Meet Our BHS Providers
| Erica Szkody
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Ward Walker
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Erica Szkody
Erica Szkody is a Clinical Psychology PhD student working as a psychology intern. She received her master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Mississippi State University and originally hails from a small town in Michigan.
Her research is focused on explaining why supportive messages may or may not be not perceived by the recipient as supportive. She enjoys using her research and clinical experience to help individuals form and maintain healthy social relationships (e.g., with friends, family, and significant others).
Garrick Fuller
Garrick Fuller is a licensed clinical social worker who has lived in Nome since January of 2015. He received his Master of Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis where he focused on children, youth, and families. He has received post-graduate school training in psychodynamic psychotherapy through the International Psychotherapy Institute’s Combined Child Training, Object Relations Theory and Practice, and Infant Observation programs. He currently guest teaches in the Combined Child Training program and is enrolled in the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Consultation Program. He has extensive experience working with children and their parents. He also enjoys the opportunity to work with anyone looking to make a change in their life. He looks forward to working with people on the root of their struggles that lie below the symptoms they are experiencing.
Ward Walker
Ward Walker is a Licensed Professional Counselor and has lived in Stebbins for seven years. He offers healing talking circles to promote sobriety, and specializes in anger management, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, historical trauma, and grief. Ward enjoys Yupik Dancing, subsistence fishing, woodworking projects, making stained glass, and sailing. He also enjoys his work immensely and is most grateful to be able to serve our communities.
Yuka Ungwiluk
Yuka Ungwiluk is a Village-Based Counselor (VBC) in Gambell. She has been working as a VBC for five years. She is certified as a Behavioral Health Aid II, holds an associate’s degree in Human Services, and is currently working on a bachelor’s in Social Work. She works as a substance use counselor and advocates for people to better mental health services. She enjoys the journey of healing with anyone she encounters. She humbly appreciates the resiliency in each one of us and loves to share the joy of living.
Wendy Osinkosky
Wendy Osinkosky is new to the region, but she spent several years in northwestern Alberta. Most of her years practicing social work have been spent in the rural Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, where she graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University. She is a licensed clinical social worker with 10+ years of experience in a state psychiatric hospital and another 10+ years in other social work roles (medical social work, nonprofit management, and family preservation work).
Her preference in practice is to start where the client is and pick interventions that are solution-focused and strengths-based and that meet the individual needs of the person. And, she says, since people are so different, there’s not just one practice style that fits all. She is a compassionate advocate for people facing mental illness, substance use, and trauma/loss – with special attention to disparities related to race/ethnicity, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
In her free time, you can find Wendy fishing, hiking, gathering sea glass, or on a travel adventure to visit her large extended family that are spread out from Anchorage to Honolulu and throughout the lower 48.
Donna Barr
Donna Barr is a Village-Based Counselor in Shishmaref. She is a life-long resident of Shishmaref and has worked with BHS since 2009. She obtained an associate’s in Human Services in 2016 and is currently working toward her bachelor’s in Social Work. She enjoys hunting, gathering, preparing traditional food, sewing local native attire, hosting big family meals, and spending time with grandchildren.
Donna enjoys volunteering and coordinating community events, youth cultural activities, and facilitating workshops. She says it is important to find ways to positively engage in change within ourselves through self-awareness and skill building.
~My journey of struggles, failures, defeat and the will to succeed are part of the foundation to gain courage; not walk ahead of you, but in strength to walk beside you in the time of need.~
Emma Olanna
Emma Irene Olanna was born in Wales, raised in Nome, and has lived in Brevig Mission for the past 31 years. She has been in the BHS field since 2001. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Social Work in 2012 from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She loves subsistence and gathering food, reading, watching movies, cooking, and baking.
