Janna McMasters
LPC-S | Director & Owner
Janna McMasters is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a supervisor for provisional licensed professional counselors. Janna earned a Bachelor’s of Music Education from Dallas Baptist University in 2014 and a Masters of Arts in Counseling with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2019. God called Janna out of Music Education and into ministry as a Christian Counselor in 2015. She has a heart to help people who are hurting and looking for relief, change, and hope.
Janna has been trained as a TBRI (Trust-Based Relational Interventions) Practitioner from Texas Christian University. She is certified in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Janna has been trained in a wide variety of other therapies as well including CBT, Brief Solution-focused, Structural Dissociation, and Family Systems. She works with adults, children, couples, foster, and adoptive families, and adolescents dealing with trauma, dissociative disorders, anxiety, depression, and a variety of other issues.
Outside of being a therapist, Janna loves being a wife to Joe and mom to Malakai. She also enjoys music, watching football, and playing sudoku.
Bethany Jordan
LPC
Bethany Jordan is a Licensed Professional Counselor devoted to help her clients through every situation they are in. She graduated with her Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Louisiana at Monroe. Bethany has worked in the private practice setting for the past 5 years. She has seen a wide variety of clients over her professional career, including children, individuals, couples, and families. The areas of concerns that she is familiar with are: depression, anxiety, relationship issues, marital, abuse, postpartum depression, trauma, self esteem issues, and identity disorders.
Bethany desires to help all clients heal from the past, thrive in the present, and be excited for the future. By taking a collaborative standpoint, she works with each client to determine their goals and how to best incorporate their values, morals, and/or beliefs. She identifies most with a Narrative approach to therapy and heavily believes that each person’s story is completely unique to them, therefore their therapy journey should be just as unique. She also specializes in EMDR therapy, which is a trauma based type of therapy that targets specific negative beliefs a client may have about themselves. It is a great tool to help overcome a number of difficulties a client may have.
Outside of being a therapist, Bethany is a wife and mother. Her favorite things to do are spend time with her family or cozy up with a good book or show.
Ron Cathey
LMFT-S, LPC-S, CCC
Ron Cathey is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and supervisor (LMFT-S), a Licensed Professional Counselor and supervisor (LPC-S), and a Certified Career Counselor (CCC). Ron earned a Bachelor of Arts from LA Tech and a Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Louisiana Monroe. Ron worked in ministry serving in a variety of capacities for before beginning his journey in counseling. He has spent the last 30 years serving God as a marriage and family therapist in north Louisiana and as Director of Counseling & Career Services at LA Tech for the last 24 years before joining us here at Transforming Lives Counseling.
Ron’s work with clients includes couples and family relationships / communication, helping students in adolescence and college adjustment and make changes, making the Christian life principles practical, and helping individuals to understand what a meaningful life through work looks like for them. According to Ron, the foundation of all that he does is to help his clients understand all these issues through working to build and live from a biblical worldview.
Outside of being a therapist, Ron serves his local church, is a year-round Connect Volunteer for Samaritan’s Purse, and teaches career and life planning courses. He supervises provisionally licensed marriage and family therapist and professional counselors for the Louisiana Counseling Board of Examiners.
Norman Rivera
LPC
Norman Rivera is a Licensed Professional Counselor with more than two decades of experience serving students and families in educational and clinical settings. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of New Orleans and began his graduate-level studies at the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary before continuing at the University of New Orleans. During this time, Norman gained valuable clinical experience working in the Department of Psychiatry at Ochsner Clinic, as well as with the Council on Alcohol & Drug Abuse and River Oaks Psychiatric Hospital in various capacities.
In 2003, Norman began his career in school counseling as a member of the counseling department at Jesuit High School in New Orleans. Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Norman and his family relocated to Ruston, Louisiana. In 2007, he joined the staff of A. E. Phillips Laboratory School as a School Counselor and went on to complete his Master of Arts in Counseling at Louisiana Tech University in 2008. Norman continues to serve the A. E. Phillips community as a dedicated school counselor.
Outside of being a therapist, Norman enjoys spending time with his wonderful family. He has been married to his wife, Annie, since 1993, and together they have raised four children: Kailee, Daniel, Gabriel, and Joseph.
Lauren Dollar
PLPC
Lauren Dollar is a Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor. She earned her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling at Liberty University. Lauren began as a student intern at Transforming Lives Counseling and has continued once becoming licensed. Lauren works with individuals navigating significant life changes, whether they are sudden, traumatic, or deeply personal.
Lauren is especially passionate about supporting clients experiencing anxiety, depression, and self-esteem challenges. As someone living with Type One Diabetes, Lauren brings both insight and personal understanding to her. Lauren is EMDR trained and uses a focus of CBT, IFS, EMDR, and person-centered therapy mostly in sessions with clients.
Outside of being a therapist, Lauren enjoys spending time with her two dogs, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and a Maltese. Her favorite things to do when she has time are curling up with her Kindle, baking, or taking her dogs to the park.
Joe McMasters
Co-Owner
Joe McMasters is a co-owner of Transforming Lives Counseling and a Provisional Licensed Professional Counselor working at Amy Butler Counseling. He sees clients in both the Minden and Ruston areas. Joe earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in 2014 and a Master of Arts in Counseling with a specialization in Marriage and Family Therapy from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in 2022. Joe works from a Christian worldview and views the counseling process holistically. He desires for his clients to heal emotionally, physically, and spiritually.
Joe utilizes a wide variety of approaches and techniques from therapy models such as Cognitive/Behavioral, Solution Focused, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). He has experience in working with couples, individuals, and groups, dealing with a wide range of therapeutic issues including Trauma, Anxiety, Depression, Communication Issues, Emotional Regulation and Intelligence Work, and Sexual Addiction. He is also certified in PrepareEnrich for pre-marital and marital couples.
Outside of being a therapist, Joe is father to Malakai and husband to Janna McMasters and loves spending his time with them.
*If you would like to schedule a session with Joe through Amy Butler Counseling in Ruston, please contact him at 318.239.1899.
