Lori Vigesaa, MS, LPCC, NCC, CI/CT
Lori Vigesaa is the Clinical Supervisor of the Deaf/Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind Program and is a Mental Health Professional at TSA. She is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) having received her master’s degree in Counseling and Student Affairs from Minnesota State University Moorhead. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in English from Ashford University in Clinton, Iowa and attended the Sign Language Interpreting Program at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs, IA prior to that. Lori was born into a Deaf-parented family and is a heritage language user of American Sign Language, which is her first language.
Before coming to work at TSA, Lori worked with college-aged students in the Drug and Alcohol Prevention Program at Minnesota State Community and Technical College – Moorhead where she developed a strategic plan for the college to support students attending the campus to choose healthier lifestyles and to have early alert systems to find students that may be at risk or struggling with mental health and/or addiction issues. Lori also worked in the counseling centers at two colleges providing assessments and therapeutic services to students who attended the campuses. Prior to that, Lori worked as a sign language interpreter holding certification as both a nationally certified interpreter (CI) and a nationally certified transliterator (CT). She worked in the educational system for thirteen years then left to specialize in the field of legal and mental health interpreting.
Lori has been trained as a generalist with special interest in working with the Deaf/Hard of Hearing and DeafBlind population. She has spent a great deal of study in the areas of Language Deprivation and Toxic Stress as it relates to hearing loss. Lori has extensive training in DC 0-5 Assessment and Intervention, TheraPlay Interventions, and EMDR for the treatment of trauma related disorders. Lori has a passion in working with children, families, couples, and individuals as they address life’s challenges and barriers relating to hearing loss, language deprivation, cultural differences, and identity development. Her focus is on developing positive mental wellness, awareness of self, and resiliency.
