Jane Ward, PhD, Forensic and Clinical Psychologist
Professional History
Jane Ward, PhD, earned her doctorate at Seattle Pacific University, an APA-accredited graduate program in Seattle, Washington. She completed undergraduate and master’s degree studies in Michigan at Calvin College, Aquinas College, and Western Michigan University.
Prior to earning her doctorate, Dr. Ward worked for 23 years with children, adolescents, and adults in residential and outpatient settings. Her doctoral training included a practicum at a community mental health outpatient clinic in Washington, and an APICC-accredited internship (residency) at Twin Cities Behavioral Health/BroMenn Hospital in Normal, Illinois. She has extensive experience treating individuals with mental health disorders, substance use disorders, and relationship issues.
After completing her doctoral work, Dr. Ward worked for five years at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, a state facility for civilly-committed adult male sex offenders. Upon moving to the Portland, Oregon area, she worked for five years at a private outpatient clinic that provided treatment for adult male sex offenders. Dr. Ward also contracted with the Oregon Department of Corrections system to conduct psychological assessments on newly-incarcerated inmates. She opened Oregon Center for Change in March of 2016.
Dr. Ward has presented workshops regarding ethical issues, high-risk clients, and sex offender treatment at the international Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA), Oregon Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (OATSA), Massachusetts Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (MASOC/MATSA), and at the Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH). She has published articles for The Forum Newsletter and The Oregon Psychologist: Bulletin of the Oregon Psychological Association. She has provided training to probation and parole officers on the use of phallometry in sex offender treatment. She is the co-author, with OCC’s Diana Groener, of Lattices™: An Integrated Treatment Approach for High-Risk Forensic Clients.
Professional Credentials
Dr. Ward is a licensed psychologist in Oregon (#2163). She has advanced certification in the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). She has advanced training in treatment of sexual addiction through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals. She is licensed through the State of Oregon as a Certified Clinical Sex Offender Therapist (STB-T-10146839).
Dr. Ward holds clinical memberships in:
- American Psychological Association
- Oregon Psychological Association
- Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers
- Oregon Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers
- Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health
Thomas Swafford, MA
Professional History
Thomas Swafford, MA, earned his master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Pacifica Graduate School, in Santa Barbara, California. Earlier, he had completed a BA in Psychology with a minor in Sociology at Portland State University. He also earned a Human Resources Management Certification for PSU.
Prior to earning his master’s degree, Mr. Swafford worked for 18 years in the service industry and as a human resources professional. His background includes managing food and beverage services for Portland Metro’s public arts organization, Portland’5, and managing operations at three of Portland’s top-rated restaurants.>
His leadership in service industry management led to a “second career” managing Human Resources, He held positions both in private industry and state government. He consulted with the Oregon Department of Employment/WorkSource, for example, to help that state agency and the Legislature identify opportunities for quality improvement. Later he joined Mentor Graphics as worldwide Program Manager for Learning and Development, where he addressed training needs for 5,200 employees in 26 countries.
Mr. Swafford’s “third career,” in the helping professions, began several years ago when he enrolled for his graduate degree in counseling. Along the way toward that degree, Mr. Swafford counseled students at the National University of Natural Medicine. Upon degree completion, he worked for an established Portland-area psychotherapy office.
Mr. Swafford joined Oregon Center for Change in October, 2021. He has a particular interest in helping men get out of their “man box”—the pervasive pressure to “be tough,” to deny their feelings, to “man up” when facing life’s challenges. He is focused on helping men access their humanity and develop their inner strength for self-reflection and improvement.
Mr. Swafford is also a classically-trained professional singer who performs in several different companies.
Diana Groener, MA
Professional History
After earning her graduate degree in 1997, Diana Groener, MA, began working with survivors of sexual assault at a rape crisis center. She worked with the SART team, supporting survivors through police investigations and medical exams, and worked on the crisis hotline.
Later, Ms. Groener worked for four years with domestic violence offenders at Anger Management Counseling Center in California. She performed intake assessments, worked with individuals and families, and ran groups of court-mandated offenders. Ms. Groener then moved to The Coalition to End Family Violence, where she continued her work with domestic violence offenders for another three years.
In 2006, Ms. Groener joined Allies for Change, a Portland-area treatment program specializing in preventing domestic violence by providing high quality treatment for perpetrators. Over the past 12 years, she has facilitated countless groups, including specialty groups for individuals who voluntarily seek treatment, as well as groups for men who are emotionally vulnerable or criminally oriented. She also facilitated a group that combined domestic violence prevention with parenting skills training.
While continuing her work at Allies in Change, in 2010 Ms. Groener joined (now-defunct) Sunset Psychological and Counseling Services in Portland as a part-time psychotherapist. At that agency, where she led treatment groups, conducted intake assessments, performed penile plethysmograph (PPG) assessments, and provided individual therapy, she developed a deviant arousal re-conditioning protocol and co-designed a program for criminally-oriented clients. She also designed a treatment program that fulfills the Oregon state requirements for both sex offender and domestic violence offender treatment.
