BYS Team

Courtney Oliver, LMHC, Director of Youth Services

Advice for my teenage self: Stop worrying about what others think and enjoy life!
Favorite quote: If all else fails, smile.
What makes me happy to be alive: Creative expression, the beginning of a season, family time, music, laughing with others.

Courtney stepped into the role of Executive Director in February 2021. She joined BYS as a counselor in January 2016 and has been the clinical services director since June 2017. She was promoted to Youth Services Director in November 2019. She is a Washington licensed mental health and chemical dependency professional with more than 12 years in the mental health field.

I love that BYS is able to provide youth free services like counseling and peer tutoring. Teens are so much fun to work with! They are so wise and perceptive. We can learn a lot from our youth.

Brittany Wisner, Clinic Manager

Advice for my teenage self: Trust yourself. Don’t let others tell you that what you’re feeling isn’t valid, because it is.
Favorite quote: “The world I believe in is one where embracing your light doesn’t mean ignoring your dark.” ~ Kevin Breel
What makes me happy to be alive? My incredible friends. My grandparents and brother. The smell of freshly cut grass on a softball or baseball field. Singing loudly with strangers at concerts. A good grilled cheese sandwich. Seattle on a sunny, summer day.

Brittany is the beloved face of BYS. She has been with BYS since 2018 and loves working with teens (she also spent six years as the Bainbridge High School softball coach). Brittany’s go-to self-care activities include watching baseball, going for walks in new places, writing and taking a good nap.

In both high school and college I really struggled with my own mental health, so it’s become an important part of my adult life. I was lucky as a teen that I had an adult in my life who noticed I was struggling and guided me to get the help I needed. I love that BYS can serve a similar role for youth today, and I hope I can be of judgment-free support to anyone needing it.

Laura Firman, Program Coordinator

Advice for your teenage self: Nurture your creativity. Making art will give you the gift of self expression and joy throughout your life.
Favorite quote: 
What makes me happy to be alive: Spending time with my family and friends, cuddling my dogs, drawing and painting, travel, trying new cuisine, going to art museums, jazz concerts and baseball games.

Seventeen years ago Laura and her family traveled across the country to relocate to Bainbridge Island. Here they found a vibrant community with great schools in a beautiful setting. Laura has worked at the Bainbridge Island School District for many years as a paraeducator helping students from preschool to high school age.

I feel incredibly lucky to work with the dedicated staff at BYS. They have created a welcoming, safe place that offers counseling, volunteering opportunities and community service projects for the island’s youth. The Peer Tutoring program at BYS not only helps those with academic challenges, but it also gives the tutors a chance to build their work experience and leadership skills.

Helen Burke, LMHC, Clinical Supervisor

Advice for my teenage self: There is nothing wrong with you – trust in your goodness and worthiness of love and acceptance.
Favorite quote: “Remember the earth whose skin you are: red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth, brown earth, we are earth. Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them, listen to them. They are alive poems.” ~ Jay Harjo
What makes me happy to be alive: Ordinary moments with my family and friends, and moments alone in nature.

Helen joined BYS in April 2020 as a counseling intern. She has completed her master’s in clinical mental health counseling from Antioch University in Seattle. She is interested in mindfulness and body-based therapies for working with grief, loss, and trauma. This is a career change for Helen, who worked as a lawyer before raising her two teenage daughters. 

I love working with teens and parents around the myriad challenges of being human – I am constantly inspired and amazed by my clients and their ability to discover and grow and heal. I am so grateful to be learning at 50 how much it is possible to enjoy and find meaning in my work!

John Carleton, LMHCA, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: You’re not alone and you don’t have to do it all by yourself. It’s okay to talk to someone about how difficult things are. Talking about what’s going on will help you know what you’re feeling and let you know that you’re not alone in feeling that way. Also, you don’t have to have the right answer all the time; you don’t have to be perfect. It’s quite impossible! Making mistakes is not only okay, it’s how you learn and grow!
Favorite quote: “Compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a covenant between equals.” ~ Fr. Gregory Boyle
What makes me happy to be alive: Sunrises, sunsets, starry skies, cold mountain rivers and lakes, laughter, jumping on a trampoline, and riding my bike.

