The team behind Transcend.

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. Anna has accumulated 3 years of experience in a psychiatric inpatient hospital setting both as a pre-graduate practicum student and as a post-graduate clinician providing psychotherapeutic care to humans in crisis. Thanks to her background in this high acuity setting, Anna is very familiar with what it looks like to truly join a client in their darkest hour. This setting has also benefitted Anna’s professional development by providing extensive training in suicidality risk assessment and management, trauma-informed psychotherapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) methodologies.

Today, Anna brings her expertise as a trauma-informed psychotherapist as well as lived experience as a yogic practitioner into her work at Transcend by providing a form of therapy that focuses on the mind-body connection. Anna’s approach incorporates a framework of Polyvagal Theory, Somatic Experiencing, Attachment Theory, and CBT to highlight the neurobiological underpinnings of what “safety” means to us and how a lack of safety can affect our relationships, beliefs about ourselves, and beliefs about the world.

In session with Anna, you can expect her to bring a sense of realness and genuine warmth to the room, which she believes is integral for healing and growth. Without a sense of safety with another, one can't be expected to be vulnerable, and it's only in moments of vulnerability that growth occurs. She has been known to roll out a yoga mat and get on the floor with clients to join them in preparatory breathwork or somatic exercises pre-infusion. This down-to-Earth approach makes Anna a great fit for working with adolescents and young adults, which is a population she specializes in at her private practice outside of Transcend.

Amanda, our Nurse Practitioner, has been working in the healthcare field over 10 years starting at the age of 19 working as an EMT. From there she worked as both a Registered Nurse and Paramedic.

As a nurse she has worked in several settings including the ICU, ER, and progressive care. As a paramedic she has worked both rural and inner-city EMS. After completing her master's Amanda started working as a nurse practitioner in the ER as well as Transcend. Amanda is currently pursing her post-masters education to become dual certified as an emergency nurse practitioner in addition to her family nurse practitioner specialty.
 
When she’s not at Transcend, working in the ER, or doing schoolwork you can find her playing tennis or practicing martial arts. Amanda has always been interested in mental health and herself practices yoga and meditation. Amanda is passionate about lifestyle modifications, especially dietary choices; she’s been vegan over 10 years and is happy to answer any questions about plant based diets.  

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MJ obtained a BA in psychology and minors in forensic science and sociology from The University of Texas at Austin.  Before joining the Transcend team, she volunteered at Austin State Hospital in the Competency Restoration Unit, and conducted research on crime prevention related to mental health services and policing. MJ’s passion for promoting a positive image for mental health and different treatment modalities lead her to Transcend, where she is involved in administrative work, clinical representation and marketing. MJ is a trained psychometrist and is in the process of gaining clinical experience for graduate school.

Courtney received her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from The University of North Texas in 2017 after completing her undergraduate degree in Psychology at Baylor University. Courtney has provided care within psychiatric inpatient, residential, and intensive outpatient environments.

These roles provided Courtney with competencies in the treatment and care of individuals experiencing substance abuse issues, mood disturbances, acute and chronic suicidality, traumatic responses, and psychotic episodes. She also received specialized experience and training in ACT, CBT, DBT, and mindfulness approaches.

Courtney’s approach to therapy is tailored to and shaped by each client she encounters. She appreciates the uniqueness and complexity of each client’s inner world, as well as the inherent dilemmas of being human. Courtney strives to meet you where you are, just as you are, and join with you as a fellow traveler in this journey of existence. She aims to encourage each client’s movement toward genuine self-understanding and a more authentic way of being.

Bob Stead earned his master of science degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 2016. Bob has worked in a number of settings including home-based care, community care, group, and private practice therapy.

Before Bob was a therapist, he served 12 years in the Army as an infantry medic.

