THE LOTUS CENTER - Key Persons
Bio
Amy is an energetic and compassionate psychotherapist who takes a holistic approach to therapy.
She has experience working with individuals, couples, children, and families with a variety of issues and in numerous settings. She specializes in working with substance use disorders, mood disorders, eating disorders, trauma, behavioral issues and enjoys utilizing play therapy to work with children.
Amy is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She has successfully provided this treatment to many clients.
Amy graduated with her Bachelor's degree in 2012 from the University of Phoenix and her Masters Degree in 2014 from the University of Phoenix.
In her free time Amy loves to spend time with family and her Labradoodle, Lilly. She loves physical fitness, hiking and being in nature. Amy believes connecting to oneself through fitness is an important component to improving well-being.
Bio
Aubree Payne, LCSW, has worked at the Lotus Center in a number of capacities. While working on her Master's in Social Work at the University of Utah, Aubree was an Intern at Lotus and then worked part time as an Administrative Assistant supporting our clients with scheduling and billing.
She completed her undergrad in Psychology at Utah State University and graduated from the University of Utah College of Social Work with her MSW in 2018.
Currently Aubree is certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapy to support individuals who have suffered from traumatic experiences.
Aubree loves seeing the resiliency that each client possesses as they work through their own unique challenges.
In her free time Aubree is usually playing with her two dogs, Benji and Jax. She also enjoys the outdoors, reading, and practicing mindfulness.
Bio
Blakely has been a therapist intern at The Lotus Center since early 2023. She is passionate about learning new therapeutic modalities and applying evidence-based methods to support her clients to be effective in their daily lives. She is also dedicated to providing compassionate and empathetic care to enhance the well-being of her clients.
Blakely has experience working in both Neurodevelopment and Behavioral Health. Prior to her work at The Lotus Center, she worked as a victim's advocate with the Rape Recovery Center of Utah. She is certified in UCASA Training for Rape Crisis Advocacy as a Sexual Assault Counselor.
She is currently completing her Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Adams State University, and she completed her undergraduate work at the University of Utah with two Bachelor of Science Degrees; one in Psychology and one in Criminology.
In her free time, Blakely enjoys traveling, spending time with her family and dogs, and indulging in self-care.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Bio
As a therapist, Charlie specializes in serving children, adolescents and their families who are dealing with sexual and physical trauma, substance use disorders, mood disorders, anxiety, delinquency, ADHD and other related behavioral health issues.
Charlie is also a trained NOJOS affiliate provider. He offers individual, group and family therapy and draws from his extensive experience as a social worker in the public sector where he worked with Juvenile Courts and Juvenile Justice Services.
Charlie is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and received his Bachelor of Science in Psychology with a minor in Criminal Justice from Weber State University, and later a Master degree in Forensic Social Work from the University of Utah.
We feel especially fortunate to have Charlie on our team because he is truly one of the very kindest, most hard working people on the planet, and also--he's a pretty funny guy.
Bio
Dawn was born in Minnesota but grew up in Salt Lake City. She attended parochial school starting in first grade all the way through high school. (She is still afraid of Sister Eileene.) She graduated from The University of Puget Sound in 1992 with a Bachelor's degree in business.
Dawn has spent the last 23 years as a stay at home mom raising her 3 amazing children, which include twins. She and her husband spent many years helping with homework and attending various sporting events.
In her free time she loves attending the University of Utah gymnastics meets.
Dawn is pretty sure that she was displaced at birth and belongs with her people on a sunny warm beach somewhere. Since she isn't on a beach somewhere, she is extremely excited for the opportunity to be a part of The Lotus Center Team.
Dr. Cindy Wasek leads our team of mental health practitioners, using the principles of integrative medicine to provide healing and wellness to people of all ages. Integrative medicine utilizes traditional as well as alternative treatment modalities.
With her whole heart, Cindy believes in integrative health care that is patient-centered and fundamentally driven by health promotion and prevention strategies to achieve wellness.
Cindy has earned her Doctorate in Nursing Practice (DNP), Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), and is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) since 1997.
