THE THERAPISTS
CAP Healing’s team of skilled therapists are all licensed mental health professionals. They understand the neuro-biology of trauma and have completed training in ketamine and MDMA through the MAPS organization. On a personal level, they have all undergone their own therapy and continue to see life as a constant source of evolution and growth. Various therapists have worked with energy healing, including but not limited to Vajra transmissions, Martial Arts Training and the Usui Shiki Ryoho energy traditions. All of our therapists participate in their own meditation and on-going self care practices.
Jane Caplan
As a Harvard trained psychiatrist and psychotherapist, I am deeply grateful for my teachers and mentors at Brigham & Women’s hospital, Beth Israel Deaconess hospital, and the former Massachusetts Mental hospital for my adult psychiatry training and Massachusetts General hospital and McLean hospital for my child and adolescent fellowship training. Since that time, I have worked to integrate psychotherapy with the neurobiology and psychology of trauma in order to heal the body, mind and spirit. In 2018, I became interested in ketamine’s potential for use in therapy and attended the 2nd KRIYA conference. Immediately it became apparent that there was value in its ability to get underneath defense mechanisms in a way that was not possible without a drug, or at least not without a lot of time and money spent on therapy. It then became my mission to treat trauma differently and more efficiently than had ever been done before. My experiences working in Hawaii, lead me to understand the unbreakable connection between the self, nature and universal energy. I was then formally trained in the Usui-reiki system of natural healing. The true heart of CAP Healing is the therapy team, all highly skilled clinicians and deeply evolved people. We recognize that we are privileged to participate in your healing journey and with the deepest respect we honor you with our ethics, confidentiality and compassion for the human condition.
Ryan Mahelona
Hello, my name is Ryan David Keliilani Mahelona. I am a Hawaiian man on a well mentored journey toward understanding the connection between mind, body, and spirit. I am joining CAP Healing as a specialized mental health physician and look forward to bringing my abilities to the patients and families of this community.
I was raised in northern Phoenix, Arizona, by a hardworking single mother and her parents. My love for science led me to pursue a degree in biochemistry and then allopathic medicine. It was my good fortune that brought Dr. Jane Caplan and David Blackstone from CAP Healing into my life as friends and mentors. Their wise and loving presence helped guide my study as a resident physician interested in the use of psychotherapy and psychedelic medicine to heal the mind. In addition to a comprehensive medical education, I have pursued training in mind body skills group facilitation with Jim Gordon, MD, and many others at The Center for Mind-Body Medicine and yoga therapy (current student) with the Krepps family at Circle Yoga Shala in the remote and lovely Jasper, Arkansas. These collective training experiences equipped me with powerful tools to help my patients foster good health, meaningful connection, and a deeper understanding of themselves.
Despite my depth of training, I graduated from residency with out seeing my Eastern and Westerns influences work coherently to treat patients. This problems led me to peruse fellowship training, and I was accepted as the inaugural fellow with The Center for Mindfulness and Integrative Psychiatry at Hines VA in Chicago, IL. During this unique and rewarding fellowship, I learned to complement state of the art psychiatric interventions with integrative modalities in the treatment of veteran’s mental health. My mentors at Hines (many of whom were physicians and CIIS/MAPS trained psychedelic therapists) helped me distill my training into a delivery system for psychedelic assisted psychotherapy in the nations largest healthcare system.
At this stage of development as a physician, I feel ready to provide innovative and individualized medical care to the people of Arizona. Working with me as an integrative psychiatrist will add a confident member to your support system as you transform your life. I look forward to contributing as you work towards improved mental well-being and deeper self understanding.
Jennifer McCombs
I am an Arizona/Nevada/California-based Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW). I received my BA from Arizona State University and MSW from the University of Nevada, Reno. My experience includes 14 years of clinical experience in a range of settings, including both outpatient and inpatient psychiatric services, acute inpatient hospital services (telemetry, medical & Behavioral Health), disaster mental health (humanitarian work), psychedelic assisted integration therapy and private practice therapy.
