Ascend Kids and Teens Staff

Malia McDermott, Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

Malia completed her Master’s of Marriage and Family Therapy at Northcentral University, a COAMFTE accredited school. In 2018, Malia worked with children as a clinician for Catholic Community Services of Western Washington. She enjoys working with families and helping them with relational issues. Malia has the most experience with anxiety, depression, addiction, and ADHD. Using Play Therapy techniques that are client-directed and systemically focused, she enjoys communicating in the child’s own language.

Malia has a passion for helping others and is involved with serving her community in many ways. She has enjoyed coaching high school and travel volleyball teams for the past 20 years. Malia is married with two children. Together, they enjoy anything sports related – especially our Seahawks football. She and her family relocated from the Seattle area in 2019 and are excited to have put down roots in Hurricane!

Areas of Interest Include:  Play Therapy, Anxiety & Depression, Addiction Issues, Trauma & Grief.

Hillary Jones, Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Hillary completed her Master’s of Social Work at Simmons College in Boston, MA. She has been a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Ohio since 2014 and is excited to continue her practice here in Utah. During her graduate studies she specialized in trauma and interpersonal violence and also completed advanced training in group therapy. She takes a special interest in working with youth and young adults. Hillary’s areas of interest include trauma, anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, ADHD, attachment, betrayal, relational conflict, and more.

Hillary is also a mother to four young boys, an adoptive mother, and a former foster mom. She enjoys all things outdoors and is loving the incredible nature of St. George and surrounding areas. When she is not working or “moming” you can find her hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, playing pickleball, or off on a travel adventure.

Julie Bleak, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

  Julie grew up in St. George and spent most of her adult life in different parts of the country including the San Francisco Bay area, the greater Boston area, and the Research Triangle area of North Carolina.  Julie graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor’s degree in Human Development.  She received her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Utah Tech University.

She has experience with child therapy, adolescents, families, residential treatment, domestic violence, adoption, sexual abuse, betrayal trauma, depression, anxiety, and complex trauma. Her therapeutic areas of interest include attachment based therapy, emotion-focused therapy, treating developmental trauma and attachment issues, expressive art therapy, sandtray, and many play therapy modalities.  She is under the supervision of a Registered Play Therapist-Supervisor. She is passionate about learning different modalities so that the treatment is just right for the client heal.

Julie is the mother of 6 children. She loves music, to be in nature, try new recipes, and be with her grandchildren.

Melissa Larson, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

Melissa completed her Master’s of Marriage and Family Therapy at Capella University, a COAMFTE accredited school. During her graduate studies, Melissa worked as a clinician at a local adolescent residential treatment home specializing in trauma, attachment issues, relational conflict, behavioral problems, and substance abuse. Melissa strives to provide a comfortable, safe, and secure space where clients can feel cared for and empowered while learning skills to help build their self-confidence and increase their emotional well-being. She has absolutely loved watching the transformation that comes for her clients as they work hard on learning how to accept their emotions, work through their struggles, and learn to trust and accept themselves. Melissa’s areas of interest include Anxiety, Depression, Low self-esteem, relational conflict, parenting struggles, and behavioral issues.

Melissa is the mother of seven children and a grandmother of 2 beautiful grandsons. She has been married to her sweetheart for over 25 years. In her “spare time” she loves to exercise, spend time in the sunshine, and enjoys a good bubble bath every now and then.

Jessica Green, Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

Jessica began working with children and teens as a guitar and ukulele instructor while attending SUU in Cedar City, Utah. During that time she had the opportunity to work with elementary and high school kids in Tonga through SUU. After completing her bachelors Jessica moved to Nashville, TN and worked for Green Hills Child Development as a teacher assistant focusing on ages 1-6. In 2019 she started her Master’s in Marriage and Family Therapy at Abilene Christian University and began interning for Family Services where she helped individuals, and families cope with anxiety and depression. In 2022 Jessica moved back to Utah and finished her internship at a residential treatment program for adopted teens at Three Point Center in Hurricane, Utah. Jessica helped these teens work through trauma and childhood attachment injuries in group therapy. Her personal experiences have led her to understand the value of therapy and healing, and the importance of early intervention with children and teens.