The team behind Transcend.

Luci is one of our Registered Nurses on the team at our Austin clinic. Luci has a background in emergency medicine, oncology, and is also a SANE nurse (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner). Luci was born to be a nurse! Her presence is warm, kind and full of energy. She joined the Transcend team because she is passionate about treating survivors of trauma. We are so lucky to have her on the team!

Sarah is an Austin native and a mom of three. She has a passion for holding space and walking alongside people as they navigate their healing journey. Sarah is a Licensed Master Social Worker, a trauma informed yoga teacher, a birth and postpartum doula, and a mental health peer support specialist. Her therapy style is person centered, trauma informed, warm and holistic. She uses her knowledge of the body and nervous system to help you to find safety and comfort that you can tap into on your road to healing.

Sarah uses a variety of therapy modalities such as somatic work, Internal Family Systems, CBT and DBT and she brings it all together within the framework of Polyvagal Theory. She believes that getting to know and befriend your body and mind are important when healing from trauma, so she finds that using both cognitive and body based therapies are helpful tools. Sarah’s areas of focus are complex trauma and PTSD, medical trauma, perinatal mental health and anxiety.

She has her undergraduate degree in finance from Texas A&M and after many years of walking her own healing path, she went back to school for a Masters in Social Work from University of Houston to become a guide to others as they embarked on their own journey.

In her free time, Sarah loves spending time with her husband and children, walking with her dog/best friend, Baxter Bear, coaching soccer, spending time with friends, reading and moving her body.

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Sarah Stasica LMSW is supervised by Arlene Montgomery LSCW-S

Ryan began his career in mental health while working in inpatient psychiatric hospitals around Austin where he discovered a passion for helping individuals through times of emotional and psychological distress. During that time, he earned his masters degree in professional counseling from Texas State University.

He later attended The University of Texas at Austin for nursing and went on to work as a psychiatric nurse for five years before becoming a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Ryan’s approach integrates empathy, evidence-based care, and a genuine curiosity about each person’s path to wellness.

Outside of his work, Ryan enjoys rock climbing, tending to his growing collection of plants, and searching for the best cinnamon roll in Austin.

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Ava Kool graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Hofstra University (‘24). She is often one of the first friendly voice patients hear, guiding them through the process with compassion and care. She loves creating a welcoming, organized experience so that each person feels supported every step of the way. Ava believes that healing happens not only in treatment, but also in the comfort and trust built alongside it.When she’s not at Transcend, she is enrolled in a master’s program to become an LPC. During her personal time, Ava enjoys going to live music shows, spending time with her friends and her pets, and loves exploring Austin’s coffee shop scene.

Dr. Cunningham, MD, MPH, FACEP, FAEMS is Texas native and a board-certified emergency medicine physician with a sub-specialty board certification in emergency medical services (EMS). Dr Cunningham has been using Ketamine in his hospital-based emergency medicine practice for procedural sedation since 2003 and began administering it for chronic pain conditions in the hospital setting for the past 10 years.

He has researched and published on Ketamine use in the military pre-hospital setting for its pain properties. In addition to his emergency room practice and military pre-hospital practice Dr. Cunningham has routinely managed behavioral health conditions outside of emergent decompensation in the military as a unit physician. This experience which is unique for most physicians sparked his interest in the use of Ketamine as an adjunct or replacement for many of the currently prescribed medications that often have undesirable side effects.
 
Colonel (US Army Reserves) Cord Cunningham’s commitment to serve others began wih his active duty career when he was commissioned as a second Lieutenant in the Signal Corps upon graduation from the military academy at West Point in 1995. He served as a platoon leader and executive officer in B Co, 112th Special Operations Signal Battalion, Signal Detachment Commander, and S-1(Personnel Officer) of 2nd Battalion/7th Special Forces Group at Ft Bragg, NC. He attended the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences attaining his medical doctorate and trained in emergency medicine at Brooke Army Medical Center from 2003-2006, as well training in EMS with Colonel (ret) Bob Mabry (Silver Star recipient from 1993 Battle of Mogadishu) as his fellowship director from 2013-2015.
 
Dr. Cunningham served as the Battalion surgeon for 2nd Ranger Battalion and surgical resuscitation team member for U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) deploying as direct and pre-hospital medical support of special operations forces in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Dr. Cunningham also served as a flight surgeon and medical director for a 15 ship Army medical evacuation unit and 3,000 person aviation brigade at Fort Hood as well as the medical director for the Army’s critical care flight paramedic program. Dr. Cunningham is a graduate of the US Army ranger school, a dive medical officer, senior rated flight surgeon, and master rated parachutist.