In my work, I believe that the true health and freedom we crave present themselves when we align body, mind and soul and return to the instinctual, intuitive wisdom that exists within us to guide us on our life journey. Through returning to ourselves and the sense of safety, security and love that come with feeling safe and at home in our bodies, we are able to open to life and live fully. Working with me requires a willingness to do hard, deep, but gentle, work. I will not take on clients who are looking for someone to heal them. I offer support, tools, guidance, deep processing work, compassion, empathy and years of research, study and training, but I cannot do the healing for you. This is ultimately a co-created experience wherein my desire for you is to become your own best resource of wisdom, truth, healing and love.
"Therapy will drastically increase the depth and authenticity of your happiness AND it will honor the cathartic beauty of your sadness AND it will make the profoundly necessary space for everything that lives in between" - Emily Anhalt
David Blackstone
Hi. My name is David Blackstone. I am a psychotherapist living in the Phoenix area with my wife, 3 kids, and our 2 rescue dogs. Born and raised in Chicago, I began my career there. My professional journey is well suited for my work at CAP healing, and I am eager to join my distinguished colleagues in providing the deepest healing experience possible for our patients. I have a background in clinical social work, earning my MSW degree at Loyola University and my clinical training as an intern at the Josselyn Center for Mental Health in Northfield, IL. At the Josselyn Center, I had the opportunity to do psychotherapy with adults and adolescents struggling with severe mental illness and addiction. I am so grateful that I had the privilege of learning and training from several talented and well-regarded psychiatrists, psychoanalysts, psychologists and social workers. Following training, I worked in community mental health and residential treatment. Doing therapy in these settings gave me an early opportunity to recognize both the vulnerability inherent in the human condition and the remarkable resilience possessed by humans; observations that I try to always remember as I do clinical work.
After moving to Phoenix 21 years ago, I opened my practice, where I treat children, adolescents, and adults. I specialize in PTSD and developmental attachment trauma. I began developing my specialties in 2009 when I enrolled in an intensive, 4-year psychoanalytic training program at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, California. This transformative experience not only deepened my ability to heal trauma, but also help me understand human internal emotional experience and the dynamics between people in great depth. This growth was not only reflected in what I learned about humans, but also in a greater ability to be with patients which supports them to tap into their own inner capacities to heal and grow. Working with patients using traditional therapy methods throughout my career has been an incredible experience. It has been amazing to both witness and participate in the healing process with my patients over the years. The work at CAP healing, however, takes and human growth to the next level. I have been excited to discover how combining traditional therapy methods with psychedelic medications, mindfulness practices, eastern healing practices, somatic integration techniques, and energy work can so remarkably help people tap into their own healing abilities, self-actualize, and meet their highest potential as humans.
Debra Onsager
Exploration of our humanity, to literally go inside and be present with ourselves, is one of the most exciting and courageous journeys we can make. I’m a therapist who has been practicing since 2001 and, for decades, have studied the field of human development, neurobiology, philosophy and spiritual meaning As a therapist, my role is to be a travel guide and compassionate witness for my clients as they navigate the sacred territory of connecting and aligning their heart, soul, brain and body. I support them as they access and reclaim their own internal resources and unique identity. No one escapes difficult or traumatic life events. Painful experiences accumulate and can cause us to lose our sense of meaning and connection to ourselves and the world around us. For me, it’s amazing to witness people as they get back on the path of being who they’re truly meant to be.
As part of my work addressing complex trauma, I have developed a proprietary treatment approach: The Onsager Method (TOM). The Onsager Method is an organic, therapeutic framework that utilizes several key aspects of healing. It is especially adaptable to use with ketamine assisted psychotherapy. TOM is a compilation of many time honored psychological healing and spiritual traditions brought together to create an optimal, efficient and durable experience of emotional and psychological healing and integration. The Onsager Method is the direct result of experiences of what works therapeutically to address and heal trauma. And not just trauma; all of the human iterations and behaviors that are meant to help us survive overwhelming life events but then become their own burdens.
