Dr. Don Ross, Medical Director:

Dr. Ross is a psychoanalyst on the faculty of the Washington Psychoanalytic Institute and has worked extensively with patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings for over 25 years. As Medical Director of The Retreat, he has a long-standing interest and expertise in the interface of Axis I disorders with personality dynamics.

Dr. Scott Aaronson, Associate Medical Director:

Dr. Aaronson has special expertise and extensive experience with mood disorders and other serious psychiatric illnesses. He is a national expert in psychopharmacology and is the Director of Clinical Research for Sheppard Pratt. With over 25 years of experience as a psychotherapist, he works from an integrated humanistic and psychodynamic model of therapy.

Lois Turner Feig, Program Director:

Lois is your initial point of contact. She can explain the details of our program including programming, accommodations, and aftercare referrals. During an interview with the physician, patient, or family either in person or over the telephone, Lois is able to assess if The Retreat program meets the needs of each individual seeking our services. During her interview, Lois is also able to capture a psychosocial assessment, enabling the treatment team to visualize each patient within their own unique environment.

Dr. Miles Quaytman, Psychiatrist:

Dr. Quaytman has been a member of the medical staff of Sheppard Pratt Hospital for more than 27 years. He believes that even the most severe psychiatric problems can be helped by a psychotherapeutic experience that combines individual psychotherapy, a therapeutic milieu, and an experienced treatment team willing to work with the complexities of each patient. His special area of interest is a developmental approach to personality and trauma disorders.

Dr. Thomas Franklin; Associate Director, Retreat Outpatient Services

Dr. Franklin has extensive training in psychodynamic psychotherapy, psycho-pharmacology, as well as addictions/dual-diagnosis. He has special interests in detoxification and simplification of complex medication combinations, post-partum depression and care of pregnant patients, and the interface of personality dynamics with other psychiatric conditions. He is also an expert in the use of buprenorphine in the

treatment or opioid dependence and pain disorders. In his role as Associate Director of Retreat Outpatient Services, Dr. Franklin leads the outpatient programs of The Retreat, which offer consultations, groups, and follow-up care for select Retreat patients.

Dr. Laura Seidel, Psychiatrist:

Dr. Seidel is an experienced child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist, who comes to us from the faculty of Johns Hopkins Hospital. She has expertise in the development issues of adolescent and young adults, mood and anxiety disorders, eating disorders, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She has a keen appreciation for how family issues can dramatically impact on an individual's functioning and overall life goals.

Dr. Benedicto Borja, Psychiatrist:

Dr. Ben Borja completed his residency in psychiatry at the University of Maryland / Sheppard Pratt Residency Training Program as Chief Resident. He is board certified and serves as an oral board examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. As Associate Director of Residency Training, he is actively involved in teaching and supervising medical students and residents. He was recently awarded the Walter Weintraub Teaching of the Year

Award and the Virginia Huffer Award for Excellence in Postgraduate Residency Training. He has received specialized training and certification in Eye Movement Desensitization Training (EMDR). He is a former medical director of the psychiatric emergency services at the University of Maryland where he is currently a clinical assistant professor. His interests include emergency psychiatry, intensive short term dynamic psychiatry and academic psychiatry.

Dr. Sara Rosen, Psychiatrist:

Dr. Rosen is an adult psychiatrist who has experience working with mood and anxiety disorders. She has worked with college students and also has a special interest in the development of young adults. Dr. Rosen takes a psychodynamic approach to individual and group psychotherapy and believes that a supportive milieu can greatly benefit individuals with emotional disorders. Dr. Rosen is also a psychoanalytic candidate at the Baltimore Washington Institute for Psychoanalysis.

Christy Bergland, Art Therapist:

Artwork is a preverbal form of communication. Before there are words for the developing child, there are visual images. Some patients have no words for their experiences, or words are so fraught with other meanings or defensive functions that the emotions beneath them are obscured. Art Therapy is a way to locate and express those emotions and find a new way to the associated memories and thoughts. There is a playful aspect to art

making. Play is an important part of mastery -- in this case, mastery and management of one’s internal life. Christy Bergland, ATR-BC, LCPC is a professional artist and a registered art therapist with over 30 years of experience.

Allison Stroh, Art Therapist:

Allison Stroh has taught art as a form of expression to a variety of populations, including children with Autism, homeless adults, and high school students in Ghana, West Africa. She graduated from the George Washington University masters program in Art Therapy.

