Stockton marriage & family therapist signs on as clinical director of The Soldiers Project/Sacramento

ROSEVILLE – A marriage and family therapist whose diverse career has given her the opportunity to treat patients ranging from 2 years of age to the elderly, as well as domestic violence victims, disabled adults and troubled teenagers, has been named interim clinical director of The Soldiers Project/Sacramento.

Lani B. Stoner of Stockton will head a group of about 45 volunteer therapists who provide free, confidential mental health services to active-duty military and veterans of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan and their loved ones.

In 2013, volunteer therapists for the non-profit Soldiers Project provided services to more than 125 individuals and their family members in a geographical region that encompasses Placer, Sacramento, San Joaquin, El Dorado, Nevada and Yuba counties.

“I feel extremely honored and grateful for the trust and hope The Soldiers Project has placed in me by offering me this position,” Stoner stated. “I plan to do the best I can to help TSP/Sacramento make its services available for those who are serving our country.”

A Connecticut native, Stoner has lived in Stockton for more than 30 years, where she was employed as an adult protective services worker, senior social worker, case manager, mental health clinician and clinical supervisor within the San Joaquin County Department of Human Services. After retirement in 2006, she hung out her shingle and went into private practice. Three years ago she began volunteering her time as a therapist for The Soldiers Project/Sacramento.

Stoner holds a masters degree in counseling psychology from Chapman College and received her life-time California Community College teaching and counseling credentials in 1976 and her license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1993. She and her husband Bill, who is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, have two adult children, Mary and Billy.

“We are thrilled that Lani has agreed to serve as our interim clinical director,” said Becca Bettis, program director for TSP/Sacramento. “Her extensive experience in a variety of treatment settings will enable her to assist and counsel our volunteer therapists when they need guidance in treating their soldier/patients.”

The Soldiers Project/Sacramento, named in 2012 by the White House as one of the nation’s top 20 non-profit military service organizations, offers unlimited services that go beyond those provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs medical system.

For more information about The Soldiers Project/Sacramento and its programs, visit www.tspsacramento.org or visit the Facebook page at www.facebook.com/tspsacramento. To be connected with a therapist, call locally 916-792-3728 or toll-free 877-557-5888 or e-mail Sacramento@TheSoldiersProject.org.