ASCEND RECOVERY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Residential Director - Lake House
Bobby started with Ascend in September 2016 after gaining two years of prior experience inside the addiction recovery community. As Residential Director, Bobby assists the transition of clients from the theoretical setting of in-patient care to dealing with the real-world problems of early recovery. Bobby teaches through practice and example how to effectively follow a schedule, keep a budget, and enter the work force clean and sober. Being in recovery since 2014, Bobby brings personal experience and empathy, never asking the clients to do what she hasn't done herself. Since 2014, her passion remains helping other addicts like herself. A mother of three children, Bobby loves to camp, boat and be with her children. With her children, in her own life, and with our clients, Bobby's passion is to be the helping hand in the process of finding confidence, strength, and motivation.
Bogie graduated in 2015 from the University of North Carolina with a Masters of Social Work. A former professional musician, Bogie expanded his perspective of the connection between mental health and addiction while working at the psychiatric unit at Duke Hospital. Following his time at Duke he then worked with a large addiction treatment facility using his unique musical background to co-create a program specifically designed to treat music industry professionals. Bogie is the newest on our team and is seeking to further his experience in treating co-occurring disorders, and to continue pursuing his passion for music and service. Additionally, he co-wrote a curriculum for an Extended Care Program focusing on the challenges of recovery in everyday life. Bogie has been with Ascend since 2018.
Bogie entered recovery from addiction at the age of eighteen. He has toured and recorded with various artist for over twenty years. In his personal life he continues to play and record music, enjoys being in nature, engages in the recovery community, and practices meditation.
Job Titles:
- Residential Manager, Eagle View
Chris brings passion and experience into his job and understands the importance of recovery. With his own bout with addiction he started his process of healing and recovery in Canada entering a long-term treatment program in British Columbia committing to 25 months of inpatient where he learned the importance of hard work and dedication to effect change in his life along with the value of working with others in their process of recovery. Drawing from his experiences, he is able to care for clients as he relates to their struggles. As he sees it, staying connected with people is crucial for addiction recovery and is deeply grateful to be able to work with others in their journey.
Chris is a Utah native and loves spending time with his girlfriend and her three kids. Loves his family and the outdoors and spending time playing disc golf.
Job Titles:
- Therapist, Womens Aftercare
Danielle Dunn has spent over a decade working in the field of addiction. She enjoys working with attachment issues, eating disorders, DBT and trauma. Danielle's passion is helping others discover their personal journey to recovery, being in long term recovery herself. She believes finding a sense of spiritual growth, community, and purpose in life has been her most valuable asset. Danielle is a mother to an adorable boy. She is active in the recovery community in Salt Lake City and is passionate about hiking rock climbing, yoga, hula hooping, and mediation.
Job Titles:
- Residential Manager - Lake House
Ellie Kimber is native to Utah, and has many years of experience in the treatment industry. She came to Ascend over a decade ago as a patient. Being an alumni, she can encourage and connect to the clients because she truly understands. Ellie brings so much to our patients and guides them in learning life and executive functioning skills as they go on the journey of recovery. Ellie feels passionate about helping others, and feels lucky she gets to work in with our clients. She enjoys camping, road trips, shopping, and spending time with her husband and four children.
Emily graduated from the University of Utah with a Masters of Social Work. After a lifetime of her own personal struggles with mental health and being in and out of treatment centers for an eating disorder, it is Emily's passion to help people find the serenity, empowerment, and authenticity that she has found in her own personal recovery. Emily integrates CBT, IFS, EFT, ACT and mindfulness as core elements to her therapeutic approach; and has experience working within the population of substance abuse, mental health, and eating disorders.
Emily loves the outdoors and spends her free time trail running. She is a firm believer in empowering yourself to discover your potential and push beyond your once believed limits.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer
- Partner
Guy has spent his professional years working with struggling individuals and families both in wilderness and residential programming. Guy has a deep passion for helping people find hope and healing and connecting them with options for long term health and success. In addition to leadership responsibilities at Ascend he has worked with thousands of adolescents and adults facilitating experiences on ropes courses, in classrooms, in various wilderness settings and anywhere else a group of people can be gathered. He has a love and skill in working with people, building relationships and helping others access their potential. Guy is a proud father of three, ages 25, 22 and 16. Guy is an avid skier, enjoys boating with his family and friends and has a passion for high altitude climbing and ultra marathon events.
Johanna has been with Ascend Recovery since the beginning. Before she joined Ascend, she owned, managed, and operated a holistic wellness educational company for nine years that she opened after graduating from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science and Health. She started her company and joined Ascend for the same reason: to create an addiction recovery program that utilized all the tools and resources that offered individualized treatment plans. Her work at Ascend has accomplished just that.