Bob Levine, Movement and Meditation Coordinator:

Bob Levine, Coordinator for the Movement and Meditation program, is a noted ceramic artist who has studied and taught T’ai Chi Chuan and Eastern philosophy for over 30 years. He has developed programs for patients with problems as diverse as multiple sclerosis, gait problems associated with dementia, and emotional lability in a special needs teenage population. He conducts post-graduate training for health care professionals in the U.S. and Europe.

Janet Lebowitz, Family Therapist:

People live in a complicated web of relationships, all of which impact on each other. Often the family suffers as much as the individual patient with the devastating effects of a difficult mental illness or addiction. Marital strain and family dysfunction may result. Guided by expert advice, the family brings tremendous strength and support to the patient’s treatment. Therapy is offered to families of patients of The Retreat, to the extent this is indicated and desired and only with the

consent of the patient. Janet Leibowitz, LCSW-C is a trained family therapist with 30 years of experience in the field, and is an integral part of our treatment team.

Holly Slapinski, Family Therapist:

Holly has been trained by some of the foremost and most respected programs in the country. She has been providing therapy to families for over 25 years in a wide variety of settings. Holly strongly supports the incorporation of family therapy with all other elements of the comprehensive treatment approach, and consistently pursues innovative and unique applications of her field for the best possible outcome for each patient.

Melissa Thompson CTRS, and Teresa Priest, CTRS, Recreational Therapists:

Leisure and wellness go hand in hand. Often times, when one experiences effects of mental illness, their leisure lifestyle deteriorates. Recreational therapy is a strong component of The Retreat’s programming that teaches our residents the skills needed to fill their free time with meaningful and therapeutic activity. We also use recreation to help residents gain insight into their treatment and themselves. Leisure is necessary for balance in life,

and can have many benefits such as establishing a sense of identity, improving self esteem, providing a sense of relaxation, providing opportunities for social interaction, and mood improvement among others.

Dick Prodey coordinates the addiction services on The Retreat and provides individual counseling. Mr. Prodey has been active in the education and treatment of alcoholics and other drug addicts and their families for the past 23 years. He lectures on the topic of addiction and recovery every Wednesday at Sheppard Pratt, and he is the author of The Drunking Problem: Understanding Addiction and Recovery.

Karen McGovern, Senior Nurse:

Karen McGovern has been a psychiatric nurse at Sheppard Pratt Health System for 18 years. She has experience in many areas of psychiatric care, including direct patient care and administrative work. Her focus is utilization of nursing staff to promote the best patient care. She firmly believes that nursing staff are an integral part of treatment, and that building trust and providing individualized attention for each resident have a positive impact on treatment outcomes.

Kathy Daddario, RN, BC, PMHN, Senior Nurse:

Kathy Daddario has been a psychiatric nurse for 12 years, many of them at Sheppard Pratt Health System. In addition, she has experience working with patients in eating disorder and home care settings. She believes in compassionate, collaborative, and educative nursing care. "I feel privileged to work in an environment where the nurse's are an integral part of The Retreat team success. In my opinion, this is the ideal setting in which a patient can receive individualized as well as group treatment

and truly begin to experience an improved sense of well-being." Prior to becoming a nurse, Kathy worked for a decade in several public relation positions.

Kelly E. Shannon and Craig Boas, Social Work:

Kelly Shannon and Craig Boas work directly with patients. They coordinate the resident’s care while on The Retreat, ensuring that all of their individual needs are met. Additionally they develop discharge plans, working closely with the patient, the primary doctor, and the referral sources in the patient's home community. Both Kelly and Craig are trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and teach DBT skills to patients individually and in group settings.

Heidi Waltos, Wellness Coordinator:

Heidi is a clinical specialist in psychiatric nursing with over 30 years experience. She has studied and taught extensively in the field of wellness and integrative care, and has coauthored the text, “The Healing Partnership.” Working in the wellness field for the past 10 years, she expertly blends holistic treatment with more conventional treatment to bring out the innate self-healing capacities of the body and mind. She has created innovative programs in such areas

as weight control while taking psychotropic medications, healthy lifestyle adaptations to modern living, and the interface of diet and exercise with mood regulation.

Deborah Quirk, Dance/Movement Therapist and Yoga Teacher:

Deborah is a registered Dance Therapist, ADTR, Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200), and Poetry Therapist. Deborah blends her experience with the meditative arts, expressive therapies and dance to provide groups in the Wellness Program on The Retreat. Her dance training spans 25+ years prior to receiving her Master’s Degree in Dance Movement Therapy from Goucher College in Towson, MD.