Leadership

Steve Gold is the Chief Executive Officer of Refresh Mental Health. Previously, Steve was a co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crestview Capital Partners LLC, which owned and operated several outpatient mental health centers. Prior to Crestview, he was a co-founder, Director and Vice President of corporate development for RiverMend Health, a multi-site national behavioral health company.

With a background in law, Steve was the General Counsel and/or consultant to many medical technology and healthcare companies originating out of University of Florida intellectual property. Prior to his business and counsel roles, he was a practicing attorney as a Deputy Solicitor General for the State of Florida and a Staff Attorney for Justice Wells at the Florida Supreme Court.

Steve earned his Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale College, his Juris Doctorate and Masters of Public Health in Epidemiology from the University of Florida, and his Masters of Bioethics from the School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

In his personal time, Steve is an avid swimmer and enjoys spending time with his wife Katherine who is an ophthalmologist at the Mayo Clinic and their four children. In an effort to provide warriors suffering from anxiety, trauma and depression with rescued service dogs, Steve also serves on the Board of Directors of the non-profit charity K9s for Warriors.

Louis Joos is Chief Financial Officer at Refresh Mental Health. Previously, Louis worked in the private equity industry as Managing Director at Rock Creek Capital. With a background in investment banking, Louis’s work experience includes previous roles at Goldman Sachs International and Bear Stearns in London, Hong Kong, and New York. Additionally, he was Vice President at a public real estate investment trust and was responsible for investments and asset management of a multi-billion dollar real estate portfolio. Louis has also worked as a Certified Public Accountant with Deloitte & Touche.

Louis holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics (graduated cum laude) from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a Masters of Business Administration from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.  In his spare time, Louis enjoys spending time with his wife and children, jogging, and traveling.

Joyce Marter has been a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor since 1998, providing therapy for individuals, couples and families dealing with issues related to mental health, addiction, relationships, and personal and professional development. Marter is the Founder of Urban Balance, a counseling practice she started in 2004 and grew to over 100 therapists working from nine locations during her 13-year tenure as CEO. She has been awarded Distinguished Alumni of the Year (2008) by The Family Institute at Northwestern University and was selected by Crain’s Chicago Business for the “40 Under 40” List of 2010.

Marter is currently the Chief Brand Ambassador; providing marketing consulting to the centers and representing Refresh through board work, writing and public speaking. She is the Chair of the Midwest Region of the American Counseling Association, a Past-President of the Illinois Counseling Association, and a two-term Past-President of the Illinois Mental Health Counselors Association.

With a passion for applying psychology to business, Marter is a public speaker for corporations, universities and counseling organizations and is a member of the National Speakers Association. She is a blogger for PsychCentral and The Huffington Post and currently has a book in development. Marter is routinely consulted as a psychological expert in the media and has been featured in such outlets as The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, CNN and MTV.

Dr. Stephenson serves at Chief Operating Officer of Comprehensive Med-Psych Systems (CMPS).  He has helped CMPS over the years implement and expand its healthcare compliance program.  He is the primary contact to help other Refresh companies implement and advance their healthcare compliance programs in addition to his role as the Chief Operating Officer of CMPS.

Ricky Roman serves as the Vice President of Operations overseeing the mental health and addiction centers for Refresh Mental Health.

Before joining Refresh Mental Health, Ricky worked as an investment and operations professional at Wexford Capital LP. He led value creation projects, assisted in strategic decision making, and explored add-on acquisition opportunities for a number of different businesses in the consumer, real estate, and energy sectors. In addition, he has developed growth strategies and implemented business improvement projects for several direct to consumer companies, including multi-site outpatient mental health centers. Ricky began his career at Citigroup in New York in the investment banking division where he advised clients on mergers and acquisitions and capital raising initiatives.

Ricky earned his Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Stephen M. Ross School of Business, where he graduated with high distinction. In 2018, he will graduate with his Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern where he is a Zell Fellow.

In his spare time, Ricky enjoys playing tennis, skiing, and watching Michigan football. Ricky is an active University of Michigan alumnus and serves as a mentor for current students.

Venus Salak is Vice President of Human Resources at Refresh Mental Health.Venus currently works from the Refresh administrative office located in Antioch, Illinois.In the HR role, Venus provides the corporate team and each of the centers, HR resources and support related to payroll, health and benefits, retirement plans, hiring and retention, as we grow our organization with talented staff, clinicians and management to meet the needs of our patients and communities we serve.