She knows that the individualized treatment plans are truly important because she married a recovering alcoholic. Due to this exposure, coupled with her experience in the holistic wellness field, Johanna knows that every client deserves to be treated with dignity and respect. The dignity and respect that Ascend Recovery offers to its patients.
Johanna's vision, passion, management, and problem solving skills have helped to mold and establish a program that searches for each individual's freedom from the disease of addiction. That freedom from addiction lies at the core of her desire to help others achieve the physical, emotional, and spiritual wholeness that everyone deserves.
Dr. John Livingstone completed his doctorate at Brigham Young University in clinical psychology. He completed an APA-approved pre-doctoral internship at the University of Arizona, College of Medicine, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. He is currently licensed in the state of Utah as a psychologist (Utah license #4923696-2501). Dr. Livingstone was born and raised in Canada. He has been married for 19 years and he and his wife have four children. His personal interests include playing golf, playing the guitar, and spending time with his family.
Kate, a California native, graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Sociology. Her passion for helping those suffering from the disease of addiction has led her to a variety of roles in the field of addiction treatment, including providing psycho-social support to clients at a detox facility, private sober companion services, managing a female sober living home, and director of a vocational program assisting in successful transitions out of treatment for addicts and alcoholics.
Kate has also served as Executive Director of a local non-profit. Kate joined the amazing team at Ascend in 2014. She believes strongly in Ascend's program and has seen first-hand the healing and growth that Ascend can give each client, as her husband is Ascend alumni. In her spare time, Kate enjoys reading, watching movies, organizing anything and everything, and most importantly, spending time with her husband and step-son.
Job Titles:
- Head of Culinary Services
Kayla is a self taught cook, business owner, and foodie. She began her culinary career early on, at the age of 8, experimenting with food recipes inspired by the skilled hands of her mother, grandmothers, and aunt's. While earning her degree at Utah Valley University she learned and cooked for notable businesses and people from all walks of life, both freelance and full time. Kayla strives to share traditional culinary knowledge through the food she creates and encourages those around her to take pride and creative freedom with everything they cook. She is committed to her passion for cooking, caring for people, and creating menu's that reflect her personal cooking style with healthy, hearty, comfort food.
Lauren began her training as a Yoga instructor in Utah's longest running aYoga Alliance certified Yoga school and Ashtanga Yoga teaching school located in Provo, UT where she received her 200-hour certification; she is currently completing her 500-hour certification. On top of her certifications and studying at UVU for a degree in Community Heath and Psychology, Lauren is the mother to a beautiful girl.
For over fifteen years, Lauren struggled with addictions to alcohol and other substances, but with the help of the Ascend team, Lauren has been sober since March 3, 2010. Ascend helped Lauren realign her life. In fact, while she was enrolled at Ascend she began her certification as a Yoga instructor. It was an easy choice to come back to Ascend to help others recover from their addictions. With the help of her treatment coupled with her study of Yoga, Lauren is, for the first time in her life, comfortable in her own skin.
As an alcoholic with a dual-diagnosis, Lauren understands where clients come from when they talk about anxiety, depression, stress, and fatigue. She can also relate to what it feels like to be in treatment. It can be emotionally overwhelming, a physical and mental relief, and a lot of hard work. She sees the connection with the
Job Titles:
- Director Admissions & Outreach
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama Michael struggled with addiction for a number of years. After multiple treatment stays, he made it to Ascend Recovery over 8 years ago as a client and his journey in sobriety began. After taking time to focus on his own recovery he began working in the substance use field to help individuals and families find freedom from addiction. Michael's professional experience began as an overnight psychiatric technician, and since has included over four years of outreach, admissions, interventions, and sober transportation. Michael's passion is guiding individuals and families through the first and hardest steps of entering treatment. As an Ascend Alumni Michael is able to speak with individuals from his own experiences in treatment. Which is helpful to establish trust between the patient and their family. In his free time, he enjoys fly fishing and spending time with his wife and 4 children.
Job Titles:
- Residential Manager - Sober Living
Job Titles:
- Clinical Supervisor
- Founder
- Founder of Ascend
As the founder of Ascend, Ryan leads the clinical team with over 12 years of experience directly supervising the care of those suffering from addiction. Ryan has helped over 2,500 patients during his time in the field. For Ryan, addiction is more than just a field of study. He has watched addiction impact his own life and the lives of others around him. Many of his close friends have been lost due to addiction. Ryan has the ability to relate to his patients, which gives him the invaluable perspective of a bird's-eye-view of the addiction recovery process. He can show patients that recovery is not just escaping addiction but being able to truly extend healing beyond residential treatment. Ryan graduated in 2001 from the University of Utah with a Masters of Social Work.
