Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Michelle Albert obtained her undergraduate degree in Sociology from the University of Utah. After moving to the Washington D.C. area, she attended Argosy University in Arlington, Virginia, where she completed a Masters degree in Counseling with a specialty in Forensics.

During her career, Michelle has worked in the public and private sector as well as with not-for-profit organizations. She is skilled in working with many populations which include people with serious mental illness as well as people with depression, anxiety, and those who are experiencing difficulty adjusting to changes in their life. Michelle works with adolescents, adults, individuals, couples, and families. Recently, she has developed the SALUTE program which provides support for military members and their families throughout all phases of deployment and reintegration. The program is designed to assist with challenges faced by individuals, couples, and families in the military community. 

Michelle is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider in the state of Virginia. She has experience working with sexual offenders and their families and also facilitates FOCUS (Families of Compulsive Users of Sex) groups.

Patricia Bischoff is originally from Buffalo, New York and more recently relocated to Virginia from Florida.   Patricia's undergraduate degree in criminal justice is from State University of New York and her Master in Social Work degree is from the University of Central Florida.  She is licensed as a Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Virginia and North Carolina.  Patricia is a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider (CSOTP) in the state of Virginia and a Clinical Member of ATSA.  She is also a member of National Association of Social Work (NASW) and American College of Forensic Counselors.

 

Patricia's experience of over 20 years has been diverse.  She has worked as a law enforcement officer, a correctional probation officer and in outpatient mental health.  More recently she worked as a private practitioner providing mental health services in the community and to our soldiers returning from war.   She has also been providing adult sex offender treatment in Florida and North Carolina.  

Ms. Susan Carter graduated from Spelman College with a B.A. in Psychology. Upon graduation, she entered the dual degree Forensic Psychology and Community Counseling graduate program at Marymount University in Arlington, VA. Outside of working on completing her graduate program, Susan  has also worked with the detained adolescents at the Juvenile Detention Center  and as a Court Appointed Special  Advocate (CASA) within Fairfax County. Susan currently works with adults with developmental disabilities providing life skills counseling and social skills training. She completed her practicum providing group and individual counseling to adolescent females in a residential substance abuse treatment program and is currently interning with CFS under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Hardenburg. Susan’s special interests include working with children and adolescents, anger management, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and the family.

Dr. Susan Frank has a PhD in Counseling Psychology as well as a Masters in Psychological Services: Counseling and a Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.  She has been working in the mental health field since 1997 and has an expansive array of experience.  Dr. Frank has completed numerous psychological evaluations to assess for a number of different problems including, but not limited to, assessing for the prevalence of mental health disorders, malingering, cognitive deficits, learning disabilities, the presence of an Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder and sex offender evaluations.  She has worked with clients of all ages and backgrounds with a wide range of issues or concerns spanning from basic adjustment problems to chronic psychological disturbances.  Dr. Frank has provided crisis intervention and risk assessments as well as family and couples therapy.  She has done forensic work in three different states and has worked with sex offenders in two different states.  Dr. Frank obtained her Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider experience at the Virginia Department of Corrections Sex Offender Residential Treatment Program at Brunswick Correctional Center and also worked at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation, which is Virginia’s civil commitment program for sexually violent predators.  Currently, she is finishing the last requirements of becoming a Licensed Clinical Psychologist in the state of Virginia. 



Dr. Stephanie Hardenburg is founder and owner of Counseling and Forensic Services, a Virginia Corporation established in 2000.  She is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Sexual Offender Treatment Provider in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Dr. Hardenburg earned her masters and doctorate degree in clinical psychology and counseling from George Mason University. In 1982 she was awarded the “Outstanding graduate student in Psychology” honor.  She is an approved supervisor for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and has been working with families, couples, adolescents and children for over 25 years.  Dr. Hardenburg was instrumental in forming the pilot project offering therapy to adult sex offenders and currently supervises over 20 sex offender groups in multiple locations in Virginia.  She has published articles on solution focused group therapy, counseling with children and diagnosis. 

 




Michael Kuhns is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider in the state of Virginia. He attended Cedarville University where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Applied Psychology. He then attended Georgia State University and Richmond Graduate University where he earned a Master of Science degree in Professional Counseling and a Master of Science degree in Christian Psychological Studies.

While studying at Georgia State, Michael completed his internship with Dr. Gene Abel at Behavioral Medicine Institute of Atlanta. It was there that he developed a passion for working with individuals with sexual behavior problems. Michael joined CFS in 2002 and specializes in the evaluation and treatment of individuals with sexual behavior problems. During his time with CFS, he has also worked with juveniles, led a group for non-offending loved ones of individuals with sexual behavior problems and cognitive impairments, or other confounding issues. He has also worked with individuals in an outpatient setting with general mental health issues.

Melissa Renner is a native of Northern Virginia and traveled to Wilson, North Carolina in 2002 to pursue her undergraduate degree. She graduated from Barton College in 2004 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice/Criminology and a specialization in Forensic Science. After taking a year off to explore career options, she attended Marymount University, in Arlington, Virginia. She graduated magna cum laude in 2007 with a Masters degree in Forensic Psychology and another in Community Counseling. She is a Nationally Certified Counselor, a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider in the state of Virginia, and is a Resident for Licensure as a Professional Counselor.

Melissa interned for the Wilson Police Department, Wilson, NC, assisting with crime scenes, evidence gathering, and processing. She has a strong interest in forensic science and criminology, and utilizes this interest in her current work with offenders. In addition, she spent six months as an intern with VanGuard Services, in Arlington, Virginia, working with people suffering from substance abuse. Since January 2007, Melissa has been a counselor and group facilitator for CFS, and facilitates six psycho educational groups in five districts. In addition, Melissa has three years experience working with individual adults and juveniles, as well as couples and families, with a multitude of problems. Theoretically, Melissa utilizes cognitive-behavioral, solution focused, and systemic forms of counseling.  



Robert Steele currently works as a group therapist and polygraph examiner for CFS. He graduated in 1997 with a Bachelors degree in Psychology and in 1999 with a Masters degree in Clinical Social Work, both from Virginia Commonwealth University. Most recently, he graduated from the Virginia School of Polygraph in 2007. He holds certification as a Sex Offender Treatment Provider as well as a Certified Clinical Polygraph Examiner. He currently maintains active membership with the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers and the American Polygraph Association.









Yulia Thorpe was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, but grew up in New Jersey. She attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia and graduated in June 2000 with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a concentration in Business Administration.  She interned at both the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Middlesex County Public Defender’s Office.  Yulia worked from 2000 to 2003 as a project coordinator for two different international logistic companies .  She joined CFS in 2006 and serves as Billing Manager.








Tamara Walker obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University. She then attended Virginia Commonwealth University and graduated with a Masters of Social Work. She has been serving the needs of individuals and families in Virginia for over five years. She is a Certified Sex Offender Treatment Provider and is working towards her licensure as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and certification as a Registered Play Therapist (RPT). She specializes in working with sex offenders, children, and families.