To me, It’s a miracle we exist at all - so I encourage celebration and attention to what makes us feel most fully alive. Our planet needs us to be ourselves but not in some kind of lonely isolation, cookie-cutter way, rather to use our differences in tandem for the greater good that is for you, me, us and everyone. I want my life to make a difference. To live with no regrets and to leave the world better than I found it. My kind of muscle and passion is not to climb Mt. Everest but to give myself to living fully, not just for me, but for the ripple effect on the big human collective that is we. And, I’d like to inspire others to do the same.
David George
My approach to mental health, psychiatry, and therapy can be described as integrative and holistic, based on the interplay between mind, brain, and body, especially how they interact in many of the common situations that lead people to seek therapy.
In my 15+ years of physically rehabilitating patients who have experienced significant trauma, including medical trauma (e.g., post-surgical pain), chronic and persistent physical pain, complicated recovery from injury, and head injury, it became obvious that emotional and physical trauma both have the capacity to lead to emotional distress (e.g., anxiety, depression, irritability, and anger), cognitive changes (e.g., difficulties with concentration, memory, decision-making, and problem-solving), social and interpersonal effects (e.g., impacted relationships, social functioning, and engagement in daily activities), coping mechanisms (e.g., maladaptive coping strategies like substance abuse), changes in worldview (e.g., challenged beliefs about safety, trust, and the world around you), and physical symptoms (e.g., fatigue, sleep disturbances, and changes in appetite).
Conversely (and fortunately), any positive change in emotion, thought, or human function can be traced back to involve positive changes in the function of the brain. My approach seeks to shortcut or enhance these positive brain changes where possible, by finding each client’s optimal, personalized combination of therapies, potentially including talk therapy, meditation, mindfulness techniques, neuromodulation, “brain training”, biomedical therapies, physical rehabilitation, pharmacology, and psychedelics (such as ketamine). The key being that psychological well-being can be much easier to achieve through coordinated improvements in overall health… especially brain health.
Life is amazing and worth living! It is always a privilege to join people as they discover their own path toward psychological wellness and a happy, more fulfilled life.
Ingrid Sutton
I came to psychedelic psychotherapy by way of traditional psychodynamic training in clinical social work at Loyola University in Chicago. Specializing in the treatment of anxiety disorders brought me into contact with people suffering with PTSD and complex trauma. I am a certified EMDR therapist and utilize this approach along with other trauma informed therapies such as Internal Family Systems to help people heal. As I deepened my understanding of the healing process over time, however, it became clear to me that other mechanisms of healing were essential alongside these traditional techniques. My own training and practice in meditation helped me to see other pathways to access how we as human beings experience circumstances and conditions in our lives in the past, present and for the future momemts. This expanded view of healing provided an opening in which Ketamine assisted psychotherapy (KAP) has found its place. Having been trained in KAP at Polaris Insight as well as completing the MDMA-assisted therapy through the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelics (MAPS) program, my beliefs about the healing process has expanded. This evolution has helped me to land in a mindset of collaboration around healing, seeing my role as supporting and encouraging the belief in one own’s innate ability to heal. Together, technique and inner wisdom find a path to peace and resolution.
Jennifer Kirshner
My story begins with a camera. I initially trained as a photo historian and have an MFA (Masters in Fine Arts) in Photography. After many years working as curator of photography at galleries and museums in the Southwest and California, I stepped behind the camera and opened a portrait photography studio with my mother. I realized that as much as I loved working with individuals and families I was continuously drawn to the stories and lives of the people we photographed, as conversations were an integral part of our process. Over the next decade, as my children grew and the photography medium changed from film to digital, I came to realize that while I was still interested in storytelling, it was no longer grounded in visual imagery but instead delving deeper into helping people with their personal stories. In 2015, I decided that it was time to continue my education so I could better help people work through their emotional challenges and touch points in their lives. I returned to school and earned a 2nd Masters Degree in Counseling. Upon graduation, I completed my internship with Crisis Preparation and Recovery and was subsequently hired to work in its Scottsdale outpatient counseling office. I worked with CPR for over 6 years prior to beginning my private practice in 2021.
