Dara Kruman, LCSW-C, Mental Health Therapist

Since Dara was a kid, she was interested in helping other kids around the world. She also wanted to build a circus. The circus didn’t ever materialize, but she did become a social worker. Dara completed her master’s in social work with a concentration with children, youth, and families at Boston College in 2014. She interned doing community work in a family center in Boston, and then at a community health center for children. After moving to Montgomery County, she has worked with several agencies, including Linkages to Learning, Worksource Montgomery, CCI community Health and Wellness in Silver Spring. She loves working as a part of a team to help support families in their recovery, and believes in the importance of addressing systemic needs surrounding the family. She loves what she does, but knows she can’t do it alone!

While her primary work is here in the county, she has done volunteer work with in Ecuador, Greece, and Thailand, and helped to adapt a parent-child play curriculum into Spanish for families from Guatemala. Much of her work as a therapist has also been with Spanish-speaking families from Latin America, as well as refugees from around the world in the US using translation. She believes that learning from people around the world has enriched her life, and that she has to keep learning. She is grateful to have joined Tree House and to be able to work with children to help them heal.

Sarah Abbott, LMSW, Transitional Trauma Therapist

After growing up in Montgomery County, Ms. Abbott went north and graduated with a Bachelor’s in Human Services, and a minor in Sociology, from Geneva College outside of Pittsburgh, PA. She went back to school later and graduated with a Master’s in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore with a clinical focus in behavioral health. Ms. Abbott is currently a licensed Social Worker in the state of Maryland. Ms. Abbott’s experience ranges from working with adults diagnosed with mental health disorders within the Housing Opportunities Commission to working with children with severe behavioral disorders and mental health diagnoses in the school setting. She joined The Tree House in 2019, working with Transitional Trauma Therapy Program, providing therapy for children who face the trauma of being moved out of their home and into foster and kinship care.

When asked why she decided to work at The Tree House she said,

“Having been assisted by the social services community as a child I love giving back and helping the new generations of children…. But let’s be honest when they told me that their main fundraising events was centered around cookies, and being a baker myself, I was sold.”

 

 

Linda Kim, LMSW, Transitional Trauma Therapist 

Linda is a Licensed Social Worker who earned her Masters in Social Work from Fordham University with a clinical focus on children, youth and families. Linda’s experience serving diverse populations includes providing case management to families facing homelessness, engaging in support groups with women transitioning out of incarceration, and providing crisis response services. During her grad-school practicum at Community Crisis Services Inc., Linda provided suicide prevention, crisis intervention, and counseling services to individuals seeking assistance on 12 national and local lines, in addition to documenting Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services reports for PG County.

Linda has worked and served with children in many environments. Through volunteering and working in Early Childhood Education, Linda has gained extensive knowledge about early childhood development. As a volunteer, Linda led weekly activities with children living in the Patrick Henry Homeless Shelter, engaged in crafts and packing backpacks with children in Nicaragua, and helped to raise funds for teen parents with Generation Hope.

When asked why she wanted to work at The Tree House she said:

"For a while now, I have known that helping children who have experienced trauma is what I most want to do with my life. Children are amazing and bring so much life into the room. I want to do whatever I can to help keep them safe and let them know that they matter."  

 

 

 

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