Venus’s previous executive level experience in Human Resources includes having worked in a Talent Management role that supported the Upper Northern Region of Wintrust Financial Corporation, a financial service holding company. Her earlier work experience was with a charter bank, State Bank of the Lakes, where she led the Human Resources function working with the leadership team on key initiatives for the organization which included staffing, acquisitions, leadership development; along with recruitment and staff development for succession planning.
Venus’s commitment to the HR role is supported with the achievement in 2016 of her SPHR certification from the Society of Human Resource Management.

In her personal life, Venus spends time with her family and friends and enjoys quiet time reading a good book from her local library and working on a variety of sewing projects.

Irene Cardozo is the Communications Manager for Refresh Mental Health; providing web, social media, graphic design, and marketing support to the centers and representing Refresh.

Prior to joining Refresh, Irene oversaw all internal communication initiatives at the Racine Unified School District. She created programs to improve employee communication efforts, assisted in strategic decision making, and led all digital marketing and social media projects. Irene has vast experience in public relations, social media marketing, design, content writing, corporate communication, and market research. Additionally, she has developed innovative digital marketing strategies in the nonprofit, arts, travel, and hospitality sectors. Irene began her career at the Orlando Museum of Art in Florida in the development and marketing department, where she managed fundraising campaigns and member programs.

Irene earned her Bachelor of Art in History from the University of Florida. She earned her Master of Art in Communication from the University of Central Florida, where she graduated with high distinction. Some of her academic work is featured in the American Folklife Center collection at the Library of Congress. She is currently working on a Master of Science in Art Therapy.

When she is not designing or writing, Irene enjoys traveling, painting, learning about various cultures, yoga, and supporting the University of Florida Gators Athletics.

Taejah Vemuri is the Social Media Coordinator for Refresh Mental Health. In this role, she is responsible for maintaining the social media presence for each Refresh center.

She is also a Licensed Professional Counselor and has a Masters in Public Health. She is currently a psychotherapist and the marketing coordinator at Urban Balance, a Refresh center. In this role, Taejah responds to all marketing inquiries, distributes marketing materials, and organizes internal and external networking and training opportunities. She is also responsible for maintaining the company’s presence on social media outlets.

Taejah joined Urban Balance in 2017 as a clinical intern while pursuing her Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology at Northwestern University. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Northwestern University and a Masters in Public Health from the University of Michigan. Prior to her work at Urban Balance, Taejah was the coordinator of an HIV prevention research study at the University of Illinois at Chicago. In this role, she was responsible for recruiting and retaining over 400 adolescent participants, as well as conducting mental health risk assessments in the community, probation centers, and detention facilities. She has experience and substantial skills in networking, coordinating and planning events, social media engagement, as well as working in the community.

Jeffrey Scales is the Controller at Refresh Mental Health.  Previously Jeff worked in the healthcare industry as Director of Finance with Family Care Partners of Northeast Florida, a large primary care group with a focus on risk contracting.  Jeff’s also has previous work experience as a Certified Public Accountant as a partner with Masters, Smith & Wisby, PA providing both audit and tax services to closely held private companies and non-profit entities.

Jeff holds Bachelor of Science degrees in both Accounting and Finance from the Florida State University.  In his personal time Jeff enjoys water sports and spending time with his family.  Jeff also serves as treasurer for the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity Housing Corporation and is the former Chairman of the Child Guidance Center Board of Directors.

Kathryn is originally from Charleston, SC. She graduated from West Ashley High School in 2008 and moved to Jacksonville, FL in 2009. Kathryn has been working as an accounting specialist since 2010. She currently lives in Jacksonville with her husband and their two children.

Mrs. Bristol was born and raised in the Midwest, received her degrees in Business Administration and Accounting. She has 15+ years of Accounting and Bookkeeping experience, having worked in various industries that include Agriculture as well as Real estate. She is currently on staff in Florida as one of the corporate bookkeepers for Refresh Mental Health.

Mrs. del Castillo provides the role of Corporate Bookkeeper at Refresh Mental Health. She is originally from Rhode Island and has bookkeeping and accounting experience since 1990. She served in the United States Coast Guard and has been a full charge bookkeeper for several companies in different states due to her husband’s 30 year military career. She graduated from Ocean State Business Institute.

Elizabeth was raised in the Northeast and enjoys reading and going to the beach. She has been in the accounting field for 20 years and enjoys the challenge and purpose at Refresh Mental Health. She is a member of the accounting team and is responsible for corporate bookkeeping activities at Refresh. Elizabeth lives in Jacksonville with her family.

