Willow Place of Asheville is a place for women who are suffering from addiction to drugs and alcohol and/or eating disorders. We offer a comprehensive medical and therapeutic approach to recovery from addiction and eating disorders to get all of our clients on the road to recovery. We believe in empowering our clients to regain a sense of self-worth and self-love so that they cease the destructive behavior of the past and turn to healthy, sober alternatives. Our dedicated staff is whole heartedly committed to seeing each client thrive and graduate from our program as a brand new person with a bright future ahead. At The Willow Place for Women, we treat each client individually to ensure the best level of care possible, created uniquely for each specific client’s needs.
Willow Place is In Network with Blue Cross Blue Shield.
Willow Place accepts TRICARE.
Dr. Dixie Brown, owner and Executive Director of Willow Place for Women, is an Integrative Medicine Practitioner passionate about helping individuals who seek recovery from substance use and mental health disorders. Through the use of Complementary & Alternative Medicine, she helps her clients feel their best- physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually and guides them in their journey to recovery. Her greatest joy is seeing her clients fall in love with themselves in ways they never imagined possible. Dixie holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Business Management, a Master of Science degree in Counseling Psychology, and a PhD in Mind-Body Medicine specializing in Integrative Mental Health. Dixie has also completed certification in Integrative and Functional Nutrition, Biofeedback, Wellness Coaching and is a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist and Certified Clinical Supervisor. Additionally, Dixie is certified and works directly with the Center for Mind Body Medicine in Washington, DC. Dixie is also the Founder and Board President of The Seraph Fund, an organization that helps provide resources for those seeking recovery, a Board Member of the NC Association of Recovery Residences, and head of the Buncombe County Health and Human Services Patient Brokering work group. Additionally, Dixie is a National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) Certified Personal Trainer and ACE Group Fitness Instructor. In her spare time, she loves spending time with her family and two kitties, hiking, being outdoors, traveling, and taking photos of landscapes and nature.
Allyson Chambers, Certified Addiction Counselor and Certified Recovery Residence Administrator, has been working in the sober living industry since 2008. Originally from New York, Allyson moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 1994. Seeing the need for women’s supportive housing for women seeking recovery, Allyson opened her first sober living home in 2008, The Lilly Pad, a FARR certified recovery residence. The Lilly Pad was one of the original pioneers of safe compliant sober homes for women in South Florida. Allyson is also one of the founding members of FARR (Florida Association of Recovery Residences) with a group of like-minded individuals who wanted safe housing for those recovering throughout the state. Allyson was the President of FARR during its first year and a board member for several years. “This is not a job to me, this is my wonderful life, I get to see women take their lives back and become their own hero”.
Dr. Brady Schroer obtained his Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology with an emphasis in Chemistry at Nebraska Wesleyan University. He attended medical school at Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences in Kansas City. After medical school, he completed his general psychiatry residency at the Menninger School of Psychiatry, an internationally known psychiatric hospital.
After residency, Dr. Schroer worked in a large hospital setting for over five years as a psychiatric hospitalist taking care of geriatric patients, caring for patients with psychiatric issues on the medical floors and ICU (intensive care units), detoxifying clients from alcohol and benzodiazepines, ECT treatment for depression, and served as Medical Director and Chief of Psychiatry.
Dr. Schroer later moved to Western North Carolina in 2007 to become the Medical Director of the inpatient psychiatric unit and the detoxification unit at one of the areas top hospitals and served for seven years in that capacity. Most recently, he has been seeing clients ages 15 and over in sober living environments, residential treatments, and other outpatient settings.
He has a vast experience from all different perspectives of addiction treatment and knows what it is like to be a family member of someone struggling with addiction. Dr. Schroer views addiction as a poor coping mechanism from past emotional pain. This emotional pain manifests as self-hatred, resentments, shame, and extreme negativity, all contributing to the cycle of pain and addiction. He believes addressing the underlying pain is absolutely crucial in order to find sobriety instead of trying to numb the pain with addicting substances and behaviors.
He is extremely compassionate and nonjudgmental and enjoys teaching clients about the addiction process and how to overcome poor habits that are keeping them stuck. Dr. Schroer has learned a lot from the clients he has treated and continues to use this wealth of knowledge to help others move into a peaceful life instead of chaos.
Dr. Schroer is a Christian, loves traveling and playing golf, enjoys all forms of motorsports and photography. He loves spending time with his wife and family in the great outdoors. He feels especially fortunate to call Asheville his home!
Jeremy is a Physician Assistant with nearly 20 years of experience. With backgrounds in multiple specialties, he pulls from a rich source of knowledge in order to get to the root of the problem/disease with Lifestyle Medicine and Psychiatry. As a published peer-reviewed writer and many conference presentations, he enjoys continued learning for the benefit of his patients.
Since 2016, as Administrative Assistant and now Program Director, 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.
Rachel Wurzman is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate serving as a Primary Therapist at Willow Place. She is passionate about helping clients to become conscious of an inner source of healing and transformation, to release burdens from self-stigma, to recover from trauma and attachment injuries, and to connect more deeply and healthily with their true Self and with other people. Borrowing from transpersonal therapy, Compassionate Inquiry, Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy, and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) therapies, Rachel starts with the assumption that brains, minds, and bodies are part of an integrated system with innate healing capacities that can be come fragmented due to trauma. She utilizes modalities that view depressive, addictive, and eating disordered behaviors as normal human responses to trauma and attachment injuries. With these methods, Rachel takes a systemic approach to treatment that leverages the nervous systems’s innate mechanisms to rewire itself back to health and wholeness. Beyond her work at Willow Place, Rachel was a co-founder and serves as the Director of Science on the Board of Directors for SeekHealing, an Asheville-based non-profit providing social health interventions to reduce deaths of despair. She also consults with various government and industry groups on matters related to social health and ethical neurotechnology development. Dr. Wurzman is the author of many publications concerning neuropsychiatric spectrum disorders, chronic pain, substance abuse, and social health, including a chapter on addiction in a top-selling trauma counselling textbook. Rachel has appeared on numerous podcasts about addiction and social connection, and was a 2017 TED speaker. Rachel earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University, an M.S. in Social Administration from Case Western Reserve University, an M.S. in Physiology and Biophysics from Georgetown University with a concentration in evidenced-based complementary and alternative medicine, and a B.A. in Neuroscience from Smith College.
