Erik Flaten
Family Specialist, Family Services
Erik has been working with Deschutes Wilderness Therapy (DWT) since February 2021 and has experience as a Field Guide, Logistics Transporter, and now as a Family Specialist with Family Services. Erik is an Oregon native who has traveled extensively and lived in many places worldwide. Erik has his BA in Psychology. Before working with DWT…
Ryan Janac
Logistics Specialist
Ryan grew up in Salem, OR, and came to the Bend area in 2015. Throughout his career, Ryan has held many management positions. Looking for a role aligned with his logistics experience and finding a sense of purpose, Ryan found his way to wilderness therapy logistics, where he combines his management skills, interest in fitness…
Tim Moore, LPC
Family Intensive Therapist (contract)
Tim offers his insight into attachment, developmental trauma, and addiction by utilizing treatments grounded in interpersonal neurobiology. Sharing specific tools such as Mindsight, Heartmath, Brainspotting, and Mindfulness techniques lead to greater compassion, kindness, resilience, and well-being. Tim is is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Oregon with over 23 years of experience working as a psychotherapist.…
Mariah Vlach, MFTA
Primary Therapist - Adolescent Program, Family Therapist - Family Services and Parent Coach
Mariah joined Deschutes Wilderness Therapy as a clinician working with families and adolescents. Mariah specializes in trauma, attachment, emotional dysregulation, and family systems functioning. For most of her life, Mariah has been interested in understanding the impact trauma and dysfunctional life events have upon the human body and mind and how those interruptions can be addressed and repaired. In 2010…
Brittney Dane
Logistics Specialist
Brittney grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, and spent her childhood romping around longleaf pine-sawgrass forests. With a degree in Psychology, her early career was as a part of a clinical anxiety research team. Since her transition to the outdoor industry, she has seven years of guiding under her belt. She started her outdoor career as…
Cassie Schwartz
Transport Specialist
Cassie grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota. She has been playing in the snow, wandering in the woods, and swimming in lakes for most of her life. Having earned her bachelor’s degree in education from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, Cassie taught elementary and middle school in the Minneapolis school district for several…
Jeremy Hipps
Transport Specialist
Jeremy is someone who has never been on a straight path. By 30, Jeremy will have worked around 30 jobs, including property management, law enforcement, cooking, teaching, and more! Jeremy’s background in psychology and a passion for helping others drew him to working with Deschutes Wilderness Therapy. He loves being a calm presence in the…
Bridgette Hutton, MSW
Case Manager
Bridgette (she/her) was born and raised in a small town called Platteville, Colorado, where she grew up playing many competitive sports such as softball, volleyball, and basketball. Bridgette studied at Colorado State University and received her bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2019. During her undergraduate degree, she was also a student-athlete at Colorado State University…
Flint
Canine Companion
Flint spends his time with our adolescent boy’s group. He is fun-loving and likes to run off with our students’ socks and gloves, but he always brings them back. Flint is very playful and enjoys a good hide-and-go-seek game. Flint holds the record for the largest stick found and carried. He adores playing fetch and…
Ember
Canine Companion
Ember is one of the most energetic, silly, and playful canines in the field. When you pet her, she flops to the ground and rolls over. Ember spends her time with one of our adolescent girl’s groups, and they describe her as “wiggly” when she gets excited. She is dynamic and full of spunk one…