Meet Our Team
Our team of addiction + mental health professionals have a combined 60+ years of experience helping others find a path to healing + recovery.
We use a variety of modalities such as CBT, DBT, trauma-informed therapy and more. Each staff member brings a specialized approach to how they treat each client.
Clinical
Jess Beck, LCSW
Clinical Director
Jess comes to Launch Centers with over a decade of experience in mental health and addiction treatment with both adolescents and adults. As the former Acting Director of the Addictive Behaviors Clinic at the West Los Angeles Veterans Affairs Medical Center, she developed expertise in the field of evidenced-based addiction treatment. During her tenure at the VA medical center, Jess trained colleagues on therapeutic practices and provided treatment to hundreds of at-risk veterans.
After the VA, Jess served as the Clinical Director of an adolescent dual diagnosis treatment center and an adult addiction treatment center where she led the development of the organization’s clinical programming and supervised a growing interdisciplinary team. Jess also has extensive experience in the treatment of depression, anxiety, and trauma that she gained in previous roles with medical facilities, community-based outpatient programs, and residential treatment centers.
Eric Chaghouri, MD
Psychiatrist
Dr. Chaghouri is a graduate from the University of California, Los Angeles, where he earned his B. A. in Biology with Summa Cum Laude honors. He earned his medical degree from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California where he also served as Chief Resident in psychiatric emergency services and as Resident Clinical Instructor and Volunteer Faculty in the Department of Psychiatry. After residency, Dr. Chaghouri completed a fellowship in forensic psychiatry at the USC Institute of Psychiatry and Law. Dr. Chaghouri’s clinical work focuses on the treatment of co-occurring psychiatric and addictive disorders. He also has extensive experience consulting and providing expert opinion in trial and for the film and television industry.
Kami Dexter, Ed. D
Director of Education & Career
Meg Reel, LMFT
Program Manager
Meg received her B.A. in Education/Child Development from Pepperdine University and her Masters of Marriage and Family Therapy from University of Southern California. She initially worked as a therapist at a community-based counseling center where she first realized the power of approaching therapy from a person centered, family systems-based approach. Meg then moved into working with adults experiencing long-term major mental illnesses and homelessness. After seeing how much of their struggle stemmed from their adolescence and young adulthoods, Meg felt called to return to work with people in those pivotal years. She comes to therapy with a person-centered approach and understands the need to meet clients where they are at in order to connect fully and work towards healing. Meg utilizes Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Mindfulness, and Narrative Therapy to assist clients in understanding and accepting their stories and emotions to move forward.
Chloe Kruskol, LCSW
Family Program Manager
Chloe first became involved in social justice at age 15 in which she volunteered at a camp for children and families affected by HIV/AIDs. She then created a fundraiser at her high school benefiting the organization that is still in effect today. Chloe received her B.A. in Liberal Studies with a minor in Sociology from Sonoma State University and her Masters in Social Work from University of Southern California in which she was selected to participate in the Department of Mental Health’s Trauma Focused cohort. Concurrent with her Social Work degree, Chloe received her Masters in Nonprofit Management from Hebrew Union College in which she focused on Disruptive Innovation in the Nonprofit Mental Health world. Chloe initially worked in various community mental health spaces focusing on court mandated clients and partnering with various law enforcement offices to bring trauma informed services to LA’s most vulnerable populations. Through this work with both adults and youth suffering from Serious and Persistent mental health disorders as well as intergenerational substance use, Chloe was able to bring her experience studying epigenetic trauma to the frontlines of LA. Chloe then decided to move to the private sector and bring her skills to those experiencing transgenerational trauma to support the community she grew up in. Chloe’s passion and commitment to helping adolescents and young adults struggling to fully individuate stems from her work spearheading family programming within the LA Jewish Community for over 8 years. Chloe’s approach to helping young individuals unpack how their early trauma has led to maladaptive coping skills is based in Psychodynamic theory, Mindfulness, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, and a Family Systems approach.
Stephanie Blumberg, CAODC
Lead Case Manager & Facility Manager
Stephanie received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from California State University, Channel Islands before earning her Master’s in Science in Addiction Counseling from Grand Canyon University. Stephanie began her counseling career in outpatient services helping those recently released from prison. During this time, she also worked extensively with the Department of Children and Family Services to help bring families back together.
Jacob Schoenfeld, AMFT
Primary Therapist
Jake received his master’s degree in psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles where he focused on trauma studies. Jake began his therapist career working with the homeless veteran population out of the dual diagnosis West Los Angeles VA. During this time, he worked closely with case managers, peer support, and the Department of Mental Health Services in order to assist clients with meeting both short and long term goals regarding mental health, sobriety, housing, and employment.