My approach to counseling is to consider each client on the continuum within the constellation of their life. I am passionate about exploring how significant childhood and adult events shape correlations that emerge between our thoughts, feelings, behaviors and actions. An essential part of the work that I do with my clients is to recognize how these conscious and unconscious patterns and experiences are felt emotionally, physically, and somatically. The hope for each client is that we can identify and integrate what emerges in our therapeutic environment into their everyday lives. As a counselor, my role involves challenging belief systems and/or behaviors while maintaining my objective of providing a supportive and non-judgmental environment.
I am certified in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), trained in Dialectal Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Polyvagal Theory. In addition, I have completed training in KAP (Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy) with Polaris Insight Training Center. It is through the use of KAP, that I have witnessed, in conjunction with psychotherapy, the extraordinary potential and expansive widening of possibility towards healing. As a photographer, I see how the depth of field can be expanded, how the lens from which we view our reality can be widened. My hope for each client is that together, our work will lead to growth and healing, where each person can experience and witness peace.
Mary Aronson
I have known from a young age that the privilege of working with people to reach their healing potential was a calling I wished to pursue. My education as a nurse has always been grounded in my clear understanding that the healing relationship with patients creates the opportunity for growth and deep healing that is much greater than the simple relief of symptoms, and that each of us has the capacity to heal ourselves from within. Throughout my career, I have been honored to partner with individuals to pursue their goals of physical, psychological and spiritual healing, knowing these are not distinct parts of of human being, but are interconnected and inseparable.
I hold a Masters Degree in Psychiatric Nursing with an emphasis in Gestalt therapy, which has a strong somatic orientation. I completed education to become a Holistic Family Nurse Practitioner and for almost 2 decades worked with individuals incorporating my psychiatric nursing background, focusing on the reality that emotions link the mind with the body.
Throughout my career I have pursued studies what have provided me with new tools and knowledge to better help others. I know there are many paths to healing and my studies reflect a comprehensive and eclectic approach, both traditional and non traditional. I have undertaken study of Integrative and Functional Medicine, Classical Homeopathy, nutritional health and Jin Shin Jyutsu
and Reiki energy therapies. I also completed two yoga teacher training certification courses.
My ongoing study has continued to evolve as I have embraced new opportunities and training in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. I bring my experience, my energy, my spirit and my heart to my interactions with patients, and thank all of the patients with whom I have been honored to work. They have been my teachers and my inspiration. I look forward to even greater enrichment and learning as I continue in healing relationships with people I am privileged to serve.
Charissa Lopez
Charissa has worked with children, adolescents, and adults as a psychiatric nurse practitioner since 2014. She is a strong proponent of a holistic approach to mental health care, and believes the mind, body, and spirit should work together harmoniously in order for us to be our best selves and also allow for us to cope during difficult times. Sometimes, this calls for treatment with medication management in addition to psychotherapy, good nutrition, sleep hygiene, physical exercise, and discovering what brings us joy in life.
Charissa has significant experience working with individuals who have struggled with anxiety and depression resulting from past trauma. In addition to PTSD, she has gained experience treating various conditions during her time practicing in community mental health and private practice. These conditions include major depressive disorder, ADHD, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, OCD, and various other mood and anxiety disorders.
Charissa Is a graduate from the University of Arizona and plans to obtain her doctorate in the near future. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two beautiful children, watching shows and movies on Disney+, singing karaoke with her father and sister, and traveling across this beautiful state, country, and the world!
Kimberly Kingsley
My journey into the world of healing began thirty years ago when I began to realize that what we’re taught doesn’t always line up with nature’s principles. At that time, I committed my life’s work to helping people understand the principles of growth and healing. This prompted me to return to school to become a psychotherapist.
Since that time, I’ve had the opportunity to run a thriving psychotherapy practice, teach thousands of college students, and write four books on energy and personal growth. My ongoing training and approach to therapy centers around mindfulness, body awareness, and emotional integration.
I work with people of all ages but after working with college students for many years, I have a special place in my heart for young adults.
