Heartland Rural Counseling Services Inc.

09/01/2026

💙 From all of us at Heartland Rural Counseling Services, THANK YOU! 💙

We are incredibly humbled and grateful to receive a $25,000 grant from the John and Joyce Hansen Family Donor Advised Fund through the Thomas County Community Foundation (TCCF).

This gift means so much more than a dollar amount. It means that someone who is struggling with their mental health but doesn’t have insurance—or doesn’t have the financial resources to access care—can still have a place to turn.

A portion of this funding will also allow our therapists to pursue specialty trainings, helping us grow our knowledge and bring additional evidence-based and specialized services back to the people we serve. Investing in our therapists means investing directly in the individuals, families, and communities we have the privilege of walking alongside.

As a rural mental health agency, we see every day how difficult it can be for people to access the care they need. This generous support helps remove one more barrier.

Thank you for helping us make sure that financial circumstances don’t have to determine whether someone gets the mental health care they need. We are honored to put this gift to work and make a difference, one person at a time. 💙

02/05/2026

What is the DANGER ASSESSMENT? READ this post to find out and then share away to help educate others. As a non-profit organization, raising awareness and educating the local communities is important to us here at Heartland! 🌻💜

Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, MSN, BSN, RN, FAAN is currently a professor at John Hopkins University School of Nursing.
-Early in her career she worked at an inner-city high school in Ohio where she was working with students of color and lower socioeconomic status. When looking at the mortality tables to see what the biggest health problem was for these young women, she saw that the number one cause of death for black women 18-25 at the time was homicide. A couple years later a former student of hers, that had a baby in high school, had been murdered by her boyfriend and father of the baby.
-Intimate partner homicide became the focus of her career and thesis topic. There were already tools designed to measure risk of domestic violence reoccurrence, but Dr. Campbell wanted a way to determine which abused women were at risk for losing their lives. Most adults don’t like being told how to interpret their own lived events, so Dr. Campbell created a tool for women to see for THEMSELVES how much risk they face. The DANGER ASSESSMENT was created and eventually funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to be validated through an 11 city study.

“The Danger Assessment helps to determine the level of danger an abused woman has of being killed by her intimate partner.”
-There is a scoring algorithm that can be used to calculate four levels of danger: variable, increased, severe and extreme.
-NOW, The Danger Assessment is used in 48 states and nine foreign countries. There’s also now a modified version for LAW ENFORCEMENT to be trained on to utilize ON-SCENE to identify victims at the highest risk of intimate partner homicide (IPH) and near-lethal assault. This helps with safety planning. -Ellis County, KS law enforcement (police and sheriff) has officers that are trained to utilize this lethality assessment! ✅💪🏻

If or when law enforcement doesn’t or can’t properly enforce protection orders, no contact orders or restraining orders it increases lethality (risk) for victims. The offender/batterer/perpetrator of domestic violence will likely start to feel more brazen or that they’re “getting away with” or pulling one over on the law enforcement professionals - becoming more bold in their abuse tactics. Their behavior becoming more erratic and dangerous. Proper response to DV incidents and utilization of tools like The Danger Assessnent help victim and community safety. Community advocates, courts, and criminal justice staff members working together and communicating effectively is the best way to keep communities and victims safe.

-Most women are at more risk when they’ve left or are in the process of leaving their intimate partner.
-On average, 3 incidents are reported before offenders are charged with domestic violence.
-Up to 60% of perpetrators of intimate partner violence also abuse their children.
-Every 44 minutes another child witnesses domestic violence
-The most common sentence for domestic violence is probation
-Anger Management, Couple’s Counseling, Religious events/gatherings do NOT properly address domestic violence offender behavior (They’re all helpful and have their place, but don’t address root causes of battering behavior)

SOURCES:
American Journal of Nursing
Arizona gov
Lippincott Nursing Center
Soul Works Therapy and Wellness
VAWnet

Heartland Rural Counseling Services Inc. has a staff member certified in Dr. Jacquelyn Campbell’s Danger Assessment Tool💜 and that has extensive training working with domestic violence batterers and incarcerated individuals.

02/05/2026

Karen has a *few* spots on her therapy caseload to fill! Share, share, share away. 💕 Let’s help Karen touch the lives of others in a positive, uplifting way.

Karen brings 18 years of experience as a Licensed Master Social Worker, with a background in in-home family therapy and school-based social work practice. For 16 years, Karen served as a School Social Worker in Northwest Kansas, with the past 9 years in Colby Public Schools. In this role, she provided counseling, behavior consultation, and a wide range of supports for students, families, and staff.

Karen works with clients of ALL ages, but does have a particular interest in children and the student aged population.
She works with all people on a variety of concerns such as chronic stress, life transitions, anxiety, depression, trauma, parenting challenges, school-related issues, and grief. With deep roots in the community, she is excited to continue serving the people of Colby and the surrounding areas, offering compassionate, evidence-based care to individuals, families, and children.

If you are interested in services with Karen you can reach out to her by phone or email:

785-269-7635 (call or text)
[email protected]

12/10/2025

The amount of respect that I hold for these women and the outstanding service that they offer to greater northwest Kansas is unreal.
It was an honor to celebrate you all and the spouses that make this work possible!

Huge shout out to Wahlmeier Farms and Night Train! You made the night memorable 🎄

11/27/2025

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

11/06/2025

It’s Dana’s birthday today and please help us in celebrating her!! Happiest of birthdays to you💚

10/10/2025

10/08/2025

Happy Birthday to our fearless director, Mandy Lanning!! We hope your birthday is as fabulous as you!! 💝

09/19/2025

Heartland Rural Counseling Services is excited to introduce our newest therapist Jalyn Shaw.

Jalyn Shaw is a Licensed Master’s Level Social Worker (LMSW) who provides part-time telehealth services at Heartland Rural Counseling. She will soon be a Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker (LSCSW).

Jalyn earned her bachelor’s degree in 2019 and her master’s degree in 2021, both in social work, and both from Fort Hays State University. Throughout her time as a social work student and professional, Jalyn has worked across a variety of settings, including domestic violence prevention, child welfare, adoption, schools, trauma groups, hospitals, and clinics. She has experience providing counseling to a diverse range of populations, including groups, families, couples, adults, adolescents, and children.

She is nearing completion of her requirements to become a Registered Play Therapist (RPT), having completed extensive training in play therapy and theraplay. In addition, Jalyn has completed all three levels of the Art of Facilitation through the Family Peace Initiative, a program designed to support trauma processing in groups.

Jalyn offers services to anyone of any age, but feels most trained to work with children, adolescents, and families. She is also a strong Christian, and has a passion for providing Christian counseling, which she hopes to continue her training in.

“The world can be a tough and challenging place, and often times it throws more at you than you think you can handle, but I believe that nobody should face life’s difficult challenges alone. What I love most about being a therapist is getting to listen, support, and watch people as they create positive changes in their lives that they may have thought impossible at times. It’s amazing to see people find hope and realize how strong they really are.”

If you are interested in booking services with Jalyn, please reach out via phone or email:

Phone: 785-269-1564
Email: [email protected]

09/08/2025

HOCO!! We love supporting our 🦅’s!!