THE MENNINGER CLINIC - Key Persons

Alton Bozeman

Job Titles:

Director, Outpatient Assessments
Director, Outpatient Assessments / Assistant Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine

Andrea Preisinger

Job Titles:

Vice President, Human Resources

Angela A. Koreth

Job Titles:

Program Director of Menninger 's Partial Hospital

Armando E. Colombo - CEO, President

Job Titles:

Chief Executive Officer
Member of the Executive Team
President

Armando E. Colombo began his tenure as president and chief executive officer at The Menninger Clinic on September 16, 2019. In 2021, he was named to the Houston Business Journal's Most Admired CEOs List. Colombo has spent the majority of his career in health care management. Prior to joining Menninger, he had most recently been executive vice president and chief operating officer at Sheppard Pratt Health System, the nation's largest private, nonprofit provider of mental health, substance use, developmental disability and social services. Before joining Sheppard Pratt in 2017, he served as chief executive officer of Vanderbilt Stallworth Rehabilitation Hospital and interim chief executive officer of Vanderbilt Psychiatric Hospital at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. Colombo also has experience in other specialty hospitals, health insurance and professional services. He earned his bachelor's degree in Business Administration from St. Louis University.

Benjamin Berry

Job Titles:

Staff Psychologist
Staff Psychologist / Assistant Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Benjamin Berry, PhD, is a staff psychologist at The Menninger Clinic. He is also an assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. He has special expertise in performance-based personality testing, dimensional assessment of personality functioning and psychoanalytic psychotherapy. Current research activities include examining the validity of Rorschach variables as measures of visuospatial construction and examining the reliability and validity of performance-based measures of personality and psychopathology. His research has been published in the Journal of Personality Assessment. He has presented on such topics as mentalization-based therapy, predicting narcissistic behavior and learning psychological testing through team-based therapeutic assessment. Dr. Berry and his co-author were the recipients of the the 2021 R-PAS Research Study Award for a paper that was published in the Journal of Personality Assessment. He is a member of the Society for Personality Assessment, Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology (APA Division 39) and the Therapeutic Assessment Institute. After earning a bachelor's degree in Psychology from John Carroll University, he earned his doctorate in Psychology from the University of Toledo. He completed a pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral fellowship at The Menninger Clinic. As a northerner, Dr. Berry says he doesn't like the heat of south Texas summers, but he loves the winters here.

Blair Famarin

bf..@menninger.edu

Job Titles:

Business Development at Menninger. She Is Responsible for Developing and Maintaining Relationships With Mental Health Professionals and Treatment Facilities in the Midwest
National Business Development Representative

Before coming to Menninger, Blair worked for a decade at Rogers Behavioral Health and for nearly five years at Chicago Lakeshore Hospital. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Kent State University and her master's degree in Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. In her free time, Blair volunteers with the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago & Northwest Indiana, the Chicago chapter of the Women's Association for Addiction Treatment, OCD Midwest, and the Women's Association for Addictions Professionals, of which she is a founding board member. Blair Famarin, LCSW, works in Business Development at Menninger. She is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with mental health professionals and treatment facilities in the Midwest.

Carlin Barnes

Job Titles:

Staff Psychiatrist
Staff Psychiatrist / Assistant Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine

Carlin Barnes, MD, is a staff psychiatrist on Menninger's Compass Program for Young Adults. She is also an assistant professor in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Barnes is board certified in both adult psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. She has a wealth of clinical experience in diverse settings including teaching hospitals, community mental health, private practice and patient-centered medical homes. Her professional interests include women's mental health, eradicating health disparities, increasing mental health awareness and improving health literacy. Dr. Barnes earned her bachelor's degree at the University of Virginia and her medical degree from Texas A&M University Health Science Center. She completed a transitional internship and residency in adult psychiatry at Harvard Medical School - The Cambridge Health Alliance. She also completed a fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine.