Jake went on to perform telehealth therapy services with children, adolescents, and families prior to joining Launch in 2023. His work spans a variety of populations and diagnoses, with ages ranging from 3 years to 70 years and diagnoses of anxiety, depression, PTSD, bipolar I & II, OCD, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorders. Jake predominantly utilizes cognitive behavioral therapy and psychoanalytic therapy via a trauma informed lens.
Josh Cleary, AMFT
Primary Therapist
Josh Cleary earned his Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology at Antioch University Los Angeles and is an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist. Prior to joining the Launch team, Josh spent several years providing essential field based psychotherapy services to homeless Veterans as part of a Full Service Partnership Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health Program. Josh has a particular interest in working with clients suffering with substance abuse and severe mental health issues. Josh’s preferred therapeutic modalities are, CBT, MBCT, and psychodynamic/relational. Josh also has in-depth personal knowledge of the disease of addiction, its effects on the addict, and its effects on their family system, allowing for a nuanced and compassionate approach when working with addicted clients. Josh is a father of two and in his free time enjoys rigorous exercise, the outdoors, live music and cats. Josh firmly believes that, no matter what the problem is, if you can change the quality of your mind, you can change the quality of your experience.
Nancy Swanson, LMFT
Family Therapist
Over the past 25 years, Nancy has supported countless families during times of crisis. She specialises in working with families devastated by addiction, mental illness, and grief/loss. With a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology she is licensed by the State of California, Board of Behavioural Science.
Nancy’s down-to-earth personality and sense of humour allows her to connect with even the most challenging of clients. She can ultimately help any family who is willing to sincerely examine, and work hard to transform their family dynamics.
In her personal life, she has eclectic interests which include: visiting obscure public art exhibits and museums; listening to music of all genres; enjoying the outdoors with her two dogs; and travel. She is a dedicated meditator and a spiritual seeker. She loves adventure and craves new experiences. On her “Bucket List” is visiting all the National Parks, camping in a vintage teardrop trailer.
Administration
Jose Hernandez, CADC
Chief Executive Officer
For 20+ years, Jose has been involved in alcohol and addiction recovery, helping people succeed in overcoming substance abuse and regaining control of their lives. He has experience in all aspects of the recovery world, from facilitating entry into treatment as an intervention specialist to counseling and case management at rehabilitation facilities. Jose has worked one-on-one with individuals as a sober companion and with groups as a resident counselor at addiction treatment centers and is certified by the California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) to practice as a substance abuse counselor. Through his professional experiences in crisis intervention, drug and alcohol detoxification, substance abuse counseling, and relapse prevention, Jose has developed a unique plan for case management that bridges the gap between a person’s painful past of substance abuse and a future of sobriety.
Stephanie MacDonald
Director of Operations
Stephanie MacDonald
Director of Operations
Clint Green, CADC-II
Director of Admissions
Clint Green admits that he had never considered working in treatment until he was a client in treatment. A published author who wrote and produced in the entertainment industry under a pseudonym, Green turned to drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism that quickly careened out of control. “Before I knew it, I was doing rails and going completely off the rails,” he says. “I ended up in rehab so broken and beaten, all I needed was someone to be nice to me. One of the resident assistants there was, which changed my life.” That resident assistant inspired him and coincidentally, became the coworker who trained him at his first job in the field. A passion for connecting with both potential clients and their family members is what led him to admissions. “I put my parents through so much for so long; I can’t help but feel compelled to help others. The most rewarding part of this job is seeing the change that occurs from that initial phone call to the client’s discharge, and beyond — but I’m not just talking about the client. The change I see in the entire family dynamic and structure: that’s what brings things big picture.”
Secilia Gianatasio
Admissions Coordinator
Bio Coming Soon!
Kelly Mortazavi
Director of Business Development
After earning her Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Central Florida in Marketing, She relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2013. Having found her passion early on in addiction treatment, she has held positions with Foundations Recovery Network/ UHS, Monte Nido and Affiliates and TrueLink Financial. In her free time, Kelly enjoys the company of her friends and family, exploring the beauty the outdoors of California has to offer and is a wiz at pop-culture trivia.
Kelly is passionate about meeting and working with like minded individuals in the addiction field who all share a common goal – building lasting recovery for our clients.
Spencer Hieam
Business Development
Originally from Seattle, Spencer grew up in the Pacific Northwest where he previously worked as a Project Manager and in Client Success for companies in the tech industry. He has an experienced history of working in forward-facing roles, specializing in Experiential Marketing, Project Management, Account Relations and Business Development. Spencer discovered that his professional passion for helping individuals and serving families was best utilized for doing impactful work in the Mental & Behavioral Health space. In his spare time, you can find him out on the golf course, riding his motorcycle, or going on hikes/to the beach with his dog, Marceline (Marcy for short).
Charlotte Spencer
Office Manager
Charlotte Spencer
Office Manager