Our Treatment Center for Women–By Women

As owner and executive director of Willow Place in West Palm Beach, FL and Asheville, NC, Dixie’s vision has been to reach clients struggling with mental health disorders from a holistic approach and to provide gender-specific treatment that addresses core issues which have led clients to substance dependence, eating disorders and other co-occurring disorders. Dixie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Business Management and her Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology. She is currently studying for a PhD in Mind-Body Medicine specializing in Integrative Mental Health. She is also working towards Certification in Biochemical and Nutritional Approaches to Mental Health and Addiction Recovery as well as the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals Certification for Eating Disorder Specialists. In addition to specializing in Substance Abuse and Marriage/Family Counseling, Dixie is certified in EMDR therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a form of psychotherapy used to resolve the development of trauma-related disorders. Dixie is passionate about reaching clients who do not respond to conventional modalities of therapy, primarily through the use of psychodrama, art and expressive therapy she has been able to access these clients to facilitate lasting change.

Susan is a long time clinician with experience in facilitating healing of clients with addiction, trauma, and co-occurring disorders. With a Masters in Counseling and Licensed Professional Counselor in NC, Susan has worked in psychiatry and addiction services for the last 34 years. She trained with Dr. Marsha Linehan in 1993 in the first Dialectical Behavior Therapy training intensive and has integrated DBT and Cognitive Behavior Therapy in most of the therapy she facilitates.

She most recently worked as Coordinator of Women’s Extended Care at Pavillon Treatment Center in Mill Spring, NC from 2009 to early March 2014 specializing in addiction and co-occurring disorders, including trauma. Susan continues her education by working on the NC Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist certification.

Her passion for this work is the healing of women with addiction, trauma, and woundedness through compassion, healthy skills to cope with pain and struggle, and full faith of hope and recovery. She is a 20-year student of meditation, yoga, and spiritual/personal work in her own healing journey from trauma and codependency while practicing the skills she teaches and facilitates in the therapeutic process.

Dr. Holman has served as Medical Director at Pavillon from 2005-2011 and senior consultant and medical adviser until 2014. Dr. Holman provides patient education on the medical aspects of addictions, brain chemistry, and medication management. She received her doctor of medicine at Emory University. She is board certified in internal medicine and addiction medicine. She is VP of the North Carolina Society of Addiction Medicine; has served on the faculty of the Department of Internal Medicine for Carolinas Medical Center, and as Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. She has also served on the board of directors for the North Carolina Physicians’ Health Program.

Mrs. Mitchener is a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner who began working at Willow Place in 2016. Mrs. Mitchener attended The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for undergraduate and graduate education and prior to moving to Asheville worked at Duke University Medical Center in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit and as a Neurology Research Coordinator. Currently, Mrs. Mitchener enjoys working in multiple settings including The Neil Dobbins Center, Willow Place for Women and seeing patients at The Pisgah Institute and treats a variety of psychiatric issues including, but not limited to, depression, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, trauma, Bipolar Disorder, Substance Use Disorders, psychotic disorders and personality disorders. Mrs. Mitchener became a shareholder at The Pisgah Institute in 2018, serving in a leadership and practice management role. While not working, Mrs. Mitchener enjoys many of the great Asheville restaurants, yoga, hip hop and spending time with friends and family.

Robin is a Certified Eating Disorders Specialist at our Asheville facility, and also an Approved Supervisor for clinicians seeking certification through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals™. She has over two decades of clinical experience working with women and their families in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Many of her clients have co-occurring anxiety and mood disorders, substance abuse, and disordered eating and body image issues. In the past, Robin served as Lead Program Therapist in the first eating disorders inpatient psychiatric treatment program in the state of NC. She has facilitated multi-family therapy groups and workshops and provided individual, couple’s, family and group therapy. Intuitive Eating, Interpersonal Therapy, Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy–especially the mindfulness skills–form the foundation for her work. Robin models how humor and laughter are essential in the healing process and teaches clients to use non-judgmental, compassionate curiosity as their pathway to self-awareness and positive change. Licensed to practice in NC as a Licensed Professional Counselor, Robin is also a National Certified Counselor.

Robin holds an MA in Psychology from West Georgia College and a BA in Journalism from UNC-Chapel Hill. Before entering the helping profession, Robin was an advertising copywriter in Atlanta, GA. There she became alarmed about society’s obsession with female appearance and narrow definition of beauty and fitness, which is still harming the self-esteem and health of women and girls. She is a passionate activist for a medical and cultural shift to the Health At Every Size® paradigm. More holistic and inclusive, the HAES® approach recognizes that true health and well-being are multi-dimensional and include biological, psychological, social and spiritual aspects. Robin empowers people of all sizes to make peace now with their bodies and with food, and get on with living a mindful, meaningful and skillful life.

With almost 25 years of 12 step experience, Beverly blends the wisdom of that with her 18 years as a substance abuse counselor. After receiving her Master’s Degree in Agency and Addictions Counseling from the College of William and Mary, Beverly worked at several residential treatment centers, most recently spending over 8 years at Pavillon in Mill Spring, NC. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist and is particularly adept at codependency treatment. Gently guiding patients with warmth, compassion and humor have helped her clients learn to fully embrace themselves as the perfectly imperfect humans they were intended to be. With a strong background in CBT, Bev also uses Solution Focused Therapy, Redecision Therapy and Emotional Freedom Technique, helping clients learn self-efficacy as they quickly release cravings, resentments, and even age-old traumas. Beverly continues to have a great passion and enthusiasm for the beautiful journey called recovery at our Asheville facility.

