Windhorse CliniciansCommitment and compassionThe Windhorse staff of team supervisors, psychotherapists, team leaders, basic attendance counselors, and housemates is a carefully selected group of specially trained people. They are particularly noted for their skill in teaching practical and contemplative living disciplines to people in states of mental stress and confusion. Most senior team members hold Master of Arts degrees from The Naropa University Contemplative Psychotherapy Department and participate in on-going Windhorse trainings. Housemates are most often graduate students who are chosen for their maturity, personal warmth, and wholesome lifestyle. They also might serve as life-mentors for the clients with whom they live. Team members are chosen to work with specific clients based on compatibility of style and relevant training and experience. The training and experience of staff is comprehensive and involves both intensive self-examination and clinical work in Windhorse and other treatment settings. All staff have the conviction that all clients are intrinsically healthy and are capable of achieving significant and meaningful recovery from schizophrenia, bi-polar, autism, and other disorders. As well, all of our staff share a commitment to seeing their clinical work as a path of lifelong learning. It is important to note that one of our six Senior Clinicians is attached to each team to supervise the progress of the clinical work and the client's recovery. Six of our Senior Clinicians are Licensed Professional Counselors (LPCs) in Colorado. This ensures that the highest standards of Windhorse care are applied to every treatment effort.
Co-Owner/Directors
Directors
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Jamie Emery, MA,
LPC, is a graduate
of the MA Program in Contemplative Psychotherapy at The
Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where he has served on
the faculty and as Department Chair. As well, he served on
the faculty
of Naropa's
Gerontology Graduate Program and Long-Term Management
Program. Mr. Emery has practiced the Windhorse approach since 1988.
He cofounded Windhorse Community Services, (WCS)
in 1990 and works as
a team leader, psychotherapist, and senior team supervisor.
He has a special interest in affective disorders and
the
use of rhythms
of daily living as a means for establishing and maintaining
healthy patterns in individuals and organizations.
Jeffrey Fortuna, MA, LPC, received his MA degree in Contemplative
Psychotherapy at The Naropa University in 1980. He served as a
core faculty member in that department until 1989. In 1981, he
cofounded and worked with Maitri Psychological Services in Boulder,
Colorado. In 1988, he cofounded and directed the Friendship House
Project, a residential therapeutic community and a joint project
of Maitri Psychological Services, The Naropa University, and the
Boulder County Mental Health Center. From 1989 to 1992, Mr. Fortuna
founded and directed a Windhorse community in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
In 1992, he founded Windhorse Associates, Inc., a nonprofit clinical
and educational organization, in Northampton, Massachusetts. He
served as Executive and Clincial Director at Windhorse Associates
for ten years. In 2002, Mr. Fortuna returned to Boulder as a Co-Director
of Windhorse Community Services, Inc. He has extensive clinical
and organizational experience, has taught a variety of educational
programs, and has written a book chapter and journal papers in
the area of Windhorse treatment. He has a special interest in intensive
individual psychotherapy and in providing training in the Windhorse
approach.
Charles Knapp, MA, LPC, entered the mental health field in
1982, working with addictions and acute mental illness. He received
his Master's degree in Contemplative Psychotherapy at The Naropa
University in 1987 and continued to study and teach at Naropa with
Edward Podvoll for three years. For seven years he worked in several
clinical positions for the Boulder Mental Health Center. Mr. Knapp
worked as a team leader for Friendship House in 1988, and then
served as its second Director for three years, during which he
further developed this therapeutic community as an effective, publicly-funded
recovery environment. With Dr. Podvoll's support, he founded Windhorse
Community Services in 1990 as the Clinical Director, working as
a team leader, psychotherapist, and team supervisor. He has a special
interest in exploring the adaptability of the Windhorse model to
different diagnostic and recovery needs.
Mary Freund, MA,
who serves as the Director of Operations for WCS, Inc., is a graduate of the MA Program in Gerontology and Long-term Care Management at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado, where she also served as adjunct faculty for that department for six years. Her broad administrative experience began after graduating from the University of St. Mary in 1985, working as a VISTA Volunteer to help found a non-profit health care clinic for the medically indigent. Upon completing her term, she then went on to establish a similar program in Grand Junction, Colorado. She has experience running a childcare center, a senior living community as well as several years of experience developing human resource departments for long-term care residences. Mary has also been a board member and consultant for several non-profit organizations in the areas of fundraising, human resources, and organizational development. She has held the position of Director of Operations since October of 2004.
