BHG Recruits Top Talent: New Regional Clinical Directors
By Samson Teklemariam, LPC, CPTM, VP, Director of Clinical Services
Perhaps the most frustrating part of our work is trying to serve patients who have clinical needs that vary in intensity and complexity. Sometimes they have a higher level of Substance Use Disorder care (e.g. an IOP) while other times those needs can involve addressing co-occurring mental health conditions. When someone needs help beyond what we can provide, we have to help them navigate a behavioral health system that is confusing and difficult to access.
At BHG, we’re developing ways to offer more services internally so our patients can find care more easily. This also helps us as it eliminates the complexity of coordinating care with multiple providers. But to stand these programs up, we need talented experts with the skills and experience to launch new initiatives. We already have a talented team of Regional Clinical Directors and we’re proud to be adding depth to this bench.
Please help me welcome our new RCDs:
- Keisha Haynes, MS, LCPC-S, District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia
- Marlo Lowe, Arkansas
- Tiara Reddick, Michigan and Rhode Island
- Christine Martin, LMFT, LAC-S, CS, North Carolina, South Carolina and Indiana
- Debra Gray, MSW, LICSW, LADC, Minnesota, Idaho and Iowa
The RCDs provide clinical guidance and quality oversight to ensure our services land the way we intend. For example, a clinical services enhancement initiative to implement IOP can have varying implications from state to state and program to program. A local clinical lead can help customize navigation to fit the need for community stakeholders.
We recognize many of our team members are carrying extra loads right now and we are committed to resourcing them to find a balance between supporting program stability and expanding program capacity. More specifically, Regional Clinical Directors support quality care initiatives led by our Regional Directors by:
- Overseeing the monthly chart auditing and quality scorecard system;
- Reviewing records requests for clinical accuracy before records are sent to requestors;
- Facilitating a peer-to-peer supervision for supervisors weekly meeting;
- Providing clinical trainings;
- Implementing new clinical service initiatives.
This month, we’re spotlighting our newest three RCDs and will do the same for our other two in the February newsletter.
Keisha Haynes, MS, LCPC-S, Regional Clinical Director – District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia
As a wife and mother who loves spending quality time with family and friends, cooking, and traveling the world, Keisha is known for solving access to care disparities through innovative clinical program expansion initiatives. She possesses the focus, ambition and energy we were looking for in this role, especially since our treatment centers in DC, Maryland and Virginia are among our most ready to add Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOPs).
Before joining BHG in December 2021, Keisha served as Director of Outpatient Services for a national addiction treatment organization similar to BHG. Her expertise includes leading the implementation of clinical programming for new, short-term and long-term addiction and behavioral health treatment programs where she held various roles. She holds a master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, a Level I Complicated Grief Therapist and a Board Approved Clinical Supervisor. She’s also a Crisis Prevention Institute Certified Instructor of Nonviolent Crisis Prevention Intervention.
After achieving her bachelor’s degree, Keisha took some time to figure out her life path and find her passion. In realizing that she wanted to be able to help people in the ways that she needed during her adolescence, she decided that being a therapist was the best way.
“During that time, I saw the need for people to have someone to talk to and confide in, and I realized that’s what I was for all of my friends,” said Keisha.
After earning her master’s, she moved to Maryland, got married and worked as an in-home mental health counselor covering three counties. She then became one of the first therapists for a residential first responders program where she established groups and rolled out curriculum. But it was her next job that may have prepared her the most to be one of BHG’s newest RCDs.
“I contracted with an agency to roll out an IOP Program and led them through the Joint Commission accreditation process, retraining and working part time as a compliance officer. It was a lot of late nights and paperwork, but that experience and stress helped me go into my next position as a Director of Outpatient Services, where I created and managed a multi-ASAM level of care program where I grew the census from three to 200 in less than two years.”
“I’m grateful for this opportunity that BHG has offered me. Every day is exciting! As I’m learning, my hope for my role is for each individual in my region to feel supported. Oftentimes, people leave because they don’t feel supported by management. So my main goal is not just about affecting patients and bottom-line numbers, but that employees feel supported to go out and support our patients so that we can carry out the mission together.”
Marlo Lowe, ADC, LADAC, Regional Clinical Director – Arkansas
For many of our Arkansas teammates, Marlo already felt like part of the family because she trained them in various professional development topics. With her now-adult son, Jaylen, being her top accomplishment, her deep gratitude, sense of humor and a passion for helping people overcome addiction and having a second chance at life after incarceration has led her to achieve multiple degrees and certifications, grow her career, become a college instructor and a community leader. In fact, soon we’ll be able to address her as Dr. Lowe once she completes her Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership with an emphasis in Behavioral Health.
