Phyllis digioia

Phyllis DiGioia is the Founder and CEO of Honor Wellness Center, an outpatient mental health, addictions and trauma treatment center for public safety first responders, military and their families.

Phyllis has been a Social Worker for 30+ years and earned her licensure to practice Clinical Social Work in the state of Connecticut in 2005. She has specialized in public safety first responder and military clinical mental health, addictions and trauma treatment and case management for 20 years.

Phyllis is a certified POST instructor and earned her CISM certification in 2003. Phyllis is also a Certified Employee Assistance Professional and is clinically trained in providing Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) parts 1 and 2, as well as many other clinical treatment modalities.

Phyllis thoroughly enjoys serving as a Clinical Supervisor for Bachelor's and Master's level student clinicians. She is also passionately dedicated to facilitating numerous peer support, critical incident stress management, mental health, trauma and addictions trainings throughout the country. Phyllis remains diligently focused in promoting the growth of a rich and extensive resource network to serve public safety first responders, military personnel and their families throughout the country.

Phyllis loves spending time with her family and friends, being outdoors, listening to music and comedy and playing with the family German shepherd and two cats!

Samantha Gower

Samantha Bennett has worked with the Honor Wellness Center since September 2022. She has a Masters in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Capella University and a Bachelors in Criminal Justice from Westfield State University. Sam comes to us from a first responder background, having been raised within a law enforcement family and marrying into a family of firefighters. Needless to say, her passion for this community runs deep. In addition, Sam brings a nature-based approach, emphasizing her love for the outdoors and how it can be incorporated into the counseling world. 

John Lefevre

John Lefevre is a Master's level Mental Health Counseling clinician having completed his Master's Degree program in May 2023. He is now completing his clinical requirements toward licensure. He graduated from Springfield College with his BA in Psychology with a concentration in Criminal Justice in 2008. He started his master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Bay Path University in 2020 with a concentration in advanced trauma. 

John worked for 3 years as a full-time college police officer before transitioning to the Palmer Police Department in 2012. John has worked for the Palmer Police Department since 2012 as a full-time E911 dispatcher as well as being sworn in as a part-time officer since 2014. John has gone to specialized trainings including hostage negotiation training for dispatch. John serves as a field trainer for the department.

John hopes that his professional and personal experiences can help bridge the gap between first responders, veterans, and the stigma that comes with the culture. John's aim is to provide a safe and comfortable environment to help establish a rapport and trust with first responders. John's hope is to eventually become post certified as an instructor and continue officer wellness training outside of the therapeutic setting. 

Julie Varga

Julie holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Adler University and is a licensed massage therapist and graduate of The Massage School in Boston, MA. She specializes in the John F. Barnes method of Myofascial Release at the expert level. She is currently working towards licensure after receiving her BAS in Military Intelligence Operations from Wayland Baptist University. Julie’s goal is to combine physical and mental therapy to create an integrative approach to healing. She believes we are the sum of our parts and everything is interconnected - that chronic pain is both mental and physical.

Julie was born in The Netherlands and lived in England, Spain, Portugal, Brazil and Paraguay. She came to live in the United States in 1998. She speaks Spanish and Portuguese fluently. Julie’s first exposure to massage therapy was when she was 11 years old. A group of nuns that she knew in Paraguay helped people by massaging them for a variety of ailments, and for some, it was the only pain relief they ever received. Since then, she has had many massages and benefited greatly from them. This motivates her to share massage therapy with others, specifically Myofascial Release.

Julie enlisted as a soldier on active duty in the US Army in 2001. Now, after 14 years of active service, she in the US Army Reserves. She has 20 total years of service!  She has been on multiple deployments, is a paratrooper, and has worked in special operations units, infantry units, and with special forces.  She knows what body aches are more than most! She has had her share of injuries and outlived a struggle with PTSD. Myofascial release helped her to cope and live an active lifestyle combined with counseling.

She is committed to helping those of you in high stress jobs because her family and she are one of you. Julie’s sister was a police officer on a SWAT team, one of her brothers worked for many years as a government contractor in dangerous locations around the world, and her youngest brother was a 911 dispatcher. She has a firefighter/EMS brother-in-law and a nurse sister-in-law.

Julie has been working with our public safety first responders and military active and veteran personnel as well as their families for one year now. She has successfully developed, facilitated and maintained an in-person Veterans' counseling group and continues to work beautifully with our adolescent and adult clients on a daily basis.

Ashley Catatao (Cambridge College/Mental Health Counseling)

Ashley Catatao is currently enrolled at Cambridge College working on her Master’s Degree in Mental Health Counseling/Trauma Studies. She has been a police officer for 12 years with the Somerville (MA) Police Department and is a certified Sexual Assault Investigator with the State of Massachusetts. Ashley is assigned to the Family Services Unit as a Detective. She is a mother to a young son and has two dogs. 

Ashley hopes to become a licensed mental health counselor so that she can work with first responders experiencing occupational stressors, trauma, and PTSD. She is also interested in working with victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sex trafficking. 

Tim hall (William james colLege/MSW)

Tim Hall is currently enrolled as a Master’s Degree candidate at William James College in Massachusetts. Tim has served for eight years as a police officer for the town of Bristol Police Department in Connecticut. He had also worked in the security field seven years prior to being a police officer.

Tim is looking to utilize both his law enforcement background and mental health training to help other first responders in navigating the complexities of such difficult work. He understands the apprehension and stigma associated with reaching out for help as a first responder, but is hoping his shared experiences in the field will provide a level of trust and comfort. 

Samantha jones (University of NEw Haven / Clinical Mental HEalth Counseling)

Samantha is currently enrolled in the University of New Haven Clinical Mental Health Counseling Program. She has spent the last three years working day to day with clients as the Clinical Coordinator in an outpatient psychiatric office.

Samantha is excited to work directly with first responders and veterans and be able to give back to them, recognizing them for the service they provide to our community. She hopes to create a safe, stigma free, environment where she can support all clients through their mental health journey.