Faculty - Sweetser

Andy Abbott, LCPC, has experience as a clinician in crisis and home-based services and law enforcement in both Maine and Arizona. He is an adjunct professor of psychology at Southern Maine Community College and is finishing his doctorate in psychology.

Amy Ackroyd, LMSW, has more than 12 years of experience working with children and families in both residential and community settings. She is the coordinator of the High Fidelity Wraparound program.

Jen Bella, LCSW, has over 20 years of counseling experience in both New Hampshire and Maine and currently maintains a private practice in North Conway. She has extensive experience working with gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered clients including a variety of group work.

Dana Bontatibus, LCPC, LMFT, has provided clinical services in Connecticut and crisis services in Maine. He currently serves as the supervisor of Sweetser's Adult Crisis Stabilization Unit and Support Housing program.

Janet Christopher has worked as a manager in mental health for more than 10 years. She has received extensive training in DBT and has taught this subject throughout Northern New England.

Debbe Davis, LCSW, serves as an outpatient clinical leader. She has trained extensively in EMDR, is a certified practitioner and will be achieving EMDR consultation certification.

Cynthia Demetri, LCSW, has worked in the mental health/addiction fields for 17 years in residential, outpatient, home-based and correctional settings. The scope of her work encompasses dual diagnosis clients, children and their family members, and she specializes in the treatment of offenders and their survivors.

Molly DeLaney, PsyD, is a clinical supervisor at Sweetser and a frequent speaker on various mind-body topics. She is an approved consultant and faculty member with the American Society of Clinical Hypnosis.

Jennifer Dondero, LCSW, has worked with children and youth for numerous years. She is currently a clinical supervisor with Sweetser's Day Treatment program.

Marijane Fall, PhD, is a Professor Emeritus of Social Work for the University of Southern Maine and is a registered play therapist. She has authored a book on clinical supervision and has published numerous articles on counseling children.

Stephanie Field, LCSW, has been working in the mental health field for more than 10 years and is currently serving as Sweetser's manager of Child & Family Community Services in Lincoln, Knox and Waldo counties.

Robert Fowler, LCSW, is presently senior director of Adult Community-based Services at Sweetser in Brunswick. In addition to his years of experience providing generalist outpatient psychotherapy, he has had a specialty practice focused on treating individuals experiencing Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.

Dennis Grannis-Phoenix is a mobilization specialist for Sweetser's High Fidelity Wraparound program. Dennis has extensive training in Ecopsychological Counseling.

Diane Grieder is the President of AliPar, Inc., a behavioral health consulting firm committed to improving organizational performance, and co-author of Treatment Planning for Person-Centered Care: The Road to Mental Health and Addiction Recovery, a textbook published in late 2004 with Neal Adams, MD. Ms. Grieder regularly conducts trainings throughout the country on a person-centered/recovery oriented approach to treatment planning.

Lynn Q. Griffin, LCSW, is the manager of Pen-Bay’s Children and Family Services. She has 17 years of experience in residential services in several states, serving a variety of client populations including juvenile corrections, mentally ill and developmentally disabled adults, and children with mental health issues and their families.

Terri Hardiman, LCSW, is the case management supervisor for Sweetser's Adult Community-based Services in Brunswick. She has experience in intensive community integration, trauma recovery services, and facilitating Trauma Recovery and Empowerment Groups for Women. She is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor with background and training in psychosocial rehabilitation services.

Kristen Hurley, LCPC, NCC, has trained at the Minuchin Center for the Family and has served as a clinical supervisor for Sweetser’s MST program. Kristen completed her post-master’s in clinical community counseling at the John Hopkins University, and co-authored Development and Validation of the Self-Awareness and Management Strategies (SAMS) Scales for Therapists.

Marc Kaplan, DO, provides outpatient psychiatric care at Sweetser's outpatient center in Saco, where he also supervises numerous advanced nurse practitioners. He is a Clinical Instructor in Family Medicine at the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine. He has extensive experience providing medical educational programs on a regional and national basis for numerous medical education organizations.

Susan Knapp, MeD, is the senior director at the Sweetser Training Institute. She has over 20 years of experience in training and leadership development, having conducted programs for a wide variety of organizations ranging from not-for-profits to Fortune 500 companies.

Bruce Lackie, PhD, LCSW, is a clinical educator, practicing in the Bangor/Orono area. His 40 years of experience include academic faculty appointments in clinically oriented graduate programs, including Smith College SSW, Hahnemann University's MFT program and Walden University, and he will be joining the School of Social Work faculty at the University of Maine as an adjunct faculty member. He will be developing a certificate program in psychotrauma and disaster mental health through the university. He volunteers at the Bangor Vet Center and the American Red Cross.