Bob’s passion is working with people that come from difficult places, and Bob has experience working with children, adolescents, teenagers and adults that come from traumatic beginnings. Bob enjoys working with clients and helping them to overcome the myriad of conflicts they deal with in today’s society. Bob has received extensive training in trauma-informed approaches to care and is always refining his knowledge base and approach to care.

Bob believes every person deserves support, encouragement and the opportunity to grow into the best version of themselves. Bob uses different strategies to encourage client health and success to include; mindfulness, muscle relaxation, and Polyvagal theory to establish physical and emotional regulation. Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy is one of Bob’s strongest tools in the toolbox, and he looks forward to helping all his clients find the peace and stability they deserve.

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Paige received her degree in Psychology and Anthropology at the University of Texas in Austin, which was driven by her passion for people and everything that makes up the human experience. She has spent her whole working life in leadership roles and in service of others in a variety of settings. As a natural caretaker, she is currently beginning her journey as a Mindfulness Meditation coach as she continues to strengthen her own personal practice. Her studies, as well as her life experience, have taught her that one’s lifestyle can be one’s medicine, and it’s worth the work that it takes to figure out what that looks like.

She is an advocate for psychedelic studies, dedicated to the world of mental health, and motivated to be a part of the healing our society so greatly needs. Her love for being in the clinic has her determined to use her skills to connect Transcend to those who would benefit the most from ketamine assisted psychotherapy.

Dr. Paul Daanen, PsyD, received his doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the Illinois School of Professional Psychology after postgraduate study in psychology at the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics and Political Science. He completed his undergraduate degree at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

Dr. Daanen has received specialized training in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy. The core of his approach is both humanistic and psychodynamic, which means that he strives to create an environment which is first and foremost accepting and nonjudgmental. When such an environment is created, he works collaboratively with his patients to understand and then alter the underlying causes of their difficulties—causes that are likely rooted in both current, as well as past, experiences. This approach is particularly well suited to leverage the emotional and cognitive insights gained during a ketamine infusion.

Dr. Daanen has also received specialized training in multiple approaches to trauma focused psychotherapy (e.g., Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, EMDR) and has worked with a wide variety of other issues (e.g., post traumatic stress, suicidal thoughts and crisis management, depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and post-deployment military adjustment and reintegration).

Prior to his work at Transcend Multimodality Ketamine Clinic, Dr. Daanen was a Commissioned Officer in the United States Army. As an Active Duty officer, he completed his doctoral internship and postdoctoral residency at Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis McCord (JBLM) in Tacoma, WA. Following this, he worked as a staff psychologist in support of 1st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division at JBLM. He was then assigned to the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas and served as the Brigade Aeromedical psychologist.

Will started out his career at age 18 working as an EMT-B. At 21 years of age he became a Licensed Paramedic and began working in a rural 911 EMS system. Continuing his education while still working in EMS, Will obtained his Registered Nursing license in 2013.

As a nurse, Will has worked in many different settings including: large, small, and freestanding emergency rooms, critical care, drug rehab as well as traumatic brain injury rehabilitation, and in-patient psychiatric hospitals for adult and pediatric patients. Will has worked both as a Flight Paramedic and Flight Nurse treating critical patients on the helicopter in the pre-hospital setting.

Will’s personal experience with managing his own PTSD and depression lead him to research Ketamine’s role in treating mood disorders.

Will is one of the founders of Transcend and serves as the Director of Operations and Lead Nurse/Paramedic. He has facilitated thousands of Ketamine infusions at Transcend.

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As passionate as he is about using Ketamine to treat mood disorders and pain, he is even more passionate about helping people treat these conditions non-pharmacologically. Will spent many years learning how to treat his own symptoms with exercise, diet, meditation, and many other natural modalities.

He brings this experience and knowledge to Transcend to help shift the paradigm on how mental health and pain management is currently being treated in America.

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. Dr. Cunningham worked closely with his clinic partner Dr. Daanen while in the military. He also has worked closely with paramedic and flight nurse Will Ratliff in his civilian practice.
 
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.