EXPEDITION LEADER / EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Cherie oversees the implementation of Compass’ Mission Statement and adherence to its driving principles.

HER STORY

After nearly two decades of working with adolescents struggling with depression, suicidal ideation and other disorders, Cherie noticed a disturbing trend. “When I interviewed the young adults on our psych ward who weren’t getting better, I heard the same statements over and over,” she recalls. “It must be me, I must be too broken to be fixed.”

Working closely with hundreds of patients and their families, it became clear to Cherie that recovery depended on developing an effective treatment program before patients started to form their identity. “Before their identity literally became ‘depressed and suicidal’,” she says. “Before they developed a mindset that nothing could help or that they were broken, that was when they needed help the most.” It was with these families in mind that Cherie founded Compass Behavioral Health.

HER TRAINING

• Undergraduate degree from Vanguard University in Cultural Anthropology
• Master’s degree in Marriage, Family, and Child Therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary’s Graduate School of Psychology
• Certification as a Play Therapist from UCSD Extension
• Intensively trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) through Behavioral Tech, DBT treatment developer Dr. Marsha Linehan’s training institute
• Intensively trained in DBT-Prolonged Exposure by treatment developer Dr. Melanie Harned
• Comprehensively Trained as a Family Connections Leader by treatment developer Dr. Alan Fruzzetti
• Intensively trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Eating Disorders (CBT-E) through Oxford’s Center for Research on Eating Disorders
• Intensively trained in Behavioral Activation through Oxford’s Center for Research on Eating Disorders
• Intensively Trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy for Children (DBT-C) by treatment developer Dr. Franscheska Perepletchikova
• Intensively Trained in DBT Family Therapy by treatment developer Dr. Alan Fruzzetti
• Trained in Emotion-Focused Family Therapy by treatment developer Dr. Sue Johnson through Psychwire Training Institute 

HER SUMMITS

• Past Director of the Advisory Board to Orange County Parenting Magazine and a contributing writer
• 1999 nominee for Mental Health Care Professional of the Year for Orange County for her effective treatment outcomes (now titled Thomas F. Riley Award)
• DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified DBT Clinician™

HER TRUE NORTH

An avid mountaineer and globe-trotter, Cherie is on a continuing mission to carry a Compass summit flag to the highest peak on every continent on Earth. Two down, five to go.

Mount Elbrus, the highest point in Europe at 18,511 ft.

SENIOR GUIDE / DIRECTOR OF COMPASS TRAINING INSTITUTE

Compass Behavioral Health is proud to have Dr. Clive Robins as its premier Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) expert and Director of the Compass Training Institute. Dr. Robins provides consultation to Compass on program development, staff training, and treatment assessment. Dr. Robins evaluates Compass treatment plans, and reviews treatment videos for coding and treatment adherence in Compass’s comprehensive DBT Training program. In Dr. Robins’s role as Director of the Compass Training Institute, he oversees the University of California, Irvine Child & Adolescent Psychiatry second year DBT Didactics at Compass Behavioral Health. This comprehensive DBT training involves core didactic lectures on DBT principles, strategies, and protocols.

HIS STORY

Dr. Robins has been a proponent of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) for more than 20 years. In 1993, he completed the first intensive training in dialectical behavior therapy, which was conducted by Dr. Marsha Linehan, the psychologist who created DBT, which combines behavioral science with concepts such as acceptance and mindfulness.

During that same year, Dr. Robins established the DBT program at Duke University Medical Center, which he directed until 2015. In the last two decades Dr. Robins has: provided DBT to many patients, trained and supervised more than 70 psychology interns and postdoctoral fellows, taught graduate-level courses in Psychological Intervention, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and the Psychology of Mindfulness, given more than 25 Grand Rounds and other invited presentations at Universities and Medical Centers, and conducted more than 90 DBT trainings and workshops for mental health professionals. He was also a co-investigator, along with his colleague Cedar Koons, on the first randomized controlled trial of DBT outside Dr. Linehan’s laboratory, and published in 2001.

HIS TRAINING

• Masters degree in Experimental Psychology from the University of Sussex graduate school at Stanford University
• Doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology, State University of New York at Stony Brook

HIS SUMMITS

• Faculty member, New York University
• Faculty member, Duke University
• Professor Emeritus, Duke University, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Professor Emeritus, Duke University, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
• Certified in Cognitive and Behavioral Psychology by the American Board of Professional Psychology
• Licensed Psychologist, North Carolina, License No. 1421
• Founding Fellow in the Academy of Cognitive Therapy
• Served as Associate Editor and on the editorial boards of several scientific and professional journals
• More than 80 published articles and book chapters on depression, borderline personality disorder, and cognitive-behavioral and dialectical behavior therapies
• Recipient of research grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health
• Behavioral Tech DBT Expert Trainer
• DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified Clinician™

HIS TRUE NORTH

Clive had the privilege of seeing Jimi Hendrix perform live in 1967 and playing guitar has been a passion ever since. Self-taught as a rock guitarist, he is now (slowly!) learning to play jazz.

