Our Founder

Meet Our Co-Owners

The compassionate leaders guiding Monarch Counseling, carrying forward a legacy of inclusive, holistic mental health care for Lincoln and beyond.

Jaci Pekarek

Co-Owner - LIMHP

Jaci has been a cornerstone of Monarch Counseling since its earliest days, bringing deep clinical expertise and a genuine passion for helping individuals and families navigate life’s most challenging moments. As a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, Jaci specializes in anxiety, depression, trauma, and mindfulness-based approaches. Her warmth, experience, and commitment to whole-person care have shaped the culture and values of Monarch Counseling.

Melissa Rohrig

Co-Owner - LICSW

Melissa brings exceptional clinical skill and visionary leadership to Monarch Counseling. As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, she is dedicated to expanding access to compassionate, high-quality mental health services across Lincoln and rural Nebraska. Melissa’s leadership has guided Monarch through a period of significant growth, deepening its commitment to serving individuals, couples, and families with the comprehensive, integrative care they deserve.

Jaci Pekarek & Melissa Rohrig, Co-Owners of Monarch Counseling

OUR SHARED MISSION

Leading With Purpose and Heart

Together, Jaci and Melissa lead Monarch Counseling with a shared commitment to creating a practice where every client feels seen, heard, and genuinely supported. Their combined expertise spans individual therapy, couples counseling, trauma care, mindfulness, family systems, and clinical leadership.

Under their co-ownership, Monarch has grown into one of Lincoln’s most trusted counseling practices — recognized for the quality of its therapists, the warmth of its environment, and its dedication to accessible, whole-person care.

WHAT WE STAND FOR

The Values That Guide Monarch Counseling

Monarch is about transformation for individuals and society. Monarch is more than a mere symbol of transformation. Monarch is about the experience of transformational relationships. We are a cooperative of healers who work with courage and integrity to bring peace and empowerment to our community.

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
– Margaret Mead

In the spirit of our founder, Loene Hollis, we are holistic and inclusive. In so being, we apply our values to ourselves, our clients, and our community.

Compassion: (We bring them in - cocoon)

We provide a safe, welcoming space for peace, healing, acceptance, and belonging, where everyone is treated with dignity, respect, and understanding.

Growth: (We do the hard work)

We believe struggle strengthens our capacity to grow. Through a personalized, holistic approach that honors mind, body, spirit, culture, and community, we support healing, resilience, self-care, and continued personal and professional growth.

Connection: (We fly)

We believe in authentic connection, individual freedom, and belonging to something greater. Through holistic healing, health equity, and community support, we serve with collaboration, generosity, and gratitude.

IN MEMORY

Our Founding Story

Loene Annette Hollis

Founder — Monarch Counseling (2010–2019)

Loene's dream was simple and profound: create a mental health community that helps clients access the resources they need and guides them in reaching their goals.

In 2010, Loene Hollis founded Monarch Counseling with a vision of building something truly meaningful for the Lincoln community — a practice rooted in inclusion, compassion, and holistic care, with a special heart for at-risk youth.

After a nearly four-year battle with brain cancer, Loene Annette Hollis passed away on March 7th, 2019. Her spirit, however, lives on — within those who knew her, within the walls of Monarch Counseling, and within the ongoing work of Jaci, Melissa, and every therapist who walks through our doors.

We carry her dream forward every day.