Mirasol's Eating Disorder Professionals

Jeanne Rust, PhD, LPC
CEO and Founder

Jeanne specializes in eating disorders and is an expert in the treatment of adult trauma. She holds a PhD in Clinical Psychology from Saybrook Graduate School, a Master's Degree in Counseling, and a Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University. Jeanne is licensed by the State of Arizona as a Professional Counselor. She has received comprehensive training in Gestalt and other expressive therapies, as well as Traumatic Incident Reduction (TIR) and Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT), and she is a certified Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) practitioner. Jeanne was a therapist in private practice for many years before founding Mirasol. She has worked with the University of Arizona athletic department to meet the therapeutic needs of athletes with eating disorders, has taught courses at the university level, and provides training and education for health care professionals in her areas of expertise.

Dr. Dawn Bantel, NMD
Medical Director and Staff Physician

Dr. Bantel is a licensed Naturopathic Physician. She obtained her degree at the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, Oregon, with a special emphasis in the treatment of women and children. She is a local community lecturer, presenting talks on natural medicine, menopausal options, detoxification, chronic fatigue, and digestion. Dr. Bantel is also a professor at the Asian Institute of Medical Studies, where she teaches students the western models of disease and treatment in the subject areas of cardiology, pulmonology, dermatology, and urology. She also instructs students in physiology at the Providence Institute for Massage and Shiatsu.

Sharon Meglathery, MD
Psychiatrist

Sharon Meglathery grew up in Connecticut and attended Brown University. She became interested in the field of mental health during a year abroad in England working with juvenile delinquents. Prior to medical school, she worked for two years as a research assistant in the Biological Psychiatry Branch of the National Insitute of Mental Health, comparing the efficacy of pharmacological agents for bipolar disorder. She obtained her medical degree from Oregon Health Sciences University in 1996 and completed internships in internal medicine and psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, followed by internal medicine and psychiatry residencies at the Medical College of Pennsylvania/Hahnemann University (now Drexel University). She became board-certified in internal medicine in 2000 and in psychiatry in 2003. Sharon enjoyed working as an emergency psychiatric attending for Philadelphia-area hospitals for five years before moving to Arizona in 2005. Since then, Sharon has worked as a child and adult psychiatrist for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and as the psychiatrist for Mirasol's primary residential treatment center. "I believe that an eating disorder must be treated as an entire system that has gone awry," says Sharon, "and I feel that Mirasol does a better job of healing the whole person — including family systems, identity disturbances and developmental issues — than most other eating disorder programs."

Diane Ryan, MA, CPT
Clinical Director

Diane Ryan received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and her Master's in Counseling and Psychology with a specialty certification in Adventure-Based Psychotherapy. She is trained in experiential methods including psychodrama, expressive arts and challenge course activities, and is passionate about accessing the power of outdoor and wilderness experiences as healing modalities. She currently serves as a member of an international consortium evaluating current research on exercise and eating disorders. She also continues to explore the impact of wilderness interventions as measured by changes in brain wave patterns.

Emily Mason, RD
Registered Dietitian

Emily received a BS in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Arizona in 1983, then completed a graduate level internship at University Medical Center to become a registered dietitian. She has worked as a dietitian for over 20 years in residential treatment centers, acute care hospitals and outpatient clinics in Tucson, Denver and Northern California. She has also taught nutrition in several community colleges. Her expertise is in using nutrition to treat and heal bodies from long-term illnesses such as heart disease, gastrointestinal problems and diabetes. After nine years away from Tucson, she is happy to return to its beautiful desert and warm sunshine.

Ann Twilley, MA, LPC
Therapist

Ann completed her BA in Psychology and her MA in Counseling and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Arizona. Ann is passionate about her work with eating disorder relapse prevention and re-entry. Having recovered from an eating disorder herself, she is compassionate and understands the complexity of this illness. Ann is trained in Energy Psychology techniques and EMDR and uses these modalities in working with trauma and stabilization. She also supports clients in their transition home with phone sessions once in their home environment.