Christopher Ladakakos, PhD, is the mobilization specialist for Sweetser's High Fidelity Wraparound program in York County. Prior to his return to Maine, he worked as a clinician and researcher at Children's Hospital and Research Center in Oakland, CA, the Alissa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation, and in private practice in Berkeley, CA.

Karen Leary, LCSW, is a clinical supervisor of Sweetser's Child and Family Community Services. She has over 20 yeras of experience in working with children, adolescents and families.

Andrea LeMoal, PhD, is the clinical coordinator of Sweetser's Day Treatment program. She has trained and provided consultation to a number of organizations in the area of family therapy.

Christine Linnehan, ADTR, LCPC, has a private practice, Riverview Counseling, in Scarborough and is a clinical consultant at the Center for Grieving Children in Portland. For over 15 years she has worked in both inpatient and outpatient settings, including a partial hospitalization program for women with a history of trauma. She is a registered dance/movement therapist and pursued post-graduate study in psychodrama at the Family Institute of Cambridge.

Careyleah MacLeod has been an LCSW for 12 years, working exclusively in child welfare for 10 of those years. For the past two years she has been both a clinical case manager and clinician for Sweetser, providing individual and family therapy, attachment and trauma work, as well as DBT, DBT Parenting, EMDR and Narrative Therapy.

Pat McKenzie, LCSW, is the director of Crisis Services for Sweetser and has also served as operations manager of Northeast Crisis Services. Pat has an advanced certificate in family therapy with a concentration in post-structural models of practice.

Harvey Melnick, training manager at the Sweetser Training Institute, is a certified TCI instructor through Cornell University and has trained extensively in behavior management.

Kirsten Milliken, PhD, is a clinical psychologist who runs a private practice in Portland and has been working primarily with adolescents and young adults. She also founded Back on Track, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing evidence-based cognitive behavioral skills programs to at-risk adolescents in Maine.

Donna Murray, MEd, is a local leader in the field of adventure-based and experiential learning. She is the coordinator of and facilitates programs for youth and adult groups throughout the state. She has also served as a certified trainer for Project Adventure.

Laurie Parker, LMFT, is an AAMFT-approved supervisor and a Registered Play Therapy Supervisor. She works with children, teens, and families in a private practice setting in Concord, NH.

Marie Paschke, LCSW, is a supervisor of child community-based programs in the Knox/Waldo region. Marie has a specialization in trauma.

Gail Percy Fitch, LSW, is a Mobilization specialist for Sweetser's High Fidelity Wraparound program in Sagadahoc County. She has over seven years of experience of a child protective worker in the State of Maine as well as having served as a home-based counselor and as a child and family community case manager.

Jim Samenfeld-Specht, MD, is a psychiatrist who oversees the medical services of Sweetser’s residential program.

Sara Schmalz, LCSW, is a clinical supervisor in community based programs at Sweetser. Sara is currently working in programs that support children and families in their home environments and also has experience working with Sweetser’s mobile crisis team.

Priscilla Seimer, LCPC, has been a manager of adult community-based clinical services for over 10 years. She has received extensive training in Motivational Interviewing.

Suzanne Simon, MS, LCPC, NCC, is a therapist and writer who has worked as a rape crisis counselor, facilitated support groups for incest survivors and done work with incarcerated male sex offenders. She is co-author of Forgiveness: How to Make Peace with Your Past and Get on with Your Life.

Amy Simonds, LCPC, is Sweetser’s utilization review manager. She has a wide range of experience working with children and adolescents and as a clinical supervisor.

Carolyn Suggs, LCSW, is the crisis response supervisor for Crisis Response Services as well as managing a private practice. She has received extensive training in Internal Family Systems.

Nolan Thompson, LCSW, has worked in various aspects of social work including coordinating an adolescent health care program, outpatient therapy, college counseling, and serving on the faculty of New Hampshire College's School of Human Services. Nolan also coordinates the University of Southern Maine's Mediation Program.

Holly Tracy, LCSW, is a clinical supervisor of community-based services at Sweetser with 18 years of experience working with children and adults in day treatment, outpatient community mental health, and EAP settings.

Robert White, JD, is an attorney who has provided strategies to clinicians who are called to testify in court. Robert also serves as the compliance officer for Sweetser.

Jennifer Yhar, APRN, CS, JD, is a practicing psychotherapist with 23 years experience. She is the co-founder of Bucknam Road Behavioral Health, a group of independent, yet collaborative, healthcare practitioners.

Ronald Young, PsyD, is the clinical supervisor of Sweetser's outpatient unit based in Brunswick. Prior to his clinical practice he was a school counselor in Maryland. He has taught psychology for James Madison University.