Joseph has been actively involved in the behavioral-health, prevention and wellness industry for over 25 years. In the first 15 years of his career, Joseph accumulated ground-up experience working with well known and respected organizations providing adult, young adult and adolescent treatment services. By serving as program director, VP of operations, COO and CEO, he served at all levels of a therapeutic organization. These companies include Sierra Tucson, Father Martin’s Ashley, AIM House, The Bradford Group, Comprehensive Addictions Program and CompCare.

Ashley has worked in the behavioral healthcare industry for 16 years. Her extensive experience includes admissions, case management, strategic planning and customer oriented sales in both the education and behavioral healthcare fields. She has held the positions of Regional Marketing Manager for Psychiatric Solutions, National Sales Representative for The Brown Schools/CEDU, and Director of Marketing for InnerChange.

David has spent the last 15 years working with diverse groups of youth, adolescents and adults in a variety of therapeutic and recreational contexts. He received his Bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Recreation with an emphasis in Wilderness Leadership from Unity College in Maine, and also has a Master’s degree in Experiential Education from Minnesota State University. David brings his passion for creating and implementing empowering experiences for young adults to Insight Intensive.

Karen Eiffert is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Equine Facilitated Mental Health practitioner, and NARHA (National Association for Riding for the Handicapped) certified therapeutic riding instructor. She has a Masters Degree in Social Work from the University of Denver, and nearly 20 years of experience in working with youth and families.

For 13 years, Danni Stephenson has been empowering adolescents and young adults to reach their full potential in a variety of mental health, educational, and recreational settings. Danni earned her degree in Psychology and Family Studies from St. Olaf College. She has since worked for nonprofit and for-profit facilities coordinating activities and life skills groups, mentoring in the milieu, supervising mentors, leading therapeutic and recovery-based groups, as well as developing and implementing innovative program facets.

For 12 years, Jennifer has had the honor of empowering children, youth, adults and families toward greater satisfaction and investment in their lives. Jennifer received a Bachelor of Arts from Carroll College in Helena, Montana and spent the next several years in non-profit management and community building in Boston before returning to graduate school at Smith College and University of Denver. Jennifer received her Master’s degree in Social Work with a focus on clinical work with families. Jennifer is also a registered 200-hour yoga teacher.

Tracy has a passion for working with teens, young adults, and families. She has spent the past 18 years working with young people and families in the areas of addictions and recovery, mental health, family therapy, and independent-living development. Prior to earning a graduate degree in 2000 at the University of Northern Colorado, she worked as a milieu counselor in residential treatment programs and directed an intensive outpatient program for teens and families struggling with substance abuse and addictions.

Kat brings a passion and knowledge of addiction treatment and young adult development to Insight Intensive. She has spent the last 11 years working in a variety of settings in the mental health and addiction fields. Kat earned her master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in couples and family therapy from the University of Colorado at Denver. She has also attained a teaching certification in secondary social studies and is a senior level addictions counselor in the state of Colorado.

Jen is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Addiction Counselor who has worked in a variety of adolescent and adult residential and outpatient mental health and substance abuse treatment centers in Boulder County, and has had a private practice working with adults, teens, and families in Boulder and Longmont since 2003.

As a native of the Boulder mountains, Harmony is thrilled to be doing the work that she loves in an environment as special as Gold Lake! Harmony has been working with children, adolescents, and young adults since 2000 in a number of non-profit and private organizations. Early on, she helped organize the teen advisory board for pregnancy prevention and adolescent self esteem programs in Portland, Oregon.

Hunter has spent that last 15 years working with young people in a variety of settings including residential homes, wilderness settings, after school groups and intensive home based therapy. His passion for healing families and marriages led him to earning a masters degree in counseling and to post graduate work specific to marriage and family therapy at the Denver Family Institute where he graduated with honors for clinical excellence.

Ryan has worked in a variety of therapeutic and educational settings for the past ten years. He obtained a degree in Cognitive Psychology, as well as a Master's Degree in Educational Psychological Studies, from the University of Colorado. His expertise includes working with individuals facing challenges such as learning disabilities, drug and alcohol addictions, and mental health issues. He has also been extensively involved crisis intervention, life skills and therapy groups, program development and implementation, mentoring, and staff supervision.

Along with mentoring young men at Insight Intensive, Michael is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology at the University of Colorado. Since earning his doctorate in 1999, Mike has been a full-time classroom instructor, teaching a broad array of courses including Social Psychology, Self and Society, Sociological Theory, Global Human Ecology, and Social Movements for Change. Mike has cultivated an authentic and respectful rapport with his students while engaging them on a variety of rich, contentious and provocative social concerns.

Tug is an educator by birth! He earned his master’s in Education plus certification in secondary science in May 2003 from the Univerisity of Colorado. He has worked as a professional educator ever since, in a wide variety of settings, all over the metro area. The majority of these educational experiences have been with at-risk youth, which has meant working with kids on various social-emotional issues in addition to science curricula. Tug loves showing students that the learning experience can, and absolutely should, be a blast. He has come to enjoy teaching “life” even more than “life science”!

Ali has always had a passion for working with youth. Ever since she can remember she has wanted to make a difference in the lives of young people. She earned her BA in Sociology from Ithaca College in New York. Her focus of study was Juvenile Delinquency and Criminal Behavior. She worked for a year in Chicago with at risk children before moving to Colorado.

Chris has been working with adolescents and young adults for the past 12 years. Chris received a BS degree in Corporate and Community Health from the University of Wisconsin-Superior. Chris moved to Colorado from Wisconsin in 1999 and started working with youth in a treatment facility in Aurora Colorado. After 3 years Chris moved on to run an emancipation program for teeenage boys in Denver.

Eloise Nelson, Ph.D. studied Sports Physiology at the University of Nebraska before earning her M.A. and Ph.D. in Holistic Nutrition from Clayton College. She has 35 years of experience in nutrition, natural healthcare, and exercise training that includes Yoga, Pilates, Gyrotonics, Zumba and Soul-Sweat. As a 56 year-old mother of one daughter and three sons, (ages 31, 25, 19 and 12), Eloise has extensive personal and professional expertise in the area of adolescent development.

A Colorado native, Wes completed his undergraduate degree in Health and Exercise Science from Colorado State University in Fort Collins. While playing football in high school, Wes received a life-threatening leg injury. Through extensive rehab he made a full recovery that allows him to now do physical feats that most people will never accomplish. He served as Fitness Director at Borrego Ranch Resort and Spa and ran a gym in Southern California where he designed and taught all fitness classes.

A graduate of the renowned Johnson and Wales University, Jim is a culinary specialist and adventure enthusiast whose creative passion is expressed throughout the Insight Intensive experience. Jim’s career spans two decades in the food industry and includes a range of experiences from menu creation as an Executive Chef to catering and bartending. He now leads the culinary team behind the nutritious and delicious meals at Gold Lake.

Loree began her career in public accounting, working for Ernst and Young in the audit and computer-systems audit areas. This experience gave her exposure to many industries. She pursued healthcare by joining Community Care Network—a nonprofit entity that coordinated State and Federal funding for the behavioral-health industry. Loree then spent 14 years working with NextHealth and their two, internationally recognized subsidiary companies, Sierra Tucson, a state of the art Behavioral and Psychiatric hospital and Miraval Life in Balance Resort and Spa.