Ms. Groener is the co-author, with OCC’s Jane Ward, PhD, of Lattices™: An Integrated Treatment Approach for High-Risk Forensic Clients. Ms. Groener has made numerous professional presentations across the country. Some of the organizations she has presented to include:
- Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA)
- Oregon Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (OATSA)
- Minnesota Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (MnATSA)
- Massachusetts Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (MASOC/MATSA)
- Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health (SASH)
- Oregon Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence (OCADSV)
- North West Association of Domestic Violence Treatment Providers (NWADVTP)
Professional Credentials
Diana Groener, MA, earned her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, Santa Barbara, in 1997.
Holly Fritts, MA, Professional Counselor Associate, CSOTI
Holly Fritts, MA, Professional Counselor Associate, studied at Lewis & Clark College’s Graduate School for Education and Counseling here in Portland, Oregon, earning her Master’s degree in 2024. She earned her BA in Liberal Studies from Portland State University in 2019.
Holly has experience in an variety of mental health and social service settings. During her undergraduate years, she worked as a Personal Support Worker for adults with developmental disabilities, volunteered with youth experiencing homelessness, and completed a term of service with AmeriCorps in school settings.
She worked for several years in Portland-area psychiatric residential treatment programs, first as a Skills Trainer at Trillium Family Services, and then as a Milieu Counselor with Morrison Child & Family Services. These formative experiences in mental health care led her to graduate studies at Lewis & Clark College, where the curriculum strongly emphasizes equity and social justice.
Holly treated clients at the Lewis & Clark Community Counseling Center for her practicum position and then completed her internship at Mt. Hood Hospice in Sandy, Oregon. At the hospice, Holly primarily supported older adults in their healing journey through grief, providing community advocacy and education, therapeutic groups and individual sessions, home visits and ecotherapy-informed walk sessions.
Holly joined Oregon Center for Change in March 2025. She believes our clients are responsible for managing their own behaviors, thoughts, and feelings, and that we all possess our own inner tools for healing. Holly believes in walking alongside her clients to support them in accessing their inner tools and innate wisdom to make important life changes. In her group treatment sessions, she uses methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness, and somatic inquiry.
Outside of her professional work, Holly can be found enjoying art and nature, rock climbing, and riding bikes.
Professional Credentials
Holly Fritts, MA, Professional Counselor Associate, studied at Lewis & Clark College’s Graduate School for Education and Counseling in Portland, Oregon, earning her Master’s Degree in 2024. She also holds a CSOTI designation from the Oregon Sexual Offender Treatment Board.
Daniel Ward, MA
Daniel Ward, MA, earned his Master’s degree in Psychology at the University of West Georgia. His undergraduate degree in Multidisciplinary Social Science is from Michigan State University. Mr. Ward has worked for many years in mental health systems both as a psychologist and as an administrator.
He has also been a founder and CEO of two primary care medical and dental clinics (FQHCs, or “federally-qualified health centers”), a county health department director, a college writing instructor, a high school teacher, an adult felony probation officer, a graphic designer, an advertising copywriter for Dow Chemical, a technical writer for Boeing, and a marketing director for two dot.com start-ups.
Before earning his master’s degree, Mr. Ward worked as a program coordinator in a substance use harm-reduction program and worked as a probation officer with adult felons in Michigan. Upon degree completion and licensing, Mr. Ward worked as a psychologist at a psychiatric hospital, a position that included conducting psychological assessments at four general hospital emergency departments. Following that experience, Mr. Ward was appointed in Michigan as the first mental health Ombudsperson in the United States, advocating for the rights of individuals with mental illness to be served by the least-restrictive available treatment options.
Mr. Ward fully shifted to program leadership when he founded two non-profit organizations to provide community-based residential care to individuals who would otherwise be hospitalized. Soon thereafter, Mr. Ward designed, secured funding, built, and operated Michigan’s first free-standing 24-hour psychiatric emergency service, an innovative, successful program that was recently copied in Portland by the Legacy Hospital Unity Center. Several years later, Mr. Ward was recruited to design and implement the mental health emergency system for the State of Colorado. Mr. Ward later was appointed by Governor Kitzhaber to serve as the Oregon’s director of alcohol and drug policy.
Mr. Ward, who is a co-owner of Oregon Center for Change, handles “back office” operations.
Professional Credentials:
Mr. Ward earned his Master’s degree from the University of West Georgia in 1980. He has had a professional license in Michigan (#6361006386) since 1982. Because the two states do not have a license reciprocity agreement, he is not a licensed psychologist in the State of Oregon, and consequently doesn’t practice psychology in Oregon.
Graduate Students
We and our clients benefit from the presence of our psychology graduate students, who are working toward their doctoral degrees in psychology. Our students are placed with us by their universities for their internship learning experiences. During their year with us, two or three students are closely supervised while they learn by doing—learning advanced assessment skills and putting their therapy training into practice by co-facilitating group treatment sessions. We are grateful to Pacific University of Forest Grove and George Fox University of Newberg for sending their students to us each year.