Job Titles:
- Clinical Mental Health Counselor
Bio
Gina Searle is a Clinical Mental Health Counselor (CMHC) who is passionate about supporting others on their journey toward greater wellbeing. Gina wholeheartedly believes the therapeutic relationship to be a collaborative process that co-creates an environment of trust and safety and enables her clients to access their own inner wisdom.
Gina works part time at The Lotus Center as a Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapist. She has had extensive training in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, having completed the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) training in MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy and the Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP) training with Polaris Insight Center. Over the last few years, Gina has collaborated with other clinics in the Salt Lake Valley to provide quality KAP services to clients.
She has been in private practice since 2003, primarily working with adults and couples. She is a Certified Sex Therapist (CST), a Certified Gottman Method Couples Therapist (CGT) and a Certified Integrative Body Psychotherapist (IBP). You can find out more about Gina's work at www.ginasearle.com
As a transplant to Utah from Indiana, Gina takes every opportunity to be out in the desert and mountains. Spending time in nature--camping, hiking, biking, or relaxing is where she feels most at home. She enjoys reading, engaging in movement practices and exercise, and spending time with her family. Most recently she is learning to wake surf, and despite the cold water, she loves it!
Bio
Josh graduated from the University of Utah in 2011 with his Master of Social Work degree and has been working in a clinical role ever since.
He had the unique opportunity to receive one-on-one intensive mentorship with a Behavioral Tech advanced trained and Certified therapist in the Comprehensive Dialectical Behavior Therapy model from 2011-2016.
Job Titles:
- Psychedelic Clinical Chaplain, Death Doula
Bio
Jude's training in clinical chaplaincy began during her residency at Kaiser Permanente in Vallejo, California in 2020. Her clinical residency was rooted in neuro-psychoanalytic psychotherapy and incorporated the work of Mark Solms and Jaak Panksep. She served as the palliative care chaplain while working at Kaiser. Currently, she works in Salt Lake City at Primary Children's Hospital as part of their spiritual care team. She is also a volunteer and bereavement coordinator at Quality Home Health and Hospice.
Jude holds a Ph.D. in education and has worked as a tenured anthropology professor for a number of years before dedicating herself to end of life work and spiritual care. Her personal spiritual practice includes various aspects of shamanism, and she has worked with Peruvian and Celtic shamans during her studies of plant medicine.
With regard to psychedelic work, she is well versed in traditional induction in the form of shamanic journey work, which she has been doing for the past 20 years. She focuses specifically on integration not only for her clients, but for herself as well. She is working toward certification as a psychedelic assisted therapist at the California Institute of Integral Studies.
She has also been working as an End-of-Life Doula and training others in this sacred work for the past six years. Often, when she works in the area of death, dying, and grief, she combines formal death doula, and chaplaincy training with her shamanic practice. See more of her work in this area at: http://mydeathdoula.com
Her personal spiritual practice involves an interesting mix of many traditions (her O'Higgins family extending far back to the druid poets of Ireland and her powerful Mestizo family from New Mexico), and she often calls on her ancestral lineages for guidance.
Bio
Julie has been a long time advocate for people with disabilities, mental health, yoga, family, and community. (She even bought the house she grew up in.) She is the former executive director of Yoga Forward and loves helping people find a more happy peaceful life through yoga and meditation.
She enjoys spending time with family, music of all genres, sparkly things, and babies. She has a passion for helping people to see their worth and believes kindness through example has a ripple effect beyond measure.
Bio
Kellie received her bachelor's degree at Westminster College and her Master's of Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Walden University in Minnesota.
She has 19 years of experience working with individuals who have autism and specializes in working with kids. She uses a variety of evidence-based therapeutic modalities including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and uses a person-centered approach to assist clients with being able to see themselves more clearly and to be able to stay in touch with their true self.
In her spare time she likes to spend time with her family, read, and do crafts, and she loves the outdoors and going camping.
Job Titles:
- Administrative Assistant, Phlebotomist
- Member of the Lotus Support Team
Bio
We asked Lindi to help us write her bio and the first thing she said was: "I absolutely love life".
