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, while simultaneously starting his own North Portland practice.
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. His group and individual work at OCC 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, Licensed Professional Counselor
Professional History
After earning her graduate degree in 1997, Diana Groener, MA, LPC, 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.
In addition to her work at Oregon Center for Change and at Allies for Change, Ms. Groener operates her own general practice office, “A Work in Progress,” where she provides counseling for individuals and couples on issues related to sexuality and intimacy. In 2016 Ms. Groener joined OCC; she facilitates three treatment groups.
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, LPC, earned her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, Santa Barbara, in 1997. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (#C3156) by the Oregon Board of Licensed Professional Counselors and Therapists and is a Certified Clinical Therapist (#STB-T-10187573) by the Oregon Sex Offender Treatment Board.
Daniel Ward, MA, CSOTI
Professional History
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 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 community 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 most-effective/least-restrictive available treatment options.
Mr. Ward fully shifted to program leadership when he founded two non-profit organizations to provide community-based residential psychiatric care to individuals who would otherwise be hospitalized. Soon thereafter, Mr. Ward designed, secured funding, built, and for seven years operated Michigan’s first free-standing 24-hour psychiatric emergency service. His innovative program has been successfully replicated in Bexar County, Texas; Alameda County, California (where it is called the “Alameda Model”); and the National Heath Service in the U.K. (Recently in Portland, Legacy Hospital attempted to replicate his program design by building their “Unity Center” treatment facility.)
Mr. Ward was later recruited to design and implement the mental health emergency system for the State of Colorado. After Mr. Ward’s success in Colorado, Oregon’s Governor Kitzhaber appointed him director of alcohol and drug policy. In that role, he re-focused the state away from its archaic Drug-War-era “prevention” efforts to evidence-based harm-reduction and treatment.
Mr. Ward, who is a co-owner of Oregon Center for Change, handles “back office” operations. He also has worked as a substitute group facilitator to enable other OCC professionals to take time off.
Professional Credentials
Mr. Ward 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. He is a Certified Sexual Offense Therapist Intern (IN-10209224) at Oregon Center for Change under the license and supervision of Jane Ward, PhD.
Graduate Student Interns
Every year, Oregon Center for Change takes in two, sometimes three, psychology graduate students from George Fox University and Pacific University for practical “real world” training as part of their academic programs. Working under close professional supervision, these advanced students, many of whom have earned their master’s degree before joining us, spend a year assisting in group and individual treatment sessions and honing their clinical evaluation and forensic writing skills. We hope to encourage new psychologists to build their skills and interest in joining us in this profession.