Treatment Team

Angel Mayes, MSW, LCSW

Clinical Director

Angel joins the Red Oak Recovery family as the Clinical Director of Foothill at Red Oak Recovery. Angel’s clinical foundations are rooted in Reality Therapy, the Teaching Family Model, and she is certified in Family-Centered Therapy. Angel earned her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a concentration in adolescent development and families at risk. She received her Masters of Social Work degree from a unique joint program through the University of North Carolina, North Carolina A&T, and the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland. Angel is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who is passionate about working with the adolescent population and clinical management.

When working with young people, Angel centers her work around personal values, accountability, integrity, and places a strong focus on the therapeutic relationship and alliance. Her strength-based approach has allowed her to effectively work with clients and families on their journey of healing and recovery. In her over 15 years of providing direct care and management of teams working with adolescents, Angel’s family systems background ensures that the entire family is part of the healing process to effectuate change in family systems and dynamics. Angel has prior experience working as a Clinical Director, Dean of Students, and Primary Therapist at well-known therapeutic boarding schools throughout the country. She has also worked in hospitals, public schools, intensive in-home placements, group homes, and community mental health clinics.

When she is not here on campus, Angel enjoys spending her time going on adventures with her two dogs, Brutus and Kreiger.

Jake Klein, LCSW-A, LCAS-A

Primary Therapist

Jake acquired his master’s degree in clinical social work at Wurzweiler University in New York and is a licensed clinical addiction specialist in the state of North Carolina. Throughout his therapeutic training, Jake has worked with adolescents from diverse walks of life, from rural areas to inner cities, concerning a variety of issues including substance use, behavioral issues, identity issues, homelessness, grief, and trauma. Through an eclectic use of modalities spanning CBT, DBT, mindfulness, and narrative therapies, his focus is on transforming one’s personal mythology from a place of hopelessness and apathy characterized by addictions to a place of empowerment, meaning, and value. Jake provides an atmosphere of safety, curiosity, and non-judgemental presence as he assists his clients in discovering their innate, unique gifts as well as their interconnectedness and relatedness to a broader community.

Jake’s passion for helping youth through issues related to addiction began as he became aware through his own adolescence and early adulthood of the abject suffering addiction causes both individuals and their families. His draw towards working with adolescents stems from his experience in working with both adolescents and adults struggling with addiction of the impactfulness of early interventions.

Jake and his wife moved to Western North Carolina from New York, with their three dogs, influenced by their love of nature, mountains, and music.

Chad Barron, MS, LMFT-A, LCAS-A

Primary Therapist

Chad graduated in 2006 from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a BA in Youth and Family Ministry. After serving as a youth minister in the Tampa Bay area for six years, Chad felt called to work more closely with families going through crisis and returned to Harding to pursue his MS in Marriage and Family Therapy.

As a clinician, Chad has worked in private practice, substance abuse counseling, and as an Intensive In-Home therapist. Chad has a passion for coming alongside adolescents and their families as they navigate the tumultuous transitions that accompany that life stage. Focusing on the relational aspects of the person as well as the inner-workings of the self, his goal is to find hope and healing wherever possible.

Chad grew up in a military family but grew up mostly in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. He has been married to his beautiful wife, Justine, since 2006 and has three amazing kids. He loves exploring the mountains of Western North Carolina with his family, finding the best “hole in the wall” restaurants in small towns, and playing guitar and piano.

Susan Thyng, MA, LCMHC

Primary Therapist

Susan is a licensed clinical mental health counselor and holds licenses in North Carolina, Florida and Wyoming. In addition to working in the field of addictions for almost a decade, she is a certified EMDR therapist helping clients with addiction, grief and loss, anxiety, depression, shame and other traumatic experiences.

Susan has worked in higher education as well as substitute teaching for elementary school children. Her desire to provide education, support and to alleviate suffering led to working with individuals struggling with addictions and co-occurring disorders.

Susan spent several years at a residential treatment hospital setting as well as an outdoor ranch for males in Wyoming and incorporated different techniques into her group therapy including seeking safety and DBT. Leaning towards psycho educational groups, she enjoys assisting clients in understanding the link between trauma and addiction as well as healthy communication. She worked closely with family members educating on setting boundaries and understanding co-dependency and regression.

