Our Team beginzeus 2018-12-11T17:56:33+00:00

Our Dedicated and Experienced Team

Executive Team

Tom Nemat, J.D.
Chief Executive Officer

Ehsan Gharadjedaghi, Psy.D.
Chief Clinical Officer

Joe Milligan
Chief Communications Officer

Tarek Greiss
Chief Operating Officer

Rafael Penunuri, M.D.
Medical Director

Clinical Team

Shahrzad Jalali, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist

Samira Vafadar, Psy.D.
Clinical Psychologist

Soren Shamsian, Ed.D.
Assistant Clinical Director

Erin Garibaldi, M.A.
Psychological Assistant

Bob Weathers, Ph.D.
Recovery Coach

Honey Dixit, Ed.D.
Marriage and Family Therapist

Chandler Burton, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Tessa Sarvis, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Amanda Wancura, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Camille Cox, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Ken Davis, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Maria Morris, RADT1
Client Care Coordinator

Noelle Swanger, LVN, RADT1
Nurse

April Marquez, LVN II
Nurse

Amber Gonzalez, AMFT
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist

Devona Rivera
Client Care Coordinator

Amanda Kim, AMFTi
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist Intern

George Daoud, Psy.D.
Psychological Assistant

Jeremy Williams
Case Manager

Soheila Norolouni, AMFT
Marriage and Family Therapist

Aimee Smith, RADT1
Case Manager

Alexandria Sullivan, RADT1
Life Skills Coach

Gena Doherty
Case Manager

Kanen Davis, RADT1
Support Staff

Kellie-Cuadras, MFTi
Therapist

Lexis Van Acker
EMDR Therapist

Stephanie Stathas
Therapist

Business Development Team

Pej Alaghamandan
Director of Business Development

Marcel Barton-Sabo
Director of Admissions

Sean Ryan
Senior Admissions Coordinator

Taylor Reichelt, RADT1
Admissions Coordinator

Andrea Wiens, CADC, RADT1
Outreach & Alumni Coordinator

Administrative Team

Jeff Hamilton
Director of Operations

Johnnie Aicher
Director of Clinical Operations

Brent Percy
Program Manager

Ashley Garner
Toxicology and EMR Liaison

Nancy Soto
Billing Specialist

Rosario Corona
Billing Assistant

Heather Bastio, RADT1
HR & Compliance Manager

Jay Alayon
Head Chef

Ana Galvan, RADT1
Support Staff

Ramil Antolin
Support Staff

Ruby Alexander-Lee
Support Staff

Nickole Galvez, RADT 1
Support Staff

Staff Group Picture

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Bob Weathers, Ph.D.

Psychologist

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Dr. Bob Weathers holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, and has over his professional career provided tens of thousands of hours of therapy and recovery coaching, particularly to those seeking recovery from addiction.

In addition to having served as founding clinical director of two nationally recognized residential drug and alcohol treatment centers, and now serving as consultant, trainer, and group facilitator to Beginnings Treatment Centers, he also has more than 35 years of experience in educating graduate-level clinicians. Formerly a professor of clinical psychology at Pepperdine University, he has also taught in graduate psychology programs at Loma Linda University, Pacifica Graduate Institute, Argosy University, and California State University, San Bernardino. For the past ten years, he has been Academic Effectiveness Coordinator for the School of Behavioral Sciences at California Southern University in Orange County, including helping lead the university toward full regional accreditation this past year.

Known to his clients and students as Dr. Bob, one area of career-long passion for him centers around holistic, or integrative, approaches to therapy and recovery coaching --- where the entire spectrum of human experience, from body to mind to soul and spirit, is drawn upon for its resources and nourishing contributions to healthful living. Related to this area of career interest and expertise, Dr. Bob has published numerous articles in a broad cross-section of professional books, journals, and edited volumes.

A sought-after speaker, as well as prolific writer, Dr. Bob’s current research areas of interest focus on reducing shame and stigma in addiction and recovery by means of instructing clients and their families about addiction and the brain. His lifelong commitment to education also motivates his constantly working toward creating and sharing success strategies for online learning and recovery-directed aftercare, including providing openly accessible, internet-based resources for training in mindful awareness practices.

Along with his vocational pursuits, Dr. Bob has maintained an active, lifelong involvement in music, including performing locally as a jazz drummer and world music percussionist. Related to this artistic passion, Dr. Bob regularly applies his having studied popular and ethnic drumming for over fifty years by performing and lecturing widely, to both professional and general public audiences, on the connection between musical creativity, personal spiritual development, and emotional well-being.

Johnnie Aicher

Director of Clinical Operations

Johnnie Aicher Beginnings treatment centers

Johnnie is the Director of Clinical Operations at Beginnings Treatment Centers. Johnnie grew up in Southern California and has undergone great struggles in his life since early childhood. Johnnie’s untreated addiction robbed him of many years of his life. Today with his sobriety he loves giving back to people and he finally feels that he doesn’t have to wear a mask anymore. Johnnie knows that by leading a sober life he can put the tough guy stuff away and just finally be himself. Sobriety keeps him from being complacent and he continues to strive for better things. Johnnie’s greatest gifts are his patience and tolerance. He loves to work with troubled young people because he can relate to their struggles. During Johnnies years of using he has seen a lot of death and lost a lot of friends to this disease. He knows that for an addict continued using will only lead to jail, institution or death.

Johnnie’s goal when working with clients is to break the revolving door of recovery. His goal is to not see clients constantly yo-yoing in and out of treatment and sober living. One of his strengths is that he doesn’t judge others as there is not a lot that people have done that will shock him. Johnnie believes that he went down such a bad path in life and was placed here in order for people to learn from his story. His greatest hope is that his experiences will enable other people to learn and make different choices without having to experience everything he went through. Johnnie is well aware that money cannot make you happy as he grew up with a privileged life. Johnnie says his greatest blessings today are his sobriety, his freedom, and the people that he considers his family today. Johnnie is very proud to say that his mother has 31 years sober and is his best friend today.

Addiction tore Johnnie and his family apart for many years and now with sobriety he has been able to get his family back. Everything Johnnie searched for as a child he has now and he would never have it if he and his mother weren’t both sober. He made bad choices most of his life trying to be part of something or trying to be someone he wasn’t in order to fit in. The path that Johnnie took ended up taking his freedom away from him.

Today Johnnie says he loves who he is. He doesn’t act on impulse anymore. Sobriety has enabled Johnnie to hear the word no and be ok with it. He says he has learned in life that it no longer a me thing but a we thing. With recovery, he now feels able to get through any traumatic times and daily trials and tribulations. For so long Johnnie said he used to just sit on his problems and make bad choices but now he is able to think things through and live in the solution and not the problem. While everyone who meets Johnnie can see his intelligence and innate abilities it is obvious he could work in so many different fields. His heart and passion is with helping those in early recovery just as so many reached out to help him in the past. Johnnie knows the importance of family involvement in recovery and is diligent about staying in touch with families and helping to ease the transition into sober living and then back home again. For Johnnie this isn’t a business - this is about saving lives.

Beginnings Treatment Centers in Orange County, California is Johnnie’s home and he goes above and beyond to make everyone feel loved and welcome. Just like a good parent though, Johnnie knows the importance of saying no and setting limits. But he is able to do it in a loving way and teach our clients to learn to set limits for themselves, and to ask for help when needed.