Tarah Carmody, MA, MFT
Therapist

Tarah Carmody is a licensed marriage and family therapist and neurofeedback therapist who specializes in eating disorders. She is an expert in utilizing neurofeedback to reduce symptoms of depression, anxiety, trauma, emotional instability and physical disorders. Tarah holds a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology, and a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Indiana University. She was the Clinical Director of a neurofeedback institute in California, where she utilized individualized, client-centered protocols to reduce symptoms, enhance performance, and achieve superior clinical outcomes for a wide range of applications. Prior to joining Mirasol, Tarah also operated a private practice where she provided psychotherapy services utilizing cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), emotion focused therapy (EFT), and existential techniques for individuals, couples and families. Tarah works with a broad spectrum of clients and specializes in early childhood trauma, eating, mood and anxiety disorders.

Katharine Dean, MC, NCC, LPC
Therapist

Katharine is an Arizona State Certified Licensed Professional Counselor and a Nationally Certified Counselor. She received a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Arizona and a Master's degree in Community Counseling from the University of Phoenix. Her expertise is focused on teen girls and the area of trauma. Her experience includes being the past Program Director for Project Safe Place, a program for girls ages 8-18 who have histories of sexual, physical and emotional abuse, as well as Program Director for The Tucson Coalition on Girls and Violence. Katharine is Level II Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (E.M.D.R.) trained and certified in Trauma Model Therapy.

Grace Haecker
Dietitian

Grace received a BS in Human Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2007, and completed a graduate level internship at Carondelet St. Mary's Hospital in Tucson, Arizona. She has chosen to stay in Tucson, her new "home away from home". Grace gained valuable experience through her work in hospitals, as a private consultant, and by providing Nutrition Services for the United States Air Force Reserve. Grace's approach is to provide accurate nutritional education with individualized treatment goals for every client.

Ida Hallgren Carlson, BA, BS, MS
Therapist

Ida Hallgren Carlson received a BA in moral philosophy, a BS in cognitive science, and an MS degree in clinical psychology from the University of Gothenburg. While studying psychology in Sweden, she worked with young women with eating disorders at a hospital in Gothenburg. Ida loves teaching psychoeducational groups, facilitating mindfulness groups using meditation experience that she acquired during retreats in Thailand, and guiding individuals along the journey of change. She values gender perspectives and enjoys reflecting with the women at Mirasol on what it is like — and should be like — to be a woman in our society today.

Julia Hofman, LAC, MA
Therapist

Julia received her Masters in Community Counseling at Northern Arizona University. She has worked in the Tucson public mental health system in the past helping individuals with a range of mental health problems, focusing on groups for Grief and Loss, Codependency, DBT Skills, and Anger Management. Currently at Mirasol, she leads groups and individual sessions and has a passion for teaching mindfulness and yoga. Julia enjoys working for Mirasol because the philosophy is one of a holistic nature, and the environment encourages people to be their authentic selves and embrace this on their journey of recovery.

Amanda Jones, MS, LPC, NCC
Therapist

Amanda joined the Mirasol team after working with eating disorders for the past six years in Atlanta. Amanda received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Master's degree in Professional Counseling, both from Georgia State University. Her personal belief is that the most important aspect of psychotherapy is the relationship between the therapist and the client. She strives to provide an environment in which clients feel safe to disclose their private thoughts, feelings, and dreams and feel comfortable taking emotional risks. While no single theory is comprehensive enough to account for the complexities of human behavior, Amanda utilizes an integrative approach including psychodynamic, humanistic, cognitive-behavioral, existential and experiential models. Specialty areas include depression, anxiety, substance abuse, eating disorders, women's issues, family dynamics and bereavement.

Diane M. Notarianni, Ph.D. L.Ac Dipl. Ac. (NCCAOM)
Acupuncturist

For over a decade Diane worked as an anthropologist, professor and researcher with Native Americans, especially Arizona's Hopi Indians. In 2001 she was inspired to study Traditional Chinese Medicine, a vast system of healing both indigenous in nature and scientific in application. Today, as Mirasol's staff acupuncturist, she applies her knowledge of both anthropology and oriental medicine to the treatment of women with eating disorders. "Practitioners of Oriental Medicine believe that everything about the way we live and the way we have lived since childhood has an influence on our health," says Notarianni. "We don't just look at the symptoms, we look at the whole person, including her way of conducting herself in the world and her relationships with the other people."

