriers, or sit together while we break overwhelming tasks into clear, manageable steps.

My work is designed to complement therapy, and clients work with me alongside an ongoing therapeutic relationship. I collaborate closely with therapists to help ensure care feels coordinated, supportive, and aligned across systems.

You do not need to have everything figured out. I make space for difficult emotions while also helping individuals and families identify strengths, resources, and next steps that feel aligned with their values. My goal is to walk alongside you, reduce overwhelm, and support you in building a path forward that feels sustainable and true to who you are.

Life Outside of Work

Outside of work, I am a parent, a partner, and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community. These parts of my life shape how I understand care, identity, and the importance of belonging and authenticity. I value relationships that feel grounded and honest, and I believe connection is a powerful part of well-being.

I enjoy spending time at lakes and would live on one if I could. Being near water helps me slow down and feel more present. I also value creativity, especially through painting and movement, as ways to reconnect with myself. Balance, rest, and moments of joy feel essential to me, and that belief carries into both my personal life and my work.


Me at a Glance

I am a co-founder of Sova Counseling. A Clinical Mental Health Counselor and work as a therapist. I focus on supporting individuals and families navigating eating concerns with an emphasis on complex emotional experiences, and systems that often feel overwhelming or misaligned, and complex co-occurring conditions. My work is grounded in compassion, curiosity, and clinical rigor, with a strong emphasis on dignity, autonomy, and collaboration.

I bring a steady, thoughtful presence to the therapy space and focus on helping people make sense of their experiences without shame or pressure to perform. I am especially attentive to context, identity, and the realities of living with complexity, and I aim to create a space where clients feel understood, supported, and empowered to move toward change at their own pace.

Currently accepting new clients

Yotam Livnat

Co-Founder | Clinical-Director | CMHC

My Clinical Approach

My clinical approach focuses on supporting people in building lives they find worth living. I take the lived experiences of my clients seriously, including their resilience, intelligence, and capacity for change. I balance evidence-based clinical work with real human empathy and compassion, recognizing that both are necessary for meaningful progress.

In individual work, I draw primarily from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), alongside Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), client-centered, Gestalt, and interpersonal process approaches. This allows me to hold the full context of each person’s experience while also supporting non-shame-based accountability, choice, and opportunities for growth. I intentionally create space for the impacts of identity, trauma, and intersectionality, recognizing how these factors shape both suffering and healing.

When working with families, I prioritize connection first, followed by collaborative correction. I believe that lasting change depends on safety, trust, and relational support, rather than control or compliance. My family work is informed by Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) and research on emotion coaching as a parenting approach, including work from the Gottman Institute. These frameworks provide clear, actionable structure while remaining grounded in the realities of each family’s day-to-day life.

Across settings, my goal is to support change that is sustainable, respectful, and aligned with each individual or family’s values, rather than imposed from the outside.

Background

I’ve had the opportunity to work with a wide range of clients and communities throughout my career. I began in therapy-adjacent roles over fifteen years ago, supporting teens through youth groups, educational programming, summer camps, and middle school teaching. From the start of my clinical work as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor, I have worked within community mental health, where I found a professional home in connecting high-quality, dignity-forward therapy with people regardless of their means.

I carried these experiences with me into the past five years, during which I worked in, and then helped build and lead, an adolescent day treatment program alongside Jamaica. There, we worked to implement a vision of care for high-acuity youth that maintained clinical effectiveness while also honoring autonomy, choice, and the essential role of families. This meant supporting young people without stripping them of agency, and equipping families with tools, care, and trust rather than blame or control.

This history informs everything I bring to Sova Counseling. Over time, it became clear that among the many very real barriers people faced, access to specialized, thoughtful care for eating concerns was one of the most significant gaps. This was especially true for eating disorder care that valued what I knew mattered most when life was complex: connection, compassion, context, time, and collaboration. I am proud to be part of creating that kind of space at Sova, alongside an exceptional team committed to doing this work, doing it well, and doing it for the right reasons.


What It’s Like to Work With Me

I take time to get to know you. I prioritize exploring alongside you, rather than rushing toward answers to questions that deserve care and patience. I center your values, and if you are not sure what they are yet, that is okay. We can discover them together and ground them in your lived experience. I am comfortable offering challenge when it is helpful, just as I am comfortable sitting in silence, slowing things down, or pivoting to something concrete when grounding is needed. That might mean pausing to breathe, changing pace, or even building a LEGO set together to help anchor the moment. I believe healing can hold more than one thing at a time. Laughter, curiosity, and moments of joy can coexist alongside grief, fear, and frustration. I aim to create space where the full range of your experience is welcome, without pressure to perform, explain, or be anywhere other than where you are. I also know that meaningful change often requires accountability without shame, hope without fear of failure, and persistence through setbacks. I will stay with you through cycles of effort, growth, and difficulty, and continue the work together as we learn what works for you

Life Outside of Work

When I’m not at work, I’m usually in the kitchen, playing a video game, or outside somewhere. I love exploring new foods, especially when they offer a way to learn about the people and places that made them. I enjoy camping with my kiddo, going on bike rides, or sometimes just settling in with a group of friends for a round of Dungeons and Dragons.

I’m deeply curious by nature and have spent most of my life learning a little bit about a lot of things. That curiosity tends to show up everywhere, and you’ll probably encounter it in our work together. I often seem to know something about almost anything (unless it’s important, in which case I’m suddenly no help at all).

Most importantly, I am a self-made master of terrible puns and dad jokes. You have been warned.

Text that reads 'Coming soon' in black cursive font on a white background.

Me at a Glance


I am a Clinical Social Worker (CSW) providing trauma-informed therapy in Utah. I bring a grounded, thoughtful approach to care and value collaboration, curiosity, and creating a space where clients feel safe to show up as they are.

Currently accepting new clients

Ali Hildenbrand

Therapist | CSW

Therapeutic Approach and Areas of Focus


My therapeutic approach is collaborative, skills-based, and culturally responsive. I work from an attachment-based and neurodiversity-affirming lens, integrating emotion regulation strategies, family systems work, and developmentally appropriate interventions. I support individuals, children, adolescents, and families navigating emotional regulation challenges, behavioral concerns, school-related stress, identity development, and the impacts of trauma. I focus on practical tools that support sustainable change and long-term well-being, while honoring each person’s unique strengths and experiences.

Background


I earned my undergraduate degree from Colorado State University and my Master of Social Work from Hawaii Pacific University. As a LEND Scholar, I completed advanced interdisciplinary training in autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities. My graduate research focused on funding Native Hawaiian health programs, and I participated in the Hawaiʻi Positive Engagement Program, a cohort-based initiative centered on reducing toxic stress and strengthening well-being through positive psychology practices. These experiences continue to shape my commitment to equity, cultural humility, and holistic care.

What It Is Like to Work With Me


Clients often describe me as calm, supportive, and engaged. I aim to create a therapeutic environment that balances warmth with structure and accountability. I value transparency and partnership in the therapy process and believe meaningful progress happens when clients feel supported while also being gently challenged in ways that feel safe and respectful.

Life Outside of Work


Outside of work, I enjoy yoga, eco-therapy, gardening, and tending to a growing collection of plants. I love cooking, reading, traveling, and exploring my new home state of Utah. I also value time with family and friends, participating in advocacy efforts, and adventuring with my miniature dachshund, Dwight, who is always keeping me on my toes.