Toni Halgas is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (2008). She received her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Indiana University (1982), Certification in Learning Disabilities from Purdue University (1988) and Master of Social Work from Indiana University (2004).
Education is important to Toni. Before becoming a Social Worker, Toni taught for 16 years from inner city Los Angeles to Prague, Czech Republic. After earning her MSW, Toni was an Associate Professor of Social Work at St. Joseph’s College in Rensselaer for five years and remains an adjunct professor of Social Work in the MSW program at IUN.
While at St. Joe’s she began working at Jasper County Hospital Home Health Care and Hospice as a social worker gaining skills in working with families in crisis, grief and loss, poverty, and supporting medical staff in high-stress positions. She moved into a therapist role with Franciscan Alliance’s Employee Assistance Program in 2017.
She deepened a passion for serving those who serve by running a Hospitality House/Counseling Center for international relief workers in Khao Lak, Thailand, after the tsunami. Returning to Indiana, she received specialized training in crisis debriefing and was a member of District 1 Critical Incident Stress Management Team and the District 1 Mental Health Team. Toni was trained in EMDR, a trauma treatment in 2018 and uses it frequently in her practice.