Anne Marie DiGiacomo, MSW, LCSW, received her Masters of Social Work from the University of Denver in 1986. She spent the first 18 years of her career working in both community mental health and nonprofit settings with children, adolescents and families. Ms. DiGiacomo’s primary focus was residential treatment with adolescents, adolescent and elementary day treatment and family therapy. In 1996 she relocated to Northampton, MA and began her work with Windhorse Associates, a nonprofit therapeutic and educational organization. Ms. DiGiacomo served as the Clinical Director from 2001-05 as well as the interim Co-Executive Director from 2002-03. She returned to Boulder, CO in 2006 and is currently working with Windhorse Community Services as a senior therapist. She is a teaching assistant and meditation instructor for the MA Contemplative Psychology Program at Naropa University and has co-authored a book chapter describing the Windhorse approach. Ms. DiGiacomo has been involved in bringing the Windhorse approach into the wider consumer recovery movement and is particularly interested in integrating consumers within the Windhorse community. She has been in private practice since 1989 as a Sandplay therapist with children, adolescents and adults, and is also a board member for Windhorse Guild, Inc. In late-fall 2007, Ms. DiGiacomo was appointed Director of Admissions. 
Eugenie Morton, MA, LPC, began working in the mental health field in the 1970's through her degree at the University of Colorado. She received her Masters from Naropa University in 1987 in Contemplative Psychotherapy. She continued on as a clinical supervisor, teaching assistant and internship coordinator for the Contemplative Psychology Program at Naropa University. For 13 years Ms. Morton was senior instructor and co-owner of Model Mugging of Colorado, a self-defense and empowerment program for women, men, teens and children. She has also worked extensively with trauma & addictions. Ms. Morton joined Windhorse Community Services in 1988 and continues fully engaged in all aspects of team building and recovery services. She has been in private practice since 1991 enjoying her work primarily with women and emancipating youth. In fall 2007, Ms. Morton was appointed Director of Community Relations for Windhorse Community Services.
Kathy Emery, MA, LPC, received her MA degree in Contemplative
Psychotherapy at The Naropa University in 1980 and has continued
to study and teach in the Naropa BA and MA programs since 1982.
She is currently a Senior Adjunct Faculty member and Admissions
Committee member for the Contemplative Psychotherapy graduate program.
Mrs. Emery cofounded the Windhorse Project in 1981 and served as
a team leader for Maitri Psychological Services until 1987. She
has worked as a senior therapist, team leader, and steering committee
member for Windhorse Community Services since 1990. Mrs. Emery
is WCS's staffing coordinator. She has a special interest in the
relationship of meditation practice to clinical work and in training
therapists in the practice of compassion.
Eric
Chapin, MA, has actively worked in the mental health
field since 1977. He was the Director of a 110-bed psychiatric
unit in Texas for five years. He received his MA degree in
Contemplative Psychotherapy at The Naropa University in 1988
and has continued to study and teach at Naropa since then.
He studied intensively with Dr. Edward Podvoll and Jeffrey
Fortuna from 1988 to 1998. In the context of that apprenticeship,
he codirected Windhorse Associates, Inc., in Massachusetts for five
years and received thorough training in the Windhorse style of intensive
psychotherapy. He joined Windhorse Community Services in 1998
as a senior therapist, team leader, and member of the steering committee.
Over the past thirteen years, Mr. Chapin has gathered extensive
experience in all aspects of Windhorse treatment, and he has
a special interest in creating client-based work programs.
Dr.
Edward Podvoll was a graduate
and former faculty member of the Washington Psychoanalytic
Institute. For nine years, he was a staff psychiatrist
at Chestnut Lodge Hospital
and the Director of Training and Education at the Austen
Riggs Center. He was the Director of the graduate program
in Contemplative Psychotherapy at The Naropa University from
1978 to 1990.
He was
the founding Medical Director of Maitri Psychological Services,
the first Windhorse treatment center. Dr. Podvoll presented
the Windhorse Project in his groundbreaking book, 