our staff
We came out to The River because of the shortage of mental health services here. Our staff is composed of Family Therapists, Psychologists, Professional Counselors, Social Workers, and post-graduate interns in those professions.
Group Picture
staff members
Carl Combs, Ph.D.
Carl has been a counselor for over 30 years. He integrates low energy neurofeedback, EMDR, and trauma informed psychotherapy.
Carl's Resume. Carl's neurofeedback work. |
Sabrina Dannels, PsyD
Sabrina has been providing therapy to people for 12 years. She received her Bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Diego State and her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Clinical Psychology from California School of Professional Psychology in San Francisco. She is a licensed Psychologist. She provides services in English and Spanish. She began working at Russian River Counselors in 2014 as a post-doctoral intern, and has stayed on as an employee.
She has an integrated approach to therapy incorporating psychodynamic, relational, humanistic and rational perspectives. She integrates aspects of CBT, mindfulness, and a variety of other theories, to fit the current need. She works with a range of ages from toddlers through the elderly. She works with individuals and families in and out of foster care. She works with couples and individuals. She also provides psychological testing and evaluations.
She looks forward to continuing her training in clinical hypnosis, EMDR, dissociative disorders, and Maternal Infant Bonding, at Russian River Counselors.
Sabrina's CV is here.
She has an integrated approach to therapy incorporating psychodynamic, relational, humanistic and rational perspectives. She integrates aspects of CBT, mindfulness, and a variety of other theories, to fit the current need. She works with a range of ages from toddlers through the elderly. She works with individuals and families in and out of foster care. She works with couples and individuals. She also provides psychological testing and evaluations.
She looks forward to continuing her training in clinical hypnosis, EMDR, dissociative disorders, and Maternal Infant Bonding, at Russian River Counselors.
Sabrina's CV is here.
Steve Frankel, PhD, JD
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Steve Frankel is a Board Certified Clinical in Forensic Psychologist and an Attorney at Law, who practices both professions in San Francisco's East Bay and North Bay. A past Director of Clinical Training and current Clinical Professor of Psychology at USC, he began recognizing childhood trauma in his adult patient case-load in 1980 and has specialized in working with that population ever since. He joined the Int'l Society for the study of Trauma & Dissociation in the 1990s and was the consultant to the Trauma Program at Del Amo Hospital from 1993 to 2001. He was President of the ISSTD in 2002 and has been active in developing and teaching courses in trauma treatment as well as publishing chapters in books and professional journals in the trauma field. As an attorney, he represents health professionals involved in licensing board actions and consults with mental health colleagues facing a variety of legal challenges. He developed Practice Legacy Program, LLC, for transitioning practices of colleagues upon retirement, death or disability, and has spearheaded an effort to protect health care professionals who suffer from degenerative neuro-cognitive disorders from ending their careers with licensing board actions. |
Maz Karandish, PsyD
Maz Karandish is interested in all modalities of healing. Psychotherapy, however, has become a central focus on his path. Maz successfully completed his PsyD (Doctor of Psychology Degree) at Antioch University in Santa Barbara in 2019. His approach is flexible, client centered, and utilizes mindfulness-based interventions at every point of the journey towards healing. In addition, Maz is an active musician and performer who tours nationally and internationally.
The ultimate vision is to create a center for healing where individuals can engage with course in mindfulness, meditation, music, and body-based practice in addition to individual and group psychotherapy services. There also lies a deep desire to travel, lecture, and present on relevant clinical topics in all four corners of the world.
Maz's resume
Breeze Holloway, MFT
Diana AKA "Breeze" Holloway is an LMFT who has been at Russian River Counselors since joining the staff in 2008 as a trainee. She completed her trainee-ship and internship and was licensed in 2012. She has training in hypnotherapy, EMDR, neurobiology, mindfulness, attachment, parenting and relationship work. She works with children, families, adolescents, adults and couples. She is a certified Domestic Violence counselor and facilitates anger management groups .She has also facilitated parenting support groups and worked with parents, adoptive or natural, of children who have suffered trauma and/or neglect resulting in attachment difficulties. She can provide Mother Infant Bonding Therapy via hypnosis or EMDR. Her work includes using EMDR and hypnotherapy to address early trauma and repair developmental injuries with adults.
Her personal history includes living in France as a child and learning to speak French, raising a family that included five children, enjoying cooking, baking and preserving the produce from her son's farm as well as long term interest in and study of Native American arts and culture. Her most recent hobby is enjoying (long awaited) grandchildren.
Breeze's resume
Denise Horner, MFT
Denise is the director of Russian River Counselors. She obtained her BA and MA from Sonoma State University. She works with children and adults. She grew up here on The River and worked at Safeway for 15 years before becoming a counselor. She does EMDR, hypnosis, and lots of straight talk.
Merci Hoskins, M.A.
Merci is a psychological associate with a master’s degree from Meridian University. She is currently working to complete her doctorate in Clinical Psychology from California Southern University. Merci has been coaching healthy living through mindful movement for 30 over years. During her years as a physical health coach, Merci became aware of the important connection between the mind, body, and spirit. This practice is what brought her to the study and practice of psychology in 2016. She believes that one is not independent of the other and that finding the place of balance is an essential step in an individual’s path to healing.
Merci's Resume is here.
Kathleen Kunster, Psy.D.
Kathleen is a psychologist with a doctorate from The California Institute of Integral Studies. She has a masters degree in Divinity from Berkeley's Graduate Theological Union. She was a CPA before becoming a psychologist. She does hypnosis, EMDR, and treatment for trauma survivors, including Dissociative Identitiy Disorders. She also practices in Sebastopol.
Kathleen's resume
Kathleen's resume
Tony Madrid, PhD
Tony has been working at Russian River Counselors for 20 years. Before that he was at the Erickson Institute in Santa Rosa, Pocket Ranch in Geyserville, and Sonoma County Mental Health. He was on the state's licensing board and was an instructor at the University of San Francisco. His specialties are clinical hypnosis, EMDR, dissociative disorders, and Maternal Infant Bonding.
Tony's resume.
Tony's resume.
David Westwood, PsyD
David works with a variety of folks, young and old, individuals and couples, most anyone who feels they are stuck and not sure what to do next…
I encourage people to develop and trust their own wants and needs, and to feel safer with others.
Drawing on a Person-Centered approach to therapy, I also include developmental models, apply attachment, affect, trauma, and learning theories as they seem relevant, and try to use common sense.
After completing a BA, MA, and doctorate in clinical psychology in 2011, all in Sonoma County, David has worked at Russian River Counselors as a psychologist trainee for three years.
My dissertation was a case study on co-occurring grief and meth. addiction, and I have published an article on principles of twelve-step recovery in The Person Centered Journal
With 24 years’ personal experience in twelve-step programs, I find that change in adulthood has been easier with the support of like-minded folks — a family of choice.
My resume is here.
I encourage people to develop and trust their own wants and needs, and to feel safer with others.
Drawing on a Person-Centered approach to therapy, I also include developmental models, apply attachment, affect, trauma, and learning theories as they seem relevant, and try to use common sense.
After completing a BA, MA, and doctorate in clinical psychology in 2011, all in Sonoma County, David has worked at Russian River Counselors as a psychologist trainee for three years.
My dissertation was a case study on co-occurring grief and meth. addiction, and I have published an article on principles of twelve-step recovery in The Person Centered Journal
With 24 years’ personal experience in twelve-step programs, I find that change in adulthood has been easier with the support of like-minded folks — a family of choice.
My resume is here.