Megan Kniskern, MS, RD
Executive Clinical Nutrition Director
Megan is the Executive Clinical Nutrition Director at Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders. Megan brings ten years of experience working with children and adults in eating disorders and wellness programs. Believing the body mind connection is an important part of recovery, Megan is a certified yoga instructor who combines mindfulness practices with traditional nutritional models. Megan has taught at university level and is a popular guest speaker around the country.
Lee R. Neagle, MA
Program Administrator
As the program administrator, Lee manages the day-to-day activities of the staff and residents at all levels of care. Lee obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Lakeland College and his Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Cardinal Stritch University. Prior to joining the Rosewood team Lee worked and trained at Rogers Memorial hospital in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin where he developed his passion for treating eating disorder clients. In college, he was a member of the Psi Chi national honor society and his thesis “Stress and its effect on meal consumption and composition: a naturalistic study” was accepted with distinction from Cardinal Strict University. He has also been published in Best practices in Mental Health on the topic “Is Residential Care an Effective Approach to Treat Adolescents with Co-occurring Substance Abuse and Mental Health Diagnoses?”
Shaul Austin, M.Ed., LPC
Executive Clinical Director of The Palm Beach Institute
Shaul Austin, M.Ed., LPC is Executive Clinical Director of The Palm Beach Institute. Shaul brings twenty-three years of clinical experience working with addictions, eating disorders, trauma and PTSD. Shaul’s academic experience includes Adjunct Professor in Behavioral Sciences at Webster University, Netherlands and Assistant Professor at Shreveport and New Orleans School of Medicine in the Louisiana State Health Sciences Center, Louisiana State University. Shaul worked for the Department of Defense Employee Assistance Program where he provided counseling services to all branches of the military. Shaul’s enthusiasm is grounded in the belief that everyone has the capacity for long lasting change through recognition of mind, body and spirit.
Cheryl E. Musick, EAGALA Advanced Certified
Group Specialist
Cheryl Musick is Group Specialist at Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders, with fifteen years of experience facilitating therapeutic groups to adolescents and adults diagnosed with eating disorders. Cheryl is EAGALA trained and holds advanced certification as an Equine Assisted Psychotherapist. Cheryl combines humor and compassion in her equine assisted groups to help clients work through challenging life situations. Cheryl is also passionate about facilitating groups such as ropes course, body image, and spirituality. Cheryl has written many articles related to Equine Therapy and eating disorders and presents on the topic nationally and internationally. And when Cheryl is not working with clients, she can be found spending time with her family and animals.
Hunter Taylor, MS, LCP
Clinical Director
Hunter Taylor is the Clinical Director of Rosewood’s adult services. Hunter brings 30 years of experience working in eating disorders, addictions, psycho-education and mental health management to Rosewood. Believing the modality of psychodrama is an important component of recovery, Hunter regularly conducts attends professional trainings and conducts workshops for ONSITE in Tennessee. Hunter holds a Master’s of Science degree in Counseling Psychology from Fort Hays State University, in Fort Hayes, Kansas.
Dena L. Cabrera, Psy.D., CEDS
Clinical Director
Dr. Dena Cabrera is clinical director of adolescent services at Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders. Dr. Cabrera has a particular interests and specialized training in neuropsychological and psychological assessment, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, as well as the cognitive-behavioral treatment of patients with neuro-developmental disorders, behavioral problems, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. With many years in the field, Dr. Cabrera presents on eating disorder prevention and treatment at the national and international level.
Kimberly Vavrosky, MS, RD, CDE
Registered Dietitian
Kim is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator that came to Rosewood with many years of experience working with adolescent and adult clients. She has wide-spread knowledge in disease management and wellness programs that allowed her work in community based nutrition programs and write nutrition articles for a newspaper. Kim completed her Masters Degree in Dietetics with an Emphasis in Counseling, which has aided her in following her passion to work with the Eating Disorder population. With her certification as a Diabetes Educator, Kim has specialized knowledge of this disease state and is able to individualize nutritional care while assisting with the management of blood sugars. Her twelve years as a certified pharmacy technician has given her medication knowledge that is useful working with clients. Kim takes a realistic approach to meal planning and combines that with the standards of practice for nutritional care.
Thomas Best, MD
Dr. Thomas Best completed residency training in Psychiatry at Banner Good Samaritan Hospital where he was named Chief Resident and Resident Teacher of the Year by The University of Arizona College of Medicine Class of 2004. He then accepted a position with the Carl T. Hayden VA Hospital and held teaching positions at Good Samaritan as Adjunct Faculty and Midwestern College of Medicine as Assistant Professor of Medicine. Dr. Best then moved to The Meadows where he served simultaneously as Medical Director and Executive Director.
Dr. Best co-founded Optimal You in Scottsdale, Arizona, a collaboration of mental health practitioners where he currently practices. Dr. Best consults with the Arizona medical, nursing, and behavioral health licensing boards evaluating impaired professionals and teaches mindfulness meditation to individuals and groups. His holistic approach supports clients to access their inner resources to facilitate emotional and spiritual growth. He integrates western medicine, psychotherapy, and the ancient practice of mindfulness meditation. Dr. Best is EMDR-Trained and has studied mindfulness meditation extensively.
Stephanie Schoville, M.A.
Stephanie Schoville has been working full time in the counseling field since 2006. Her clinical experience includes a specialization in crisis response, trauma, and eating disorders. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders for almost 2 years, after 4 years of full time trauma specialization, including a particular interest in dissociation and attachment theory. Stephanie was trained in EMDR in 2007, seeing success in using the protocol regularly with clients. As the lead therapist for the Rosewood Intensive Outpatient Adult Program, she is skilled in facilitating multiple styles of group therapy, including experiential groups, psycho-educational groups, DBT, process, and support groups. Stephanie has also provided community trainings to a variety of professional audiences throughout her career, with topics ranging from Crisis response, Domestic Violence, Sexual assault response, Eating disorders education and prevention, Body Image, and trauma. Stephanie looks forward to sharing her experience and passion with other professionals providing compassionate care to the Phoenix community.
Kenneth Perlmutter, PhD
Dr. Kenneth Perlmutter is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY25112) who brings nearly 25 years of experience working with individuals and families struggling with complex psychological and behavioral healthcare difficulties including addiction. He is Founder of the Family Recovery Institute which offers customized family healing workshops and clinician training and team-building for a variety of clients around the country. Dr. Perlmutter is proud to be a core faculty member of the Rosewood Institute. He bases his private practice inMarinCountyandSan Franciscothrough the MindTherapy Clinic where he serves as Clinical Director. He has served on the Graduate Faculty forSan FranciscoStateUniversity’s Counseling Dept. and as Associate Professor of Chemical Dependency Studies for Cal State East Bay. Father of two twenty-something sons, he makes his home inNorthern Californiawith his wife of 28 years, Jacqueline, a dog, a cat and a kayak.