As an empowerment coach and a member of the Lotus support team, Lindi draws from a personal trauma from a few years ago when she was injured in a fire while camping. Through this experience, Lindi tells us she has dedicated her life to healing myself both physically and emotionally, a path that promotes her passion for assisting others in their pursuit of healing.
Lindi is deeply dedicated to working in service to others and we are so fortunate to have her on our team.
Patrick McGuinness is a highly skilled and compassionate therapist specializing in trauma treatment and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). With a strong academic foundation, including a Bachelor's degree in psychology and biology from Plymouth State University and a Master's degree in applied psychology from Antioch New England, Pat has dedicated over 25 years to helping individuals overcome the challenges of traumatic experiences. He works with clients dealing with mental health concerns ranging from depression and anxiety to ADHD and relationship
Bio
Peggy is an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN), providing Psychiatric Medication Management services at The Lotus Center.
Peggy has been involved with nursing for the past 24 years, 19 of those years as an APRN and all of her nursing career has been in the field of psychiatry. She began her career as an inpatient nurse at the University Psychiatric Hospital child and adolescent units where she discovered her love of the child and adolescent population.
Her career has moved her into a variety of communities throughout the State of Utah including managing adolescents and children through the Utah Juvenile Justice System and Foster care community where she enjoys helping children in these populations to discover their potential and value to be able to move forward and become successful people.
Peggy's treatment approach is to treat the whole child and provide the patient's family with the tools needed to best meet their child's needs. Peggy values taking a team approach with the whole treatment team at the patient's disposal to assist in meeting the child's goals.
Peggy feels fortunate to be a mother to three wonderful boys who keep her and his supportive husband running in every direction, from one sport to the other. She wouldn't have it any other way.
Bio
Randi Hollis is board certified as a Family Nurse Practitioner and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner.
She completed her bachelors and Master of Science in nursing at Graceland University in Independence Missouri, and Psychiatric Specialty at the University of Cincinnati.
Randi has experience with all ages and has experience both inpatient and as an outpatient provider. Randi takes a team approach to patient care and is open to alternative therapies as well as traditional medicines.
In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, and her mini farm.
Bio
Sarah earned her Nurse Practitioner Degree in 2017 from Simmons University in Boston Massachusetts. She is a board certified Family Nurse practitioner with experience in psychiatry.
She earned her Registered Nurse Degree from Weber State University and has experience in pediatrics and neonatology.
Sarah specializes in treatment for all ages. She has been working in outpatient Community Mental Health since 2017. Sarah uses a team approach to her treatment of mental health and really feels that treatment needs to include the mind, the body and the spirit. She treats mental health using traditional and alternative methods.
In her free time she loves to spend time with her husband and family. She loves to sing any time she can and loves to laugh and quote movies.
Job Titles:
- Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Bio
Shawn is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker working with children, adolescents, and adults supporting a variety of behavioral health needs including depression, trauma, attachment disorders, addiction, and sexual abuse.
Shawn's clinical practice is a client-centered approach to therapy, drawn from a deeply compassionate space. He draws from a unique combination of education and hands-on experience, and he enjoys collaborating with clients using a holistic approach that fosters health and wellness.
Shawn is deeply committed to a therapeutic approach that builds on the values and strengths of the individual as they work to achieve meaningful change.
He completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology and a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Utah.
Shawn has worked with non-profit agencies, leading psychiatric treatment facilities and private counseling centers to provide progressive mental health and addiction treatment.
Shawn is passionate about his family, the desert, and finding the perfect song for each moment, which is why we lovingly named him the DJ of the Lotus Center.
So, if you have any suggestions for jams in our waiting room, DJ Shawn is the person you want to talk to.
Bio
Before coming to the Lotus Center, Tina worked in healthcare staffing for 10 years.
During that time placing physicians and advanced practice providers domestically and internationally. Bringing her experience working with providers and supporting a medical practice to The Lotus Center feels like the culmination of experience and intention.
Tina is also a Licensed Massage Therapist with a practice here in The Lotus Center. She specialized in restorative and recovery massage as well as offering Thai Massage.