WHO WE ARE

Our story

SeekHealing was founded in 2018, follow along on the journey.
FOUNDATION

SeekHealing began when the founder’s close friend survived an opioid overdose and partnered with the founder to begin a healing journey. Like many others before them, the two discovered that meaningful social connection and community belonging are the most important elements of addiction recovery; yet are almost impossible to find after addiction treatment. 

ACTION

Unfortunately, traditional 12-step recovery and other faith-based recovery communities often perpetuate experiences of shame and can feature social structures that are unwelcoming and/or hierarchical. Through a beautiful cosmic accident, the co-founders discovered that the kind of social connection that the brain needs in order to heal from trauma is actually something any human being can give to another: regardless of whether they identify as an “addict’ or not.

COLLABORATION

Collaborating with neuroscientist Dr. Rachel Wurzman, trauma expert Dr. Gabor Mate, substance use recovery experts and leaders in communication & social dynamics theory from around the world, they formed SeekHealing to create a novel approach for systemic issues of addiction and loneliness: social health. 

GROWTH

In 2018, the founders established the first SeekHealing community in Asheville, NC -- among the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains in Western North Carolina in the USA. The community grew from 8 seekers at the first Listening Training retreat to 150 in the first year, and 500 by the end of 2019.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, demand for SeekHealing's services sky-rocketed as social isolation became even more widespread under government-mandated quarantine measures. The online community was born in April 2020, and has since grown to serve thousands of seekers online.

In September 2021, in partnership with VAYA Health and the Evergreen Foundation, SeekHealing opened the doors to its second local community in Waynesville, NC.

Meet the team

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Staff

Santosha Bouchard
Clubhouse Coordinator
Natalio CasaNueva
Business Operations Admin
Amy DeCamp
Marketing Coordinator
Manveer Dulay
Website Developer
Adrian Engstrom von Alten
The SHFT Enrollment Director
Robert Epstein
Legal Counsel
Ramiro Flores
LatinX Community Building Coordinator
Janie Gabbett
Chief Editor
Joshua Ginsberg
Chief Technology Officer
Melisa Gonzalez
Director of Operations
Monica Jones
LatinX Community Building Coordinator
Tikva Kingrea
Asheville Community Engagement Lead
Koriander
Asheville's Open Hours ClubHouse Coordinator
Sydney McGary
Service Operations Coordinator
Amy Meier
Grant Writer
Joey Moore
Fundraising Coordinator
Sara Ness
Community Building Advisor
Jenesis Nicolaisen
Executive Director, Co-founder
Greg Pitters
Waynesville’s Community Engagement Lead
Alison Reeves
Community Engagement Lead - Online
Sarah Reid
Waynesville's Community Outreach Lead
Raphael Schwartzman
Marketing Consultant
Tim Tizzano
Sponsorship Coordinator
Imani Ustawi
Programming Director & Community Connection Coordinator

Advisory Council

Hilary Jacobs Hendel, DDS, LCSW
Trauma-informed Psychoanalyst, International Author, creator of The Change Triangle Tool for Emotional Health
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Gabor Maté, MD
Physician, renowned expert on addiction and compassionate care, bestselling author, international speaker
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Maureen McCarthy
Social Scientist and Co-Founder, Center for Collaborative Awareness
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Alan Muskat
Author and educator specializing in nondualism, Nonviolent Communication, and hunter-gatherer culture
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Zelle Nelson
Social Scientist and Co-Founder, Center for Collaborative Awareness
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Sara Ness
Founder and CEO of Authentic Revolution
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Mark Smith
Author, therapist, social work professor; background in trauma, attachment, group process, and narrative-based practice.
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Peter Strong, MD
Board-certified in addiction psychiatry, expert in Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT). Former Medical Director of Hartford Dispensary, managing 13 clinics and 4000 patients.
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Andrew Weil, MD
Author of over a dozen books on alternative medicine, including several international bestsellers.
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Avrum G. Weiss, Ph.D
Psychotherapist, author, and teacher with more than 40 years of experience in relational psychology. Architect of experiential psychotherapy theory.
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Bill White
Emeritus Senior Research Consultant at Chestnut Health Systems, Former Board Chair of Recovery Communities United, and author or coauthor of 20 books and 400 papers on addiction.
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Rachel Wurzman, Ph.D
Director of Science
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Board of Directors

Lauren Clark
Vice President
A lifelong advocate for humans and the planet they inhabit, Lauren leverages 11+ years of experience driving growth and social change for non-profits and purpose-driven organizations.
Joshua Franks
An entrepreneur with a focus on product development, marketing, and supply chain and distribution logistics, Joshua is committed to facilitating meaningful connection and radically authentic relationships.
Jennifer Garrett
Mental Health and Substance Use Clinician and Clinical Supervisor (LCMHCS, LCAS, CCS) with experience in Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Harm Reduction, and Trauma.
Joshua Ginsberg
President
Technologist and entrepreneur; network system engineer and professional programmer. Software architect at Columbia University in New York.
Lauren Tevelow
Secretary and Treasurer
Lauren Tevelow (she/her) serves on SeekHealing's board of directors and as a social health facilitator and educator for the organization. Her journey in social health began through her dual undergraduate focuses in communication and sociology, leading to a curiosity in how interpersonal relationships impact larger community outcomes and trends. Outside of SeekHealing, Lauren leads the data team at ESB Advertising, a boutique media buying agency for mid-size clients across the country. Though an east coast native, Lauren currently resides in the Pacific Northwest where she enjoys exploring the natural beauty of the Olympic National Forest and accompanying mountains.

Facilitators

Adrian Engstrom von Alten
Alison Reeves
Anastasia Seltzer
Astral Freeman
Brian Swindell
Cam Payne
Dakota Quackenbush
Giles Carwyn
Greg Pitters
Imani Ustawi
Iona Jones
Ionsul Ferrin
Jack Rubin
Jason Digges
Jason Zwolak
Jenesis Nicolaisen
Jennifer Garett
Jessica Falcon
Joe Tavormina
Kim Crowley
Leesha Rollar
Manuela Stanica
Michele Morris
Michelle Kelly
Naomi Veak
Sammy Vanek
Sheri Kay
Stuart Jeckel
Sydney McGary
Tawni Traynor
Tony Stokes

Join the team

We're always open to meeting the humans who are inspired to join this movement and contribute their service energy to SeekHealing -- either in local communities or on our leadership and back-office teams.

Career opportunities are limited by locally-available grant funding in the communities they serve.

THE SCIENCE
Recent studies in neuroscience and psychology clearly show that loneliness, isolation and gaps in “social health” are driving deadly, secondary medical and mental health pandemics across human society: addiction, suicide and chronic illness.

Get educated

Articles by topic, written by the SeekHealing team and community members.

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A mysterious looking barn owl with stars in its third eye.

In honor of our loved ones

May the radiance of their memory shine long past their lifetime, and may their names never be forgotten so long as they live on in our hearts and minds.

Financials & impact

Explore our reports and minutes to learn more about the work we do and our impact.