Susan has worked in various levels of care, including residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and outpatient treatment, and incorporates the work of Marsha Linehan, Laurel Parnell, Brene Brown and Gabor Mate into her group and individual therapy.

Nick Czapla, LCMHCA, LCAS-A, NCC

Primary Therapist

After receiving his Master’s degree from Kent State University in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, Nick has worked in a multitude of settings including high schools, outpatient, intensive in-home, and virtual or teletherapy. Recently, Nick has spent the last three years working in the field of wilderness-based therapy and addiction treatment. He is a licensed professional counselor and licensed clinical addiction specialist in the state of North Carolina.

Working with Nick, clients can expect a practical, goal-driven approach that is rooted in evidence-based therapeutic modalities such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy. His mission is to establish a foundation of emotional safety and trust so that those he works with may more confidently express their true feelings without fear of judgement. Once a therapeutic alliance is established, the focus can then shift to how natural strengths and internal resources may be harnessed to achieve the desired goal. Throughout the process, one of Nick’s core value is authenticity; he relates to clients without hiding behind a professional facade or roles.

Nick has completed more specialized training in trauma therapy and career counseling interventions and assessments such as: Structured Sensory Interventions for Traumatized Children, Adolescents and Parents (SITCAP), Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT), Career Construction Inventory (CCI) and World of Work Inventory (WOWi).

Nick likes to spend most of his free time in the Blue Ridge Mountains on the rivers. He is an avid white water kayaker, sneaking in some rock climbing, mountain biking, and backpacking in between.

Rebecca Pearce, MSW, ICAADC

Equine Therapist

Rebecca completed her master’s program at USC Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in December of 2016, an internship, and 2 years post graduate clinical work as part of a Bridging the Gaps substance abuse treatment center in Northern Virginia. She grew up in Arizona riding horses and being a part of 4-H animal husbandry program. She brings her love of horses, love of nature, and continued belief for hope and strength as an interconnected community to this team and to the clients at Foothills at Red Oak. Rebecca integrates her own life experience in understanding the profound impact that addiction can have on individuals and families, the healing that comes through the love of a horse, and her spiritual calling to be in service to others on their own journey to becoming whole, happy, calm, and peaceful.

Rebecca’s passion is working with individuals whom are in need of an invitation to be the best version of their selves while learning to let go of who they in their struggles in order to become who they are meant to be. She gives encouragement and support while providing the space for development of hope to recovering individuals while they address their core issues associated with their mental well-being and difficult situations in their life. She strives to work from a strengths-based perspective and recognizes that everyone has the capacity for growth and healing. She takes the role of walking side by side in a collaborative effort with the individual throughout this challenging and freeing process. She brings experience in providing services in individual and family education, expressive therapy, group therapy, and individual counseling utilizing a variety of trauma informed and evidence based therapeutic practices, including mindfulness, to enhance mental wellness.

Rebecca has spent the last several years bridging her love of horses and clinical social work by training in Equine Facilitated Wellness. This beautiful animal assisted therapy works by joining together with the horse that naturally brings their strength and unconditional love to help people grow and heal.

Rebecca also brings her many years of service as a licensed veterinary technician providing care to all animals and the people who love them. She is a yogi, recreational paddler, an avid backpacker, and traveler continually practicing connecting to mind, body, and spirit in her own life. She is often accompanied in her many adventures with her dog Mila by her side. Her animal pack also includes two parrot rescues, Stevie and Star.

Greta Lutman, LPC, LCAS

Greta received her Bachelor’s Degree in Anthropology from Wake Forest University in 1988 and Master’s in Agency Counseling from Appalachian State University in 1992. She has worked with adolescents and their families in therapeutic wilderness and boarding school programs throughout the Southeast since 2000 in various roles such as primary therapist, assistant clinical director, clinical director, and parent coach. Greta came into this field because she wanted to do “big” work and to help people change and grow if they really wanted to. She has not been disappointed.

Her contribution to Foothills at Red Oak Recovery include helping to create powerful and meaningful Family Workshops. Her clinical orientation is informed by an understanding of Family Systems, Gestalt Therapy, Metaphor Therapy, Transpersonal Work, Structural Family Therapy and Psychodrama. Her holistic view on healing the family system can be helpful in creating a more complete picture of what is going on and can create a path towards solving the problems that brought families to treatment to begin with. She believes that it is often a new perspective that is needed to help create the potential for change.