Maria Fereira is currently holding the role of AP Specialist at Refresh Mental Health. She is originally from Venezuela where she received a B.S degree in Accounting from the University of Zulia (LUZ). She began her career as Senior Accounting with a recognized Accounting firm where she held several positions that allowed her to increase here knowledge in different areas and business such as Oil & Gas, manufacturing, exploration, production, transportation and marketing of coal. Through the years, Maria has worked for Carbozulia (Largest Coal company in eastern Venezuela) as Administration Manager, Camsa Group (Part of Wood Group) as Accounting Manager and Angels Group (Large commercial company in Venezuela with Headquarter in USA) as Accounting Manager, this last role and her dedication and good execution allowed her to continue working in their office located in Miami, Florida. Recently Ms. Fereira and her husband decided to move to Jacksonville and she became part of the Refresh Mental Health team. Her recent stay in Jacksonville has added new adventures and challenges to her extensive path.

Jeff McNeill is a Senior Executive and Chief Development Officer of Refresh Mental Health. Previously, Jeff was a co-founder and Partner of Palmetto Capital Partners, a private equity firm focused on acquiring lower middle market companies in the Southeast United States. Prior to this, he served as a Partner in the private equity groups at GenSpring Family Offices and SunTrust Banks where he oversaw investments into over 70 companies and over 60 private equity funds over the course of 15 years.

Jeff’s earlier work experience included working as a financial analyst in the investment banking division of Salomon Smith Barney, in both  New York and London. He specialized in corporate finance and advisory services for companies in energy and natural resources industries.

Jeff earned a B.S. in Business Administration with honors from the University of Richmond, majoring in finance, international business and economics. He also completed a study abroad program at The London School of Economics and is currently a board member of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG).

In his personal life, Jeff spends time with his wife and three kids and enjoys running, swimming, tennis and golf.

Will serves as the Vice President of Corporate Development for Refresh Mental Health. His responsibilities include sourcing, assessing, and executing strategic transactions and partnerships to support the long-term growth objectives of Refresh Mental Health.

Will has worked in various M&A and advisory capacities for both public and private companies in the healthcare industry. Previously, Will worked for Harbor View Advisors, a middle-market investment bank, where he valued companies, performed transaction diligence and engaged in corporate development initiatives on behalf of its clients. Prior to Harbor View, Will worked for Deutsche Bank, where he advised on risk management solutions for Fortune 500 healthcare and technology corporations.

Will received a Bachelor of Science in Economics with a dual concentration in Finance and Operations and Information Management from the University of Pennsylvania – Wharton Business School. During his studies, Will developed an interest in human behavior through his psychology and behavioral economics classes.

In his spare time, Will enjoys mentoring and holds leadership roles with his high school and university alumni organizations. Will is also an accomplished endurance athlete, having competed in events such as the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii and the Boston Marathon.

Baschon is a South Carolina native who studied Psychology and Criminal Justice at the University of South Carolina, and held multiple leadership roles in the Iota Mu chapter of Alpha Phi Omega, service fraternity. After this, she worked as an Applied Behavioral Analysis Therapist with the South Carolina Early Autism Project, and as a Program Coordinator with the Boys and Girls Club Of America. Later, Baschon developed a management career in the cosmetics industry and held forward-facing roles in the fields of juvenile justice and insurance compliance. Now, Baschon is thrilled to return to her true field of interests by joining the Refresh Mental Health team, where she takes the role of business development. In her free time, Baschon enjoys photography, traveling, spending time with her nephew, and supporting University of South Carolina Gamecock Athletics.

Leslie R. Johnsen has been practicing in the field of clinical psychology treating children, adolescents, and adults since 1995. Ms. Johnsen has served as the Clinical Director of Perspectives of Troy Counseling Centers for 17 years, overseeing daily clinical operations at multiple sites along with supervising Masters and Doctoral level clinicians. In 1998, she founded The Adolescent EDGE Program, a successful, well-known treatment program utilizing a multi-modality approach, incorporating individual, family, group psychotherapies, and psycho education, along with medicine therapy if warranted. Thousands of adolescents and their families have found relief from their significant mental health struggles through this level of programming. She has a passion for program growth and development. In addition to adolescent programming, multiple departments and programs have been successfully launched under Ms. Johnsen’s guidance: The Children’s EDGE Program, TAG (Trauma, Addictions, and Grief Initiative), Anger and Behavioral Management Services, and Pastoral Care and Education to name just a few.

Ms. Johnsen is a recognized public speaker both within the community and the mental health field. She has trained hundreds of professionals in the treatment of self-injurious behaviors, depression, anxiety, and adolescent development.
For many years, Ms. Johnsen has been consulting with local schools, churches, public sectors, and mental health organizations on a variety of topics related to the field. She is a sought after guest on local radio, news, and other forms of media. She has published articles and enjoys providing community education.

