McEnroe, who grew up in northwest Iowa and now lives in Algona, has worked as a therapist in the Fort Dodge Catholic Charities office since 2018. Previously, she had worked as a therapist for Catholic Charities in Sioux City from 1991 to 1999. She has also worked for Lutheran Social Services and had her own private practice in Algona.

McEnroe is a board-certified licensed master social worker and national-certified counselor with more than 25 years of experience.

She said it’s been a joy to work in the Fort Dodge office.

“This is a great agency to work for,” McEnroe said. “I came back a second time because of it.”

McEnroe noted that she has had supervisory positions within Catholic Charities in the past, so this isn’t an entirely new role for her.

“Darla has strong clinical skills, compassion and ability to collaboratively problem solve,” said Amy Bloch, executive director for Catholic Charities of the Sioux City Diocese. “She is the perfect person to lead the work of Catholic Charities in Fort Dodge.”

In addition to her job as supervisor, McEnroe will continue to provide therapy services.

“About 80% of my job is still therapy,” she said. “The other 20% would be hiring staff and running the day-to-day operations of the office, providing supervision and support for the staff.”

In addition to McEnroe, there is another board-certified therapist and an office manager currently working at Catholic Charities Fort Dodge. McEnroe said the office is currently looking to hire another therapist, and eventually add more therapists on staff in order to better serve Fort Dodge and the surrounding community.

The staff at Catholic Charities Fort Dodge are all licensed mental health therapists and social workers with master’s-level licenses and training in evidence-based therapies, McEnroe said.

McEnroe herself is trained in trauma-informed care and is currently being trained to be able to provide eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, a specialized treatment for trauma, abuse and PTSD.

“EMDR is a trauma technique that is really effective,” McEnroe said. “It’s about eye movement. The main thing is that you’re getting your right and your left brain to talk to each other so that some of the bad memories and traumas can move on and not just be stuck in one part of your brain.”

Catholic Charities also offers play therapy for children, marital therapy and individual therapy for adults and children.

“We serve people of all faiths and ages,” McEnroe said. “I think sometimes people have the wrong idea about that, that we’re just here for Catholics, and that’s not the case.”

Catholic Charities also does not turn anyone away, regardless of their ability to pay. For those without insurance, the agency offers a sliding-fee scale based on family income.

“Our mission at Catholic Charities is to offer hope, healing and understanding and that’s really what we do, that’s counseling,” McEnroe said. “We’re trying to understand where people are coming from, offer them hope that things can get better and there’s all these things we can do to help you heal.”

Catholic Charities has been in Fort Dodge since 1959.

“It’s been in the community for a long time, and we plan on being here for the future,” McEnroe said. “We’re here for you guys; we’re here for Fort Dodge.”

The Fort Dodge office, located at 3 N. 17th St., is open for appointments on Mondays from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Tuesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesdays from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.