Through Ascends relationship-based therapy, he is able to work hard to provide that relationship of care that can help clients be successful. He truly loves and believes in the 3-step process of recovery that Ascend employs to help clients integrate these concepts more completely. For Ryan, Ascend is the most clinically sound program with which he could associate himself.
Sam Bennion has worked for Ascend since 2011. No stranger to addiction himself, Sam has been sober since 2010, after many previous failed attempts of lasting sobriety. Working in the field of recovery, and experiencing the benefits of recovery, Sam approaches each client with a personal understanding and compassion. He has firsthand experience in the process of developing lasting recovery from addiction.
Before transitioning full time to Ascend in April of 2015, Sam worked as an administrator for an international pharmacological company. Previous experience puts Sam at a unique position of being able to assist clients to transition into the rigor of everyday life. As a Residential Director, Sam oversees programming at our sober living and is intimately involved at our transition location. Programming includes helping clients build a resume, preparing for job interviews, balancing a budget, and engaging in community involvement. Sam is an avid gardener and each year plants with the clients a variety of flowers and produce. Being able to care for and harvest from a garden is a favorite analogy to grow and develop in life. Sam is actively involved in the local sober community, and helps clients integrate into that valuable resource.
Sam also assists in our alumni aftercare program, coaches our winning sober softball team, helps plan alumni events, and serves as a resource to the alumni of Ascend. Sam and his wife recently welcomed a baby boy into their lives, and are grateful to be parents. Sam has a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education from Utah Valley University and is grateful to work in that field of study.
Job Titles:
- Residential Director - Eagle View
Shianne has worked with Ascend Recovery and in the world of addiction for years. Her favorite part of the job is witnessing the journey of change and growth each client undertakes. As Patient Care Coordinator at Transitional House, Shianne helps model and teach budgeting, goal setting, personal nutrition, and other essential life skills during the formative months of early recovery. Using her previous work experience as a hiring manager, Shianne helps coach clients on interview skills and resume building. Like any other skill, finding the right opportunity in early recovery takes practice and preparation. Shianne helps clients bridge the gap between early recovery and new commitments. Shianne is the mother of three boys and in her spare time loves to camp and connect with the great outdoors.
Job Titles:
- Medical Director
- Psychiatrist
Dr. Wiet is an integrative developmental psychiatrist with expertise in holistic treatment of trauma-addiction, dual diagnosis, and complex psychiatric disorders. She synthesizes functional medicine principles, honed therapeutic skills (trauma-informed, psychodynamic and EMDR trained), and allopathic medical training to provide comprehensive treatment for optimal healing and conservative use of medication.
Working with diversity of patients and colleagues, some highlights across her career include: Trauma-Resiliency Collaborative (TRC, founder and chair), author of the Health-Resiliency Stress Questionnaire (HRSQ), Psychiatric Consultant (Clinics of Utah, Dept. of Health: Primary Care Integration Project), sequential Medical Directorships (University of Utah and community mental health organizations), Course Director of Adolescent Addiction (UofU), and educator/presenter on trauma-resiliency and adolescent addiction (locally, regionakky, and nationally).
Dr. Wiet is Adjunct Volunteer Faculty (Assistant Professor) at the University of Utah (Dept. of Psychiatry) and partakes active roles on community-based committees, and is an active board member of the Alumni Board School of Medicine (UofU) and the Academy on Violence and Abuse (AVA). She has received many awards for teaching, service, initiative, advocacy and excellent of care. She graduated from Northwestern University Medical School and trained at the U of U in General Psychiatry and Child/Adolescent Psychiatry (fellowship). She holds three American Medical Board certifications: General Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Addiction Medicine. She is a member of several professional organizations, most recently Institute of Functional Medicine. Dr. Wiet has been with Ascend since 2016.
Vicky has lived a life of art. Attending both BYU and USU, she has a teaching degree and an Art Endorsement through the State of Utah. Vicky has taught Art in high schools, middle schools and privately for 20 years. Her favorite mediums are pen, pencil and watercolor. She is expanding work in 3-dimensional "woodsy walls" - bringing a little of the outside in. Vicky has a deep passion for working with people through art and helping people discover (or re-discover) the joy of the creative process.
Vicky has a love of the outdoors, horses, dogs and running/hiking mountain and sandy trails. Vicky is married with five adult kids, and a granddaughter. Other interests include: Pickleball, paddle boarding, skiing, gardening, traveling and going to lunch. Vicky is always up for an adventure.