Karen Jordan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate and Licensed Clinical Addictions Specialist Associate who grew up in Atlanta, Ga. As a young adult, Karen lived in Washington, DC for a bit and eventually made it to Asheville in 2004. She has worked in behavioral health, education, and sales over the years. In 2016, she felt called to contribute more towards her community’s overall health. So, she went back to school to study clinical social work. She completed her degree from Simmons University in 2019 with a focus on addiction, trauma, and group therapy.
Karen’s clinical practice is founded in her belief that everyone has the capacity to heal and is worthy of support. When people come together to support one another in group settings, they are embodying some of the most divine aspects of what it is to be human and prove that together, all things are possible. Karen has an incredible fondness for nature and singing and sometimes mixes the two.
Melissa is originally from central Illinois. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition from Southern Illinois University. She went on to complete a combined dietetic internship and Master of Science in Health and Human Performance from McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
During a road trip with her husband, they discovered the northwest part of North Carolina and absolutely loved the beauty and culture. They moved here in November 2019 and have been enjoying the beautiful scenery and outdoor activities like hiking, mountain biking, and backpacking ever since.
Over time, working with patients in hospitals, it became clear that body size and health are not always related. Also, the effects diet culture can have on people and their health are not always positive. Melissa believes in the importance of building a healthier relationship with food and enjoys encouraging an anti-diet culture. She also believes health exists at every size. Additionally, Melissa enjoys finding new recipes and experimenting with them in the kitchen.
Tai is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Board-Certified Registered Art Therapist. A graduate of Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, she has spent over 16 years working with adolescent girls and women with a strong focus on trauma and identity development. Tai spent two summers in Africa doing art therapy with ex-child soldiers, as well as Sri Lanka doing crisis intervention work immediately after the Tsunami. She is passionate about creating spaces that encourages others to brave their truth and be the alchemist of their own story.
Zakit graduated from Mars Hill University with a Bachelor of Social Work in May of 2021, and employs a strength-based philosophy in her work. Zakit worked for a Supportive Housing First Model Program in NJ as well as running wellness-based groups for the Mental Health Association in NJ prior to moving to NC in 2016. Zakit specializes in helping people learn to self-regulate and is a Certified WRAP-Wellness Recovery Action Plan– Facilitator. Zakit believes very strongly that everyone is capable of growth, and that recovery is possible and attainable for everyone. Zakit is incredibly happy to be joining the staff at Willow Place for Women and to have this opportunity to share with clients’ skills she has learned. Zakit is an avid cook, a proud mother of a 28-year-old son, and has happily made the transition from Jersey Beach Girl to Mountain Woman.
Sara received a Bachelor of Science in Human Development & Family Studies from The University of NC – Greensboro and a Master of Science in Human Development from Virginia Tech. Her research and professional interests include intimate partner violence, gender, sexuality, women’s issues, and addiction recovery. After working as a mobile crisis worker in Blacksburg Virginia, Sara became a college professor and for the last 11 years has been teaching Sociology & Psychology. After developing an addiction to alcohol, she entered treatment and is blessed to be living a life in recovery. This experience led her to working with those also struggling with addiction and she is passionate about helping women embark on a recovery journey of their own. Sara loves the beautiful mountains of Asheville and enjoys spending time with her partner and children hiking, exploring nature, coloring mandalas, and visiting as many local coffee shops as possible.
I was born and raised in Asheville, NC. I have two beautiful and amazing boys. I’m a firm believer in the four dimensions of recovery which are Family, Health, Employment and Housing; all of which helped me become the person I am today. I believe in helping others overcome their addiction no matter what it is, and helping them become successful in life. I have seen my fair share of alcohol addiction. I was very persistent and eager in overcoming my addiction due to my kids looking for guidance. I have been in recovery for several years which was the best thing I could have done with my life. In my spare time I love to ride or walk the parkway and meditate and just enjoy life.
Melissa was born in Charlotte but grew up in a small town called Bessemer City, NC. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Forensic Science, minoring in Criminal Justice. Melissa has been in recovery since 2017, it is her gratitude and 12 step work that have led her to this career of working with others seeking recovery. Melissa loves to give back and help others to see that there is hope and we do recover! Melissa has 2 older children who are pursuing dreams of their own. She also has a dog named White Dog and in her free time she loves camping, hiking, and backpacking and her best friend is her Dad.
Dixie Brown, co-founder of Willow Place for Women, was born and raised in Asheville, North Carolina, later moving to Southern Florida to pursue her career in addiction treatment. Once in Florida, she met up with her future business partner, Allyson Chambers – a like-minded woman with a similar interest in addiction recovery and recovery from eating disorders. Together the two women worked to establish what would soon become one of North Carolina’s premier female-specific treatment centers. Thus, the Asheville location was born, and has, to this day, helped innumerable women successfully overcome their addictions and dual diagnosis disorders.