Ms. Johnsen is a summa cum laude graduate from the University of Detroit-Mercy in the clinical psychology graduate program with a specialty in child and adolescent development. She graduated from Michigan State University with honors, majoring in psychology along with emphasis in industrial organizational technique, business marketing and management.

Ms. Johnsen’s mission is to enhance and maximize a client’s experience within each facility she works with. She embraces advancement opportunities that organizations may make through clinical expansion, process improvement, relational marketing, and program development.

With more than 27 years of experience under his belt, Kevin Polky is amply qualified to oversee kp counseling as both founder and clinical director. He is a licensed clinical social worker, certified alcohol and drug counselor, certified school social worker, executive coach, former football and strength coach and personal trainer. Kevin has worked with individuals, families, and organizations in areas of Illinois and Wisconsin and currently works with individual clients and their families at kp counseling. He also facilitates three men’s groups, conducts workshops and seminars, and serves as a consultant to businesses, schools, and churches. In 2016, Kevin founded Shatter Our Silence a non-for-profit company to increase awareness and educate on the factors that lead to suicide in young adults.

Kevin has written or co-authored four different leadership programs: Working with Disruptive Students I and II (32 hrs.), Solution-Focused Safety Program (developing a safety culture within a manufacturing/industrial environment – 32 hrs.), Striving for Excellence (developing a culture of excellence within the industrial environment – 16 hrs.) and Impact of Young Adult Suicide and What We Can — 6 hrs.)

He volunteers at local schools and churches, teaching youth and adult classes on a variety of psycho-social-spiritual material. He is active on a variety of non-for-profits board of directors for local agencies.

Kevin’s favorite activities outside of KP counseling include spending time with family, exercising, supporting the arts, reading, and enjoying God’s presence through nature.

Sunny Pippins services as the Vice President of Clinical Operations for the Mid-Atlantic Region for Refresh Mental Health. For the past 15 years, Sunny has utilized a foundation in clinical psychology to provide superior psychotheraptic services to adults, children, and families in the tri-state area. The later years also included the evolution from direct provider to the delivery of innovative program development and management for a diverse range of organizations, including community based mental health clinics, residential treatment services for adjudicated youth and community based independent living programs serving adults recovering from traumatic brain injury.

Most recently, she has served as the Director of Operations for the Prince George’s County Department of Social Services Community Resource Advocate Program. Providing clinical and operational oversight for a staff over 50 clinicians and case management staff, Sunny supported a multi-disciplinary program model designed to mitigate barriers to clinical and intensive case management services by providing school based resources to at-risk youth and families.

After obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Maryland, College Park, she successfully completed graduate level training in the Doctor of Clinical Psychology Program (Psy.D.) at George Washington University. While working within the TBI service provision, Sunny also became a certified traumatic brain injury specialist and currently holds CBIS status within the field.

Drawing on her many years of clinical and program management experience, Sunny Pippins is committed to the development and provision of sound mental health programming by enhancing systems to build strong client-centered service provisions in traditional and non-traditional settings.

George Mouzakis is the Vice President of Clinical Operations-New England for Refresh Mental Health. Mr. Mouzakis is the founder and Executive Director of Family Counseling Associates, a dynamic multidisciplinary mental health practice north of Boston. Mr Mouzakis is licensed educational psychologist and licensed independent clinical social worker. He completed his undergraduate studies in psychology at the University of Massachusetts. Mr. Mouzakis completed his graduate studies in clinical social work at Boston College, and went on to earn a postgraduate degree in educational psychology from Tufts University. Mr. Mouzakis has past research experience at the Jean Meyer Institute for Aging at Tufts University which includes investigating the impact of diet and nutrition on neuropsychological processes such as spatial memory and learning.

Mr. Mouzakis has extensive experience working with children, families, and adults in a variety of settings including psychiatric treatment facilities, emergency services, community outpatient clinics, schools, and private practice. For almost 10 years, Mr. Mouzakis trained and mentored counseling graduate students as a field supervisor for Boston College. From 1997-2002 Mr. Mouzakis served as a Christian ministry leader in Germany and Greece. During that time, he helped develop benevolent programs to support and serve individuals with physical, developmental, or cognitive disabilities.

Tina obtained her Master’s Degree in Social Work from The University of Kentucky and her Bachelor’s Degree from The University of Tennessee at Martin.