John joined BYS in August 2020 as a counseling intern. 

I chose to work at BYS because I want to support my community, and I wish I’d had someone to talk to when I was a teenager. Many boys in America are socialized to disconnect from their emotions and to think that they shouldn’t need other people. I’d like to disrupt that narrative and help teens, especially boys, understand that our brains are wired for social connection and emotional engagement.

Emily Henning, LSWAIC, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: Don’t fight your feelings. Your experiences are valid.
Favorite quote: “Let everything happen to you. Beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
What makes me happy to be alive: Ice cream and Netflix with my partner, chatting with my kiddos, afternoon naps, and writing.

Emily joined BYS in January of 2023 as part of her practicum for her Master’s program at Boise State University.

I love working with teens and young adults and believe that counseling can be a sacred time to hold space, process emotions, and tend to one’s inner self.

Chase Myers, LMHCA, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: Be kind to yourself, take your time, and learn to embrace the moments that matter.
Favorite quote: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Soren Kierkegaard
What makes me happy to be alive: Spending quality time with family and friends, getting lost in a good story, opportunities to connect with others, learning something new.

Chase joined BYS in January of 2022 as a counseling intern. He grew up in Kenai, Alaska and has received a B.A. in History from the University of Alaska Anchorage. He loves how much Bainbridge reminds him of his tight-knit community roots.

I am excited to do my part in supporting teenagers as they traverse such a unique time in their lives.

Megan Bradley, LMHCA, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: You are enough just as you are.
Favorite quote: “Knowing oneself comes from attending with compassionate curiosity to what is happening within.” – Gabor Maté
What makes me happy to be alive: Adventuring–seeing new places and meeting new people. Being outside and moving my body. Cooking a delicious meal, starting and finishing a really good fantasy book, and spending time with family, friends and my partner.

I am very excited to be a part of the BYS team. I look forward to helping provide a space where teens and young adults feel like they can show-up as their most authentic selves!

Andrew Lovejoy, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: All the people who you think have everything figured out actually don’t — and that’s OK! Also, people like you more than you think they do.
Favorite quote: “Hard times ain’t gonna rule my mind no more.” – Gillian Welch
What makes me happy to be alive: My wonderful kids; great music; playing and coaching Ultimate; learning and getting better at cool stuff, and helping others to do the same.

I grew up on Bainbridge Island and attended Bainbridge High School. My path led me to two rewarding passions: music, and coaching the sport of Ultimate frisbee. Along with the pursuit of these passions came challenges, including a lot of work on my own mental health. From a desire to build on the skills of coaching, I decided to pursue education in mental health counseling along with sports and performance psychology. I am so excited and grateful to be able to put these skills to work at Bainbridge Youth Services!

Maggie Hemphill, Therapist

Advice for my teenage self: You don’t have to do it alone. Find your people. Do what you love, and not what you think others want you to do. Be yourself, because that is enough!

Favorite quote: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? … Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine… And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” ― Marianne Williamson

What makes me happy to be alive: Dancing, karaoke, good food & good friends, laughing so hard that you cry, traveling to new places and old places, and getting front row seats to watch my kids grow up.

Maggie grew up in the PNW and attended Bainbridge High School where she met her future husband (so watch out who you sit next to in 9th grade English!). She attended Western Washington University where she studied Ancient Near Eastern History and Psychology. Then after a solid 10+ years of stay-at-home mothering her three kids, she decided to go back to school and do what she is built to do: sit with others in the midst of hard places. 

Maggie joined BYS as a counseling intern in September 2024 as a part of her Master’s in Counseling from the Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. I am excited to be part of an amazing team that serves the youth of the community I grew up in!