After serving over 20 years on Active Duty, Dr. Cunningham is currently in the US Army Reserves with the Army reserve element for USSOCOM. He also performs duties as the chairman of the joint trauma system committee on en-route combat casualty care. In addition, he is faculty for the DoD pre-hospital and disaster medicine fellowship. Dr. Cunningham is also still a full-time practicing emergency medicine physician.  

Kelly joined the Transcend team with over 16 years of experience as a registered nurse.

She spent over a decade of her career at one of the nation’s top hospitals, New York Presbyterian-Columbia, working in critical care and the cardiac cath lab.

Driven by an insatiable curiosity and an unyielding passion for exploring novel avenues of healing, her journey led her into the realm of mental health. She strives to create a safe and nurturing environment where patients can explore the depths of their consciousness, unburden themselves from mental strife, and find the path toward healing and growth.

In her free time, she loves spending time with her family and her dog, as well as traveling, reading, and being on the water.

Will Ratliff, RN, LP is a former flight medic and nurse, as well as one of the original founders of Transcend. As a subject matter expert in all things Ketamine, he serves as the clinic’s Director of Operations. Will played a key role in designing Transcend’s current clinics, developing protocols and procedures, refining processes and systems, and personally training all staff to meet the high standards he and Dr. Cord Cunningham set.

Long before founding Transcend, Will was a self-described "Ketamine nerd" due to his extensive experience administering the medication in a variety of critical care settings, ambulances, emergency rooms, helicopters, accident scenes, and roadsides. At Transcend, he has facilitated approximately 5,000+ Ketamine infusions alongside KAP therapists, spending countless hours observing the real-time effects of Ketamine administration across diverse settings, indications, and patient populations.

Will still puts on his well-worn Transcend scrubs to facilitate KAP sessions, primarily working with medically complex cases, adolescents, and elderly patients. However, he now spends most of his time steering the clinic in the right direction and training the next generation of Transcenders. His greatest passion is passing on the knowledge he has gained from this work, knowing that by sharing these insights with new KAP clinicians, he can help create a ripple effect, improving lives and saving more patients than he ever could alone.

Outside of his work at Transcend, Will is deeply dedicated to meditation, mindfulness, and breathwork, having maintained a daily practice for 15 years. He is also passionate about music (playing drums, guitar, and bass), martial arts (Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing, wrestling, and MMA), strength training (often with kettlebells and steel maces), practicing non-duality, and parenting his son and daughter.

Will offers life coaching services! See more here https://www.fightbacklifecoaching.com/

Anna serves as Transcend’s Director of Training and is one of the most experienced clinicians in Transcend’s model of Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy (KAP). A black-belt level KAP therapist, Anna has facilitated over 3,000 KAP sessions and has played an integral role in developing, refining, and teaching Transcend’s therapeutic approach.

Anna was the first therapist selected by Transcend’s founders to train in their model of KAP. Her openness, curiosity, and beginner’s mind quickly distinguished her as a clinician with a strong aptitude for this work. Over the years, her clinical judgment, intuition, and ability to recognize the nuances of psychedelic-assisted therapy have made her an important contributor to Transcend’s clinical development.

As Transcend has grown, Anna has worked closely with the founders to develop and refine the organization’s therapeutic methodologies and training standards. Today, she leads training across Transcend, helping clinicians understand and consistently apply the principles underlying the organization’s trauma-informed model of KAP. She has trained team members across clinical, medical, and administrative roles and continues to shape Transcend’s approach to KAP education, therapist development, and quality of care.

Anna received her Master of Arts in Counseling from St. Edward’s University in 2017 after completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Louisiana State University. Before joining Transcend, she spent three years working as a psychotherapist in a psychiatric inpatient setting, where she developed a strong foundation in CBT, DBT, and trauma-informed care for individuals experiencing acute psychiatric crises. This experience shaped a principle that remains central to her work: meaningful therapeutic change begins with creating a genuine sense of safety.

Anna’s current clinical specialization centers on bottom-up, experiential approaches to trauma. She has completed advanced training in Somatic Experiencing, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Polyvagal Theory, and other somatic and experiential modalities. She has also completed advanced training in psychedelic-assisted therapies, including certification as a Psilocybin Facilitator in Oregon, and formal training in Psychedelic Harm Reduction and Integration (PHRI). Anna also maintains a private practice focused on complex trauma and the use of experiential, mind-body approaches to healing.