Tina has established partial hospitalizations, intensive outpatient, and mental health resource programs for several major corporations within the southeast region.  Tina has also served in the capacity of Program Director, Director of Social Services, Resource Center Director, and Director of Mental Health Services for hospital corporations.  Tina combined all of her experience and her passion for children to co-found Daybreak Treatment Center in 1992.

She received Tennessee’s Outstanding Achievement Award, and is involved with Tim Tebow and Zach Brown’s Foundations, both of which provide services and support to children with special needs and their families.  Tina also serves on the board for Camp Southern Ground, located in Georgia, which provides a therapeutic camping experience to children with special needs at no charge.  She is past president of her sorority: Zeta Tau Alpha, and has worked for them as a graduate counselor and consultant.

Tina’s research has resulted in the published papers:  “Out of School vs. In School Suspensions” and “End of Life Decisions From An Ethical Standpoint”.

Dr. Geoffrey Kanter received his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1987. He became the Psychology manager of a stroke rehabilitation unit in the San Francisco area and then moved in 1991 to Sarasota to become the Director of Psychology for HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital In 1997, he created the position of Director of Psychology for Sarasota Memorial Hospital, developing a large behavioral medicine program for hospital inpatients. These services continued after he founded his company, Comprehensive MedPsych Systems in 1998, initially with a staff of 4 psychologists.

Over the next 20 years, CMPS grew to become one of the largest private multi-disciplinary behavioral medicine groups in the US with approximately 15 offices/practice locations in Florida, Indiana, and Alabama with approximately 85 clinical staff including psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, neuropsychologists psychologists, Post-doc neuropsychology residents, social workers and counselors. Dr. Kanter is a civil forensic neuropsychologist, double board-certified in adult and pediatric neuropsychology and is the Executive Director of the American Board of Professional Neuropsychology.

In March of 2018, CMPS was acquired by Refresh Mental Health, Inc. based out of Jacksonville, Florida, securing a far larger pool of financial, personnel and intellectual resources comprised of 15 mental health companies in 11 different states with over 500 clinicians. The vast majority of facilities are focused on outpatient mental health with the same vision and values as we have always promoted. Comprehensive MedPsych Systems’ name and brand will continue with Dr. Kanter at the helm of the Refresh-CMPS operations with plans for future acquisitions in Florida and the surrounding regions.

Dr. Carter is a psychotherapist and speaker who currently serves as the Director of Pastoral Care and Education at Perspectives Counseling Centers (Troy, Michigan). As Director of Pastoral Care, Dr. Carter conducts seminars and workshops for pastors and other church leaders to better equip them for meeting the psychological and spiritual needs of their congregations. She also provides supervision and consultation with therapists on methods for incorporating spirituality into counseling in order to best address clients’ mental and spiritual needs.

Dr. Carter graduated with honors with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2003. Upon graduation, she continued her educational pursuits at Michigan State University, obtaining both her Masters of Arts and Doctorate of Philosophy in Clinical Psychology. During this time she also taught undergraduate courses at Michigan State on Personality Development, Developmental Psychology, and Adolescent Development. Because of her firm belief in the healing impact that spirituality can have on clients’ mental health, Dr. Carter recently returned to school and obtained a Masters of Arts in Spiritual Formation and Discipleship from Moody Bible Institute in 2017.

In addition to practicing Christian counseling at Perspectives, Dr. Carter has also made several guest appearances on the radio program Family Life Perspectives (103.5 FM) discussing such topics as spiritual abuse, shame, and grief. She currently also serves as a Spiritual Formation Mentor for seminary students in Grace Theological Seminary’s Deploy Program where she guides seminary students in their spiritual growth.

Andrew Walen is the founder and Executive Director of The Body Image Therapy Center in Maryland, D.C., and Virginia. He is a psychotherapist, author, speaker, and advocate in the eating disorders field, with particular expertise in males with eating disorders. Refresh acquired The Body Image Therapy Center in 2017 and Mr. Walen now serves as the VP of Eating Disorders Treatment.

Mr. Walen currently serves as President of the board of directors for the National Association for Males with Eating Disorders (NAMED), and is a past founding board member of the Binge Eating Disorder Association (BEDA). He has appeared on The Today Show, was featured in The New York Times, USA Today, Men’s Health, and many other national and local media outlets as an expert in the field of eating disorders and body image. In addition, he has authored numerous articles and presented workshops at national and international eating disorder conferences. His book Man Up to Eating Disorders, which is a memoir and self-help book directed at males with eating disorders, was published May 2014, and was featured in the Gurze Catalog.

Mr. Walen is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Social Work in Nashville. He also is a graduate of the Berklee College of Music, and is a published singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist who continues to write and perform in the metro Baltimore area.