SENIOR GUIDE/COMPASS RTC MEDICAL DIRECTOR

In Dr. Nicole’s role as Medical Director of the Compass Residential Treatment Program (RTC), The Farmhouse, she oversees the medication management and overall psychiatric treatment of residents.  Dr. Nicole works closely with the Compass Chef to develop nutritional psychiatry informed menu programming, utilizing food as a source of mood stabilization, improving focus, and enhancing overall well-being and health.

HER STORY

Early in her training in medicine, Dr. Nicole realized quickly that health is far from black and white, and medicine is often looked at from the standpoint of disease and what is wrong, rather than searching for optimal health. It was through her intensive training that Dr. Nicole found medications far from enough to help those struggling with their mental health. By integrating therapy, self-discovery, mindfulness, nutrition, exercise and sometimes medications, we can live an emboldened life to the fullest.

At Compass Behavioral Health, Dr. Nicole found a community of providers that embodied these values of wellness where a life worth living can be realized.

• Undergraduate degree from University of California, Irvine in Psychology and Social Behavior
• Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from Western University of Health Sciences, College of Osteopathic Medicine (WesternU)
• Completed a Post-Doctoral Teaching Fellowship in medical school at WesternU
• General Psychiatry Residency at Kaiser Permanente, Fontana
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at University of California, Irvine
• Trained in infant, child and adolescent psychoanalytic psychotherapy at Newport Psychoanalytic Institute
• Trained in Mentalization Based Treatments with Children and Young People at the Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
• Certifications in Integrative and in Nutritional Psychiatry from Integrative Psychiatry Institute

HER SUMMITS

• Fitness instructor at LA Fitness
• President of MBLDN Psych and Wellness

HER TRUE NORTH

Dr. Nicole loves spending time with her family and two shih-tzus, Honey and James. Though while with her family, she will often be spotted making amigurumi with crochet or learning new crafts.

LEAD GUIDE / ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COMPASS TRAINING INSTITUTE / CLINICAL SUPERVISOR / DBT PROGRAM CLINICIAN

Within Marissa’s role as Associate Director of Compass Training institute, Marissa serves as the Clinical Supervisor for Columbia University’s Master of Social Work graduates. Additionally, Marissa is responsible for teaching didactics and DBT Skills Training to UCI’s Psychiatry Fellows and the community, providing supervision and ensuring adherence to DBT, and managing Continuing Education. Marissa works closely with Compass’ Research Director to identify training needs and to ensure clinical excellence. She provides both in-house training and external trainings. Additionally, she facilitates meet and greets with families interested in Compass to identify goodness of fit and to provide an overview of the program.

Additionally, Marissa facilitates a clinical caseload, providing individual and family therapy, leading DBT Skills Training groups, phone coaching and attends weekly team consultation meetings. A team of coding and therapy adherent professionals review her treatment plans and clinical videos and she receives expert consultation from Dr. Clive Robbins, DBT Training Director at Duke University and Compass Training Institute.

HER STORY

Marissa started her master’s in Social Work at Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW) in 2012. She served as a Student Ambassador, working with prospective students and Alumni. It was here that Marissa gained interest in research and participated in research under Dr. Allen Zweben studying the efficacy of Chantix with substance abuse. Marissa’s research sparked interest in working with mental health and substance abuse. During her second year at CSSW, she found her passion in providing therapy to individuals who suffer from emotion dysregulation and completed her intensive training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) in 2014 by Dr. Andre Ivanoff. Marissa completed her second-year internship at Rikers Island, providing DBT to female inmates. Here, she provided DBT in a setting with limitations and restrictions, leading to her passion of providing affordable and accessible DBT to the community.

Marissa has extensive experience working with adolescents and young adults providing evidence-based therapy in a variety of levels of care. Marissa participated in the development of the Partial Hospitalization Program at Clearview Treatment Programs and has provided therapy at the outpatient and intensive-outpatient level of care for nearly 4 years. Marissa has a passion for teaching and returned to her alma mater at California State University, Northridge and was an Associate Professor in the Child and Adolescent Department for 3 years. Here, Marissa taught Child Abuse and Neglect, Adolescence, Professional Pathways and Careers in Child and Adolescent Development before joining the team at Compass Behavioral Health.

HER TRAINING

• Bachelor of Arts in Child and Adolescent Development at California State University, Northridge 2012
• Master of Science in Social Work at Columbia School of Social Work, New York City 2014
• Adjunct Professor California State University, Northridge 2014-2018
• Completed Intensive DBT Training, 2014
• Certification in Cognitive Behavior Therapy, Lynn McFarr 2016
• Completed Advanced DBT Training, 2017
• Completed Intensive Training in DBT-Prolonged Exposure, 2018
• Completed Intensive Training in DBT-C (DBT for Children), 2019

HER SUMMITS

• DBT-Linehan Board of Certification, Certified DBT Clinician™
• Calibrated video Adherence Coder to the DBT-Linehan Board of Certification™

HER TRUE NORTH

In addition to her loving fur-baby, teaching is at the core of Marissa’s passions and values.