As Director of Training, Anna brings together extensive hands-on KAP experience, advanced training in psychedelic-assisted therapies, a deep understanding of trauma and the nervous system, and a distinctly warm and down-to-earth teaching style. Her work extends beyond teaching techniques; she helps clinicians develop the clinical judgment, attunement, and foundational understanding necessary to provide safe, trauma-informed, and effective psychedelic-assisted therapy.

Anna is not currently accepting patients at Transcend and is focused on training, education, and the continued development of Transcend’s therapeutic model.

Annabel Morrice is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate who works with adult individuals navigating complex trauma, neurodivergent experiences, including ADHD, Autism, and sensory processing sensitivity, and those within the LGBTQ+ community.

Her clients are often people who developed creative, adaptive strategies to survive early environments that did not meet their needs. While these strategies were once vital, they can begin to interfere with deeper connection, self-understanding, and the pursuit of a more vibrant, aligned life.

Annabel creates a therapeutic space that feels grounded and secure, a place where clients can begin to breathe a little easier and explore their inner experiences with self compassion. She invites clients to tune in not only to their thoughts and emotions, but also to the body’s sensations and imagery that may arise during sessions. This helps us approach your experience with curiosity rather than judgment, and begin to build awareness of what's happening beneath the surface. That awareness opens space to imagine new possibilities, to recognize that you're no longer in the environment you once had to adapt to, and to reconnect with what feels true for you now, as an adult.

Annabel’s approach is relational, gentle, and grounded in deep respect for each person’s unique way of being. She is currently completing training in NARM (NeuroAffective Relational Model), a therapeutic modality specifically designed to support healing from complex trauma by addressing the disconnection from self that often results from early relational wounds.

Annabel does not view therapy as a process of “fixing” clients, it’s about nurturing your capacity to feel more choice, more connection, and more of what brings you fully alive.

Supervised by Reem Glasco, LPC-S

Tim is one of the Austin clinic's primary therapists facilitating KAP sessions.

He believes that healing comes from within and creates an environment and therapeutic relationship that fosters that healing. With an emphasis on mindfulness, common humanity and compassion, he combines elements from therapeutic approaches like ACT, CBT and IFS to help clients connect with their deepest self. He understands the variety of human experience across cultures from his experiences working in places like Ukraine and Brazil, and relates to clients on a humanistic level that acknowledges their culture and individuality.

Tim received his Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Texas San Antonio and his Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.

When Tim isn’t counseling at Transcend he is usually weaving treenets, bouncing on highlines, making music with friends, or hanging out with his cat.

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If you want to get a sense of who Tim is, watch this short video!

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Tim Goelz, M.S. LPC-A is supervised by Robert Nenadal LPC-S

Stephanie Mak is a Licensed Professional Counselor Associate who works with adults navigating complex trauma, severe anxiety, depression, loss, neurodivergence, and major life transitions.

She is especially passionate about supporting people from multicultural and ethnically diverse backgrounds, including immigrants and first-generation Americans, as well as members of the LGBTQIA+ community exploring identity, belonging, and the experience of moving between different cultures or communities.

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Many of Stephanie’s clients come to therapy feeling hopeless, disconnected from the people they love, or stuck in painful experiences from the past. Their nervous systems may feel constantly on alert, even when there is no immediate danger. The ways they learned to protect themselves may have once been essential, but over time, those same patterns can make it difficult to feel present, connected, or fully at home within themselves.

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Stephanie aims to create a warm and accepting space where clients can bring their full, authentic selves. Her style is collaborative and gently challenging. Her approach recognizes the mind, body, and soul as interconnected parts of the healing process. Sessions may include guided mindfulness practices in which clients close their eyes, slow down, and notice how emotions appear in the body. By approaching these sensations with curiosity rather than criticism, clients can begin to better understand the parts of themselves that feel frightened, overwhelmed, guarded, or difficult to accept.

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Stephanie draws from Internal Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, humanistic therapy, Somatic Experiencing, and mindfulness-based approaches. Stephanie strives to help clients develop greater understanding and compassion for the parts of themselves that have carried pain or worked hard to keep themselves safe. She holds a fundamental belief that healing and meaningful change are possible, even when a person has difficulty imagining a way forward.
Stephanie earned her master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Adams State University after completing her undergraduate degree in psychology at Texas A&M University. Her clinical experience includes supporting high-acuity patients in a mental health crisis setting and working with people from a wide range of cultural backgrounds and lived experiences.

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Outside of therapy, Stephanie enjoys spending time with her dog, Archie, caring for her plants, being on the water, practicing circus arts, and dancing. She believes movement, creativity, and connection are meaningful parts of well-being, and she brings that same spirit of curiosity and authenticity into her work with clients.

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Supervised by Gloria Mann, Licensed Professional Counselor Supervisor.