Alison Pearson, MA, RPP
Polarity and Cranialsacral Therapy

Alison Pearson has been the Polarity Therapist at Mirasol since January, 2004. She received a Master's Degree in Sociology, specializing in Gender and Social Psychology, from the University of Arizona in 1991. In 1997, Alison completed a Polarity Therapy Certification Program, and she completed a Cranialsacral Therapy Certification program in 2007. Alison has a long-standing interest and commitment to energy medicine, studying and practicing breath work and loving touch techniques to release trauma from the body. She is an avid student of the work of Byron Katie and incorporates her method of belief investigation in her work. Polarity Therapy defines health as a "free-flow of energy in the body" and seeks to release whatever is blocking energy flow, be it physical, emotional, or mental. Polarity Therapy begins on the bodywork table, but its principles can provide a foundation for a healthy and happy life.

Kim Kellow
Spiritual Integration Practitioner

Spirituality is a key component in recovery. We know that women who have some sort of spiritual practice have a much higher rate of recovery. Whether we recognize it or not, we all have a measure of spirituality, as defined by the way we connect to ourselves, to others, and to the world around us. We work on universal themes that are part of all belief systems: loving kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. It's not about changing or giving up your belief system, it's about finding ways to help it meet your needs.

Maeve Shaughnessy, BA
Continuing Care Coordinator

Maeve completed her BA in Sociology at the University of Arizona and is currently working on her Masters in Community Counseling at the University of Phoenix. Maeve enjoys the camping trips, hiking, and challenge course activities that Mirasol offers and fully believes these programs enhance the process of recovery. Maeve works with clients in preparation for discharge and designs aftercare support plans.

Tara Shultis, MA, CPT
Aftercare Specialist

Tara received her BS in Kinesiology from the University of Northern Colorado, her MA in Art and Visual Culture Education from the University of Arizona and is currently working on her license in Massage Therapy. Tara works with clients in preparation for discharge, designs aftercare support plans and supports adolescents with phone sessions once they return to their home environment. Tara leads a weekly aftercare relapse prevention group with adolescents as well as teaches strength training with adults. Tara also offers chair massage as a way to promote healing and is very passionate about the therapeutic benefits of positive touch.

Sabina Zobel, BA
Supervisor, Counselor Assistants

Sabina graduated from the University of Arizona with her BA in Political Science. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Healthcare Policy, Law and Ethics through the University of Denver. After working through her own personal challenges she felt the desire to help others who are struggling. Following research on many eating disorder residential programs, Sabina sought out a position as Counselor Assistant at Mirasol in 2007 and has infused the position with her passion for helping clients to spread their wings and soar. As a supervisor Sabina models to Counselor Assistants the healthy use of boundaries and aids them in their own journey at Mirasol. Sabina enjoys spending time at the beach in San Diego, where she lived for five years, practicing pilates, yoga and riding horses. She loves to spend time with her fiancé and son, who bring her infinite amounts of joy everyday.

Duncan Eidse
Maintenance Manager

After studying facility management on the East Coast, Duncan arrived in sunny Arizona in October, 2005, and has been with us ever since. Born in Manitoba, Canada, Duncan lived outside of Philadelphia for 20 years, honing his handyman skills while aquiring his Bachelor of Arts degree from Temple University. He is an avid golfer and sports fan, and he really enjoys working the clients and staff at Mirasol to make it a safe and enjoyable place to be.

Lori Key
Counselor Assistant Supervisor

The bulk of Lori's experience has been a combination of administrative and medical support positions. She worked at Remuda Ranch in Wickenburg Arizona as a Mental Health Technician in the year 2000 until 2002 dealing with teen girls and women with eating disorders. Lori's main responsibilities included taking orthostatic vitals, EKGs, charting medical behaviors, accompany patients to therapy programs, and monitoring eating behavior disorders. She moved to Tucson in 2002 and worked for Intermountain Centers for Human Development as a Psych, Technician, dealing with adolescent boys and girls who were emotionally and physiologically disabled. A number of different things led her to working at Mirasol. Lori loves her job and the people she works with.