Daniel Samson
A welcome message from our Founder and President, Daniel Samson.
Clinical Leadership
Dr. Baback Gabbay, MD
Chief Medical Officer
After medical school he completed both general adult psychiatry residency and fellowship training in child and adolescent psychiatry at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He has had extensive training within the realm of emergency psychiatry room, inpatient, residential and outpatient treatment settings. His clinical experience encompasses medication management and therapy services to a diverse range of clients, with specialized intensive clinical training with dual diagnosis clients. Prior to joining Destinations to Recovery, Dr. Gabbay served as Attending Psychiatrist for Center for Discovery Adolescent Group residential homes in the South Bay. He also has extensive experience treating low socioeconomic and foster care patients through The Help Group and Penny Lane Mental Health Centers.
Dr. Gabbay currently works as Destinations’ Chief Medical Officer where he is passionate about the care he provides and strives to constantly self-educate through continuing medical education trainings/self-directed learning, as well as teaching his colleagues. Dr. Gabbay’s philosophy towards medication management follows a holistic, interdisciplinary approach. Clinical information is gathered from multiple sources (client, family, school, therapist, nursing and outside referral sources) in order to make an informed decision regarding a definitive diagnosis and appropriate medication recommendations. Dr. Gabbay evaluates all clients whether they are prescribed medication or not. In his spare time, Dr. Gabbay loves to swim and play basketball. He frequently will spend spare time hiking with his wife. He is a huge fan of comic book movies (both Marvel and DC Comics) and 1980’s popular music. His family has been known to chuckle on more than one occasion at his Spotify music list.
Dr. Kristen M. Roye, Psy.D.
Dr. Roye currently works as the Clinical Director at Destinations for Teens where her main role is to ensure compassionate care for clients and families by implementing evidence-based clinical programming as well as trainings to the staff and community. She also strives to bring awareness to the stigma associated with mental illness and educate the public on suicide prevention. Dr. Roye is currently head of the committee for the APA sponsored Continuing Education Program which allows Destinations to provide continuing education credits to local psychologists and mental health professionals. In addition to Destinations, Dr. Roye also works as a senior adjunct professor at Cal Lutheran and teaches in the psychology department. She has been teaching at Cal Lutheran for the past eight years and recently partnered with them to create a PsyD practicum student training program at Destinations. In her free time, you can find her at the beach, seeing live music, or trying new recipes.
Clara Mahmoudi
Clinical Team
Ashley Shelton, LMFT
Residential Program Director
Ashley currently work as Destinations Senior Residential Clinician and oversees all clinical aspects of the residential program. Ashley is passionate about helping struggling teens with addiction and mental health issues due to her own experiences with the loss of loved ones who lacked the resources that are now available. In her free time, Ashley is an avid basketball player, loves to be anywhere the ocean is and enjoys an active lifestyle.
Zoe Wick, LMFT
Residential Program Director
Dan Carroll, LMFT
Residential Program Director.
Allison D. R. MacIntyre, LMFT
Outpatient Program Director
Allison joined the Destinations team recently and works as the Woodland Hills Program Director. Allison brings Destinations her passion to help youth thrive and reach their goals. When Allison is not working you can find her spending time with her beautiful two daughters or elbow deep in amateur vegetable and flower gardens.
Nora Durzo, LMFT
Telehealth Program Director
Melissa Sanderson, LMFT
Therapist
When Melissa is out of the office, she is also a twin mom and author.
Laila Curtis, LMFT
Therapist
Leticia Tye, APCC
Therapist
Rebecca Escobar, AMFT
Therapist
Tal Kempler, ASW
Therapist
Tal is passionate about the relational aspect of the therapeutic process and believes strongly in the importance and healing power of human relationships. She practices a cognitive behavioral approach, while also integrating mindfulness into individual and group therapy in order to provide clients with the skills to help self-regulate and build resilience. Tal also believes in the power and importance of inclusion and integrates her core values of equity, self-determination, and the worth of every person into her practice. In addition to her work with her own clients, Tal spearheaded and facilitates a weekly LGBTQ+ support group for clients in all three residential facilities. In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing board games, and spending time in nature.
Katy Castronovo, MSW, ACSW
Therapist
Michael Brose, RAT-C
Residential Recovery Counselor
Paloma Moran, MA
Practicum Trainee
In both her research and practice, Paloma embraces a multicultural perspective to create a safe and supportive environment that is inclusive of LGBTQ+ communities. As a practicum trainee, Paloma is currently working under the supervision of Kristen Roye, Psy.D, the Clinical Director at Destinations for Teens. In her free time, Paloma enjoys attending concerts and spending time with her cute pup, Lily.
Will McGarry, CADC 1
Recovery Services Manager
Dr. Irit Bar-Netzer, PsyD
Director of Parent Support Programs
Academics
Scott Decker, MA
Director of Education
Scott currently works as the Director of Education where he oversees the academic programs at all Destinations for Teens locations. His goal is to implement and create an academic program that is therapeutic and nurturing. He is dedicated to being a resource for both clients and their families. Scott is committed to serving diverse populations and the challenges our youth, young adults and families face. Scott is an avid cook and he likes to spend time with his two sons, play his guitar, go to concerts and shows, and travel/explore Southern California.
Community Relations
Kayvon Babakan, LMFT
Kayvon focuses his energy in providing the safest environment for his clients to comfortably explore their lives and grow as individuals. He enjoys working with a wide array of diverse clientele, especially with kids, teens and young adults to whom he offers a unique understanding due his strong connection to youth culture. Therapy with Kayvon involves challenging yourself and growing as a whole person in every aspect of life.
Kayvon currently works as Destination’s Director of Admissions and is passionate about helping struggling teens due to seeing the lack of resources for the teen population growing up. Kayvon is also a fluent Farsi speaker and can seamlessly conduct therapy sessions in both English and Farsi. Kayvon’s understanding of the middle-eastern cultural dynamics helps ease families into the idea of therapy. Sometimes children growing up in multiple culture households can feel unheard and riddled with anxiety. Kayvon’s soft approach and personal experience helps increase the family communication, boundaries and healthy connections. In his free time Kayvon loves working on cars and motorcycles and racing both.
Halie Gibbs, MHA
Director of Community and Alumni Services
Sandra Shahrokh
Community Relations Coordinator
Selene Acosta, APCC
Assistant Director of Admissions
Jocelyn Chavez
Admissions Coordinator
Pyper Ramirez
Admissions Coordinator
Torri Shack
Community Outreach Liaison
Torri was born and raised in California and graduated at the top of her class from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In her free time, Torri enjoys running, traveling, and reading. Torri has served on several boards in the mental health and recovery space and is passionate about advocating for individuals with substance use disorders and gender and racial equality. Torri, thank you for all that you do for our community and we are excited to support you in your continued success.
Support Team
Elvis Reyes, CPA
Annetta Vanbuskirk
Director of Provider Relations
Lesky Santos-Kiaee
Director of Human Resources
Tiffany Pineda
Tiffany Hall
Lori Roberts
Samantha Skillin
Billing Manager
Erin Clark
Administrative Assistant
Judith Aguirre
Chef