Charlotte Fostey

Job Titles:

Special Events and Donor Relations Manager

Chasee Boyd

Job Titles:

Research Assistant
Research Assistant in Menninger 's Research

Chelsea Adams

Job Titles:

LCSW - S, Is the Program Manager for the Bellaire Location of Outpatient Services

Chelsea Adams, LCSW-S, is the program manager for the Bellaire location of Outpatient Services. Her clinical interests include parenting, perinatal mental health and reproductive issues. She has been trained in motivational interviewing and incorporates cognitive behavioral therapy and dialectical behavioral therapy to address issues such as anxiety, depression, personality disorders, relationship problems and family work. Her style is warm, thoughtful and relatable. Her approach to therapy is integrative and collaborative in order to meet the needs of each individual client. Chelsea earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology from Texas A&M University and her master's degree in Social Work from the University of Texas at Austin. She enjoys reading, spending time with her family and indulging in chips and queso. She loves being at the beach and believes it is good for the soul.

Christi Peters

Job Titles:

Member of the Executive Team
Interim Chief Nursing Officer

Peters has presented nationally on topics that include meeting patients' medical needs while admitted to a psychiatric inpatient facility; interdisciplinary, patient and family-centered care in brain stimulation services; and staff well-being. She is a member of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, American Psychiatric Nurses Association, American Nurses Association and Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing. Peters earned her associate's degree in Nursing from Tyler Junior College and later earned her bachelor's degree in Nursing from the Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. She also earned her master's degree in Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner track) from the Cizik School of Nursing at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. A 2020 recipient of Menninger's Philippa Ashford Above and Beyond Award, Peters says she's proud to work at Menninger because of The Clinic's commitment to making a difference in the lives of our patients, honoring the journey of each patient and working together to promote healing, recovery and resilience.

Christopher Frazier

Job Titles:

Senior Research Coordinator

Christopher Shepard

Job Titles:

Senior Research Coordinator

Cullen Roth

Job Titles:

Member of the Texas Association of Addictions
Recovery Specialist

Cullen Roth is a peer recovery specialist who supports patients as they seek to discover a recovery pathway that works for them. A SMART Recovery facilitator, Cullen is a member of the Texas Association of Addictions Professionals and the Houston Recovery Initiative. He is also a regional and area representative for Refuge Recovery. Cullen says that what makes him proud to work at Menninger is seeing himself in so many of the patients who he works with. "Witnessing change and an individual's discovery of personal truth is profound." He enjoys cooking and eating foods from different cultures, snowboarding, rock climbing and restoring old bicycles. He also owns three reptiles.

Danielle Collins

Job Titles:

Nurse

Danielle is a charge nurse on the Hope Program for Adults and brings more than 25 years of experience to her role.

Daryl I. Shorter

Job Titles:

Medical Director, Addictions Services
Medical Director, Addictions Services / Associate Professor, Menninger Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine

Deborah J. Uselton

Job Titles:

PM / PRC, RSPS - I, MHPS, JI - RPS

Deborah Uselton, PM/PRC, RSPS-I, MHPS, JI-RPS, is a peer recovery specialist on Navigator, Menninger's case-management service, where she supports individuals in recovery from substance use and/or mental health issues during their first 90 days after treatment. She has more than five years of experience in peer recovery. Her training includes community re-entry, medicated assisted recovery support, peer support service and peer specialist supervisor training. Uselton is also a facilitator for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) as well as a member of the Greater Houston chapter of NAMI. As a person in long-term recovery from the challenges of substance use, mental health and re-entry, she feels that it is an honor to be a part of Menninger, where she helps individuals like herself pursue a lifestyle of recovery. It was through using peer support that she was able to alter the course of her life, and on April 9, 2022, she'll celebrate eight years in recovery. In addition, Uselton loves elephants and dogs.

Diane M. Benefiel

Job Titles:

Addictions Counselor

Edward Poa

Job Titles:

Psychiatrist

Elissa Bauer

Job Titles:

LPC - S, Is the Program Director of Menninger 's Residential Treatment Program for Adults

With 12 years of experience, Elissa has special expertise in treating PTSD and trauma, as well as skills in EMDR, dialectical behavior therapy, cognitive processing therapy, and cognitive behavior therapy. She also has experience in addictions counseling and trauma-informed care. Elissa has presented on topics ranging from college students and mental health and community integration for young adults with dual diagnoses to signs a young adult might be struggling with mental health issues. She is a member of Chi Sigma Iota, the international honor society for professional counselors. Elissa earned a master's degree in Counseling from the University of North Texas and a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Texas. In her spare time, Elissa enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and dog, Hank. She also enjoys yoga, travel and visiting Houston museums and restaurants.