Born in Memphis but spent her professional career in Arkansas, Marlo has 31 years of experience in counseling and behavioral health with 10 of those years in leadership roles. She is an Internationally Certified and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor and an instructor for the Addictions Studies Program at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. and has a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, a master’s degree in Rehabilitation Counseling, and a post master’s Certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy.
“When I was an undergrad, I wanted to be a juvenile probation officer,” said Marlo. “I’ve been told I missed my calling to be an attorney. Although I was never a probation officer, I supervised them in my first leadership role. I went into the field as a counselor with my first job a boys detention facility. After a few years, they closed and I started working at the Department of Corrections as a general population counselor. When they had an opening in the Substance Use Treatment Program, I applied. I ended up loving it and have stayed on that path all this time. There are lot of good people who are incarcerated and struggling with addiction. When I’m working with them, I’m in my element.”
“What I want for my role is limitless. I can’t even conceive what the impact will be because the company is growing at such a rapid pace, and the inclusiveness of the clinical component is so refreshing. I’ve worked in mental health environments where substance use wasn’t a part of the focus, but it was just as prevalent. It’s great to see an organization embrace the clinical best practices and want to learn and grow. I’m just glad to be on the train. I’m so grateful to be here at BHG. These are good people.”
“With 10 years of leadership experience, I’ve had trials and errors and have learned a lot about understanding relationships, behaviors and building rapport. We should always strive to continue to learn because we should never think that we know everything. I understand the importance of knowing how a leader is supposed to carry themselves and balance between understanding the plight of the frontline staff and the vision and mission of the organization. I always see both sides. You have to have foresight to know where you need to go and not just stay where you are.”
Tiara Reddick, MA, LPC, CSAC, Regional Clinical Director, Michigan, Rhode Island
Tiara is supporting some of our newest teams in Michigan and Rhode Island where two of our amazing Regional Directors, Many Malone-White and Kristin Bessette, have been holding the clinical and operations sides together since the acquisition. She was a shoe-in from the beginning of the interview process because of her aptitude in training and her experience in auditing and improving programs in her previous job as Director of Quality Improvement.
As a native of Milwaukee, WI, who now resides in Northern Virginia since 2003, Tiara graduated from Hampton University and earned a master’s in Professional Counseling from Liberty University. She has grown her career and clinical expertise over the last 13 years supporting individuals in various capacities, from private and public mental health sectors to counseling, program and professional development.
Tiara is also a community leader serving Leadership Prince William, a nonprofit organization with a mission to engage and inspire individuals, organizations and alumni to enrich the community through collaborative leadership. She also mentors underprivileged youth in the Washington, D.C. area with Capital Partners for Education and was selected as a 2020 Conference Speaker for the Just Ask Conference for families and survivors of human trafficking.
“After graduating from Hampton, I actually started out in my field, which is rare, in Community Mental Health,” said Tiara. “I was working on programs for adults, children and families who needed intensive in-home services. I did a lot of my skills training and preceptor hours with Youth for Tomorrow which really impacted my life and work. They always say ‘never say never.’ I distinctly remember my mentor, Dr. Tinsley, asking me during my interview if I had worked with the sex trafficking population. I said, ‘No.’ He said, ‘Would you?’ I said, ‘No.’ Over time, it became my heart’s passion. I had the opportunity to be trained by amazing mentors and working with individuals with complex trauma from sex trafficking. That’s where I started dealing with substance use disorder. It was a significant part of many of their lives because they were just trying to survive and manage the pain of what they were going through.”
“I helped set up the substance use program there and developed training programs on how to assess what the individuals were dealing with and what the adequate treatment was to help with their day-to-day function. It was tough work,” said Tiara. “It opened doors with the FBI and DEA in LA and San Diego to help survivors of sex trafficking not return to that lifestyle. That collaboration was monumental for me. It stretched my confidence, taught me to be flexible and work with individuals of various backgrounds, social services and law enforcement agencies.”
“That experience led me to look into other sectors of work. I branched into outpatient services in Fairfax. It was a good change because the previous work can really take a toll on you. While there, the structured setting helped me with productivity and effectiveness in a small government sector.”
“I became licensed during the pandemic. I had set that aside and stepped back from management to dedicate time to homeschooling my children and be there for their educational years. As soon as I passed my licensure, I decided it was time to get back in,” said Tiara.
“I landed a Clinical Director job at an eating disorder clinic, but I didn’t feel called to the work. I knew that my purpose there was to help bring structure to the program. When I saw this BHG job, I knew it was something I’d love to do and where I could make an impact on the clinical world.”
“My passion is helping train and develop future leaders. That is truly my heart’s passion for this role. I hope to bring support and structure to our clinical services and to my teammates one day at a time. I want to build that bridge between the clinical and the operational side. I’m so excited about it.”
