Thomas Swafford, MA, Director of Operations
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, LPC, Clinical Director
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 in Change, a Portland-area treatment program specializing in preventing domestic violence by providing high quality treatment for perpetrators. For 13 years, she 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, provided individual therapy, 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 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. Ms. Groener is a Licensed Professional Counselor (Oregon License #9849). She has advanced certification in the Hare Psychopathology Checklist-Revised (PCL-R). She is also certified by the State of Oregon as a Certified Clinical Sex Offense Therapist (STB-T-10187573).
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 a 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.
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.