Michelle is our licensed and registered dietitian serving Willow Place in a multitude of ways. With her extensive background as a certified group fitness instructor, she leads our Walking to Recovery group, as well as creating individual exercise plans to suit the needs of our clients when appropriate. Michelle also leads an intuitive eating class, nutrition class, meal planning workshops, grocery store outings, and supportive meal groups at local restaurants. She has worked for both in-patient and out-patient facilities, as well as having a private practice treating people with eating disorders. Michelle’s approach supporting people to develop a more sustainable relationship with food and fitness is both gentle and realistic. ‘Improvement not perfection’ and ‘slow and steady wins the race’ are two mottos she most likes to use.

holds a master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a BA in English from Florida State University. She is currently enrolled in the Masters of Clinical Mental Health program at Lenoir-Rhyne University, and is registered to become a certified substance abuse counselor. Lisa is passionate about empowering humankind to achieve emotional wellness and sobriety through an integrative, strengths-based approach that embodies the 12 steps. Lisa is active in the Buncombe County recovery community and is a co-founder and Board Secretary of the Asheville 12 Step Recovery Club. She is committed to helping individuals obtain freedom from active addiction while trudging the road to happy destiny.

Kathy has a BA from UNC-Asheville and an MA from UT-Knoxville. She teaches writing as a tool of recovery and transformation, and facilitates a spirituality group that explores and applies unifying principles to recovery. Godfrey knows her primary value to women in transition is to remind them of their innate value and ability to feel joy.

From a young age, I had a strong inner knowing that I wanted to work toward a compassionate understanding of the human condition. By pursuing art therapy and counseling, I have found great meaning in exploring the language of psyche, the human condition, and our innate inner wisdom. I completed my Master’s degree in Art Therapy and Counseling in 2015 at Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM. While in grad school, I developed a strong interest in trauma and grief work and completed a 120-hour certificate program in Trauma, Grief and Renewal. More recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to complete a 14 –month training at The Asheville Center for Contemplative Psychotherapy.

I focus on creating a safe, accepting and non-judgmental atmosphere where clients can move through the therapeutic process at their own pace. I have training in Art Therapy, Sand Play, Emotional Freedom Technique, Dream Tending, Archetypal Psychology and Mindfulness-Based Interventions. I combine traditional talk therapy with art-based approaches, mindfulness, and somatic awareness to help my clients create meaning out of challenging life events, interrupt negative, automatic thoughts, and develop a sense of empowerment in daily living.

It has been an honor to work in this field. I have experience working with chronic and terminal illness, trauma, grief, intimacy issues, co-dependency, depression, anxiety, addiction, PTSD, and with people affected by international and civil conflict.

Since 2016, as Administrative Assistant, Annette Krukowski has compassionately welcomed clients and loved ones to Willow Place. Annette has proven to be indispensable in managing the office, maintaining records, and facilitating communication for therapists, clients, and families.  Her compassionate presence and diverse experience serves Willow Place well.

Annette brings decades of related experience to Willow Place. Annette’s passion for helping others began with her service in a medical unit in Europe. As time went on,  she grew her organization and communication skills in management roles at Fortune 500 retail companies in Detroit.  Annette’s career path led her to customer service in the medical field for many years, gaining valuable experience with the complexities of record keeping and insurance. Annette’s family roots in Asheville go back many generations, and in 2007 she returned to the mountains of her childhood vacations to be with family.

Hello!  I’m Julie King, Outreach Coordinator for Willow Place.

I was born in England and have lived in many countries on our beautiful planet including 18 years in Australia and have been in the States since 2000.  The first thing folks usually notice is that I speak “the other” English!!!  In May 2012 I had the honor of becoming a United States citizen in a truly beautiful ceremony.
My life and employment have contained a lot of diversity from my exposure to a wide range of cultures and experiences.  In Australia I worked in a University with International students and also tutoring Aboriginal students with disabilities.  Quite an amazing experience to be part of transcribing symbology to the written word so students could succeed.

Ohio provided me the opportunity to work as an Employment Services Counselor and Case Manager in the human services field where, amongst many other trainings and certificates, I attained GCDF (Global Career Development Facilitator) certification.  After 13 years, it became time to move back to a warmer climate so I went backpacking for 6 months in the Canadian Maritime Provinces from Maine to far north Newfoundland and Labrador (definitely not warmer!)  Following the hike two weeks of volunteering at The Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont (birthplace of AA co-founder Bill Wilson) lead to a paid position as Assistant to the Founder/Director and when she retired I was selected as her successor.  Being the first Executive Director following a Founder proved to be both very challenging and also equally rewarding.  I was welcomed with open arms when I recently visited to speak at an event there.  Three years later I finally continued south to the warmth.

My first position with Willow Place was as a part time House Manager at The Lilly Pad in St. Augustine.  Flexibility and willingness had me also spending time assisting with case management and being a House Manager at The Lilly Pad in West Palm Beach before being asked if I would be willing to move to Asheville, NC to work for Willow Place.  I now have a North Carolina address, love being in the mountains and enjoying the mild climate here whilst working for an Organization I have grown to really love and respect.  In mid-March this year I transitioned from being a House Manager to full time Outreach Coordinator and I am so, so happy!  It seems my own journey of recovery (23 years in Al-Anon and 16 years of wonderful sobriety thanks to AA), life interests, skills, abilities and combined experiences all come into play on a daily basis in this new position and I am overflowing with gratitude and enthusiasm!

In 2015, I decided to try a new way of life without the use of drugs. I began my journey at Willow Place as a client and after having a year and a half clean, I became a house manager.  Seeing my passion for working with women seeking recovery, I accepted the position as admissions coordinator. I love what I do and I see that my experience allows me to relate to our clients and affords me the opportunity to support families who are travelling the same journey my parents did with me.  I can only keep what I have by giving it away.