An aggressive alternative to
inpatient treatment programs.

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P R O F E S S I O N A L     S T A F F

Terry White
M.F.T. Marriage Family Therapist

Upon finishing graduate school twenty years ago, Terry White sought ways to initiate productive and innovative practices in his newfound craft of clinical psychology and psychotherapy.

Terry graduated with an emphasis in Depth Psychology from the Pacifica Graduate Institute in its very early days.  He was passionate about dreams, art-therapy, sand-play, developmental psychology and family systems (including parenting), as well as analysis. He found himself discussing eating disorder treatment with his wife, Francie White M.S.R.D., a dietitian who was practicing in her own clinical setting.  Francie had increasingly found herself facing an undiagnosed pathology that was rapidly becoming evident in our culture.  At that time there were no names in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for the eating disorders that she was encountering in her practice.

Over the next decade Terry and Francie assembled teams of professionals, doing their best to help clients contend with this emerging and escalating cultural phenomenon. These experiences offered Terry the opportunity to apply his education and training with the intention of finding the most effective formula to treat these issues. This has become an ongoing process which, in fact, continues to teach him.

After his first decade in practice, Terry was certified by The Board of Behavioral Sciences to offer continuing education credits for nurses, social workers, therapists and psychologists.   He and Francie produced workshops around the country, training eating-disorder professionals in retreat settings in upstate New York, Hawaii, Texas and The San Juan Islands.  They also hosted annual trainings in Santa Barbara, California.

Terry eventually returned to clinical work, founding a new program in this region, the Central Coast Intensive Outpatient (Eating Disorder) Program.  This program is a standard of care accepted by the majority of insurance companies.  We provide treatment and support that is intended to supplement individual treatment and precludes residential hospitalization. Our program is designed to coordinate with school and work schedules.  Central Coast IOP is now operational in locations serving the San Luis Obispo area, the Santa Ynez Valley, and Santa Barbara.

For the past four years, Terry has served as Clinical Director, supervising CCIOP’s therapists and dietitians.  Terry works directly with our clientele and coordinates services with referring physicians and therapists.  The referring physicians and therapists remain directly involved with, and an essential part of, The Central Coast Intensive Outpatient Program treatment team.

Marlena is a registered dietitian specializing in eating disorder treatment. Being recovered herself from anorexia, bulimia and compulsive overeating, she gained her experience in a variety of settings with a focus in mental health. She earned her degree from California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo and completed her internship at Porterville Developmental Center. She has worked as a counselor for adolescents and adults with disabilities and has extensive 12-step experience in alcoholism and overeating disorders. 

Prior to becoming a dietitian she gained another eight years of fitness and nutrition experience in New York, working as a certified   personal trainer and registered dietetic technician. Through nutrition education, eating disorder awareness training, meal plan development, one-on-one and group coaching, Marlena works to help improve each client’s relationship with food and self.

Marlena Tanner
Registered Dietitian

“It is my hope that through my own recovery I can help other individuals to recover themselves”. 

Katja
Marriage Family Therapist Intern

Katja has an interest in the humanistic approaches of Carl Rogers and Eugene Gendlin, and is finding a way to incorporate Gendlin’s focusing oriented psychotherapy with some of the cognitive behavioral approaches already practiced with the eating disorder population.  This is intended to help shift their experience of their eating disorder over time, such that it doesn’t have the same grip on their emotions. Furthermore, Katja is hoping to inspire clients by integrating art, movement and drama into individual as well as group psychotherapy.

Jeni
Family Therapist Intern

Jeni is a graduate of Pacifica Graduate Institute's M.A. Counseling Psychology Program with an emphasis in Depth Psychology. She joined the Central Coast IOP team as an intern in July 2007.

A native South African, Jeni is a professionally-trained bodyworker whose background includes Massage Therapy, Polarity Therapy, Shiatsu, and extensive training in Craniosacral Therapy. She bridges these skills in her approach to psychotherapy with the Somatic Experience ® (SE) body psychotherapy model of trauma resolution with the aim of addressing the multiplicity of symptoms (physical, mental, and behavioral) so often linked to the stress induced, repetition compulsive nature of eating problems.

Jeni served her traineeship and adult portion of internship hours at CALM, Santa Barbara working with adults with a history of childhood molestation.

As an individual, group, and family therapist, Jeni facilitates her clients in developing a solid connection to a healthy sense of self that steadily allows disengagement from the behaviors connected to eating problems, body image issues, and other maladaptive coping skills. Her integrated, approach stimulates a process by which healthy interpersonal connections and an ability to thrive in life, work, and creative endeavors is made possible.

Natasha Latta
Marriage and Family Therapist Intern

Natasha graduated from Loma Linda University with a BS in nursing. She started out her professional life working as a Registered Nurse in an ICU setting. She was drawn to the relational aspect of working with patients and their families in crisis. This led her back to school to gain a Masters degree in Psychology at Cal Poly University in San Luis Obispo.

While at Cal Poly, Natasha worked as a graduate assistant, running the Community Counseling Center which provides much-needed low cost therapy to the community. She also trained at the Santa Maria Youth and Family Center, working with children and their families in crisis, using a family systems approach.

Natasha feels a deep sense of compassion and connection to her work with clients struggling with eating disorders based on her own journey and recovery from anorexia and bulimia. It is her desire to encourage and inspire a sense of self-acceptance and empowerment.