Coyote Coast

Youth and Family Counseling, Inc.

It is with our commitment to collaboration and strengths-based care that we continue to provide quality services to our clients.

Ricardo Murguia, LCSW
ricardomurguia@coyotecoast.org

Ricardo is Executive Director and Founder of Coyote Coast. His professional experience includes five years working in mental health with the University of California, San Francisco. He also spent five years with the Conservation Corps working in the California backcountry supervising young adults on labor-intensive restoration projects. While with the Corps, Ricardo developed and ran a challenge-oriented wilderness program. He has also worked with middle school-aged children as a day treatment therapist with Seneca Center in Bay Point and currently works part-time as a group therapist for West Coast Children’s Clinic in El Cerrito. An avid backpacker and rock climber, Ricardo spent three years polishing these skills in Southeast Alaska. For the past nine years Ricardo has volunteered as a trip leader with Environmental Traveling Companions, running adventure trips for clients from diverse backgrounds. He holds a graduate degree in Social Work with a focus on Individuals, Families and Groups.


Alex Georgakopoulos, MFT
alexgeorgakopoulