Meet Our Compassionate, Experienced Therapists
Our experienced therapists will make it easy for you or your loved one to take the first important step to recognizing and getting help for an eating disorder or self-harm behavior. Our comfortable centers in Columbia, Maryland and Woodley Park, D.C. are renowned for providing therapeutic approaches that work for every body.
Dr. Veronica Franklin – Clinical Director, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Franklin brings over 20 years’ experience in the mental health field as an educator, advocate, therapist, and clinical leader. Her behavioral health career has come full circle from health and wellness through 20 years as a mental health provider. Her initial experiences were as a Kinesiology professor at University of Minnesota and at Texas A & M University. While teaching in academia, she developed a passion for overall wellness and the search to improve behavioral health on college campuses. Over the next 20 years, Dr. Franklin incorporated body-mind wellness into her academic counseling courses, in her spiritual workshops and by utilizing nutritional education in her practice. She has served as a program director in Rockville Maryland, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and has also served as a Fulbright scholar in Vienna, Austria. When she is not helping in the GBLTQIA community, she can be found volunteering as a PATH member for Maryland Therapeutic Riding Center.
Lyssa Barth, LICSW – Outpatient Therapist, DC
Lyssa holds a Master of Social Work degree specializing in mental health with a focus in trauma and addiction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her professional background includes direct clinical therapies, advocacy work, and grant proposal development. Lyssa is trained in therapeutic interventions such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. She has taken those skills literally around the world helping individuals in Uganda, Kenya, and South Korea and pulls from these experiences to create a unique culturally-sensitive person-focused approach. In her free time, Lyssa is an artist, traveler, and volunteer basketball coach.
Kim Machado – LGPC, IOP Therapist, Baltimore Location
While Kim was born and raised in Maryland, she an internationally known as a classical musician. Before turning her sights to psychotherapy, she had performed in spaces such as Carnegie Hall, Ely Cathedral, The Kennedy Center, and Strathmore Hall. Now Kim is a psychotherapist at The Body Image Center who specializes in clients diagnosed with eating disorders, trauma and dissociative disorders. Her favorite quote from Alice in Wonderland specifically captures her therapeutic philosophy, “When you can’t look on the bright side, I will sit with you in the dark.” In her spare time she enjoys playing board games, travelling, and performing classical music.
Ana Radakovic, MA, NCC – PHP Therapist, Washington, DC
Ana is a graduate of George Washington University with a Master’s degree in Art Therapy & Counseling. She has worked in a variety of therapeutic settings with clients of diverse background and identities. Ana deeply believes in the healing power of creative expression, and orients herself therapeutically from a person-centered, trauma-informed perspective. She also uses evidence-based practices, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. Ana is also a 200-Hr Registered Yoga Teacher and incorporates expression through movement and other holistic practices to guide clients in their healing process. Guided by her values of integrity, honestly, and authenticity, Ana strives to create an atmosphere that is warm, non-judgmental, and founded on love and compassion. She believes that it is ultimately the human connection that heals.
Kaitlyn Ringwood, LGPC – Outpatient Therapist, Baltimore
Kate believes that with the proper tools, dedication, and determination, anyone can find peace and recovery from an eating disorder. She hopes to be that person to help you create the environment for healing. Kate uses a combination of techniques to help clients who are struggling with anorexia, bulimia, binge eating, compulsive exercise, and other self-destructive behaviors that often come along with eating disorders, depression, and anxiety.
Adriana Rossel, LGSW – IOP Therapist, Washington, DC
Adriana has a diverse set of experiences in mental health working with people diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders, eating disorders, and trauma such as intimate partner violence. After studying psychology and education at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, she continued her education at Columbia University where she graduated with her Masters of Science in Social Work. Adriana believes body and mind are connected and fills her free time with activities to foster this concept such as teaching yoga, baking bread, spending time with family and friends, and lots of reading.
Megan Rubino, LGSW – Adolescent IOP Therapist, Columbia, Maryland location
Megan graduated from Salisbury University with a BSW, and then from the University of Southern California with MSW. She has worked with adolescents and adults in a variety of settings including addictions, detention, and healthcare as a case manager and social worker. She developed a passion for overall holistic wellness, a core part of her approach with all clients. When not working, she enjoys spending quality time with family, friends, her boxer named Roxy, as well as cycling, drinking lavender lattes, and traveling as much as possible.
For more information, please give us a call at (877)-674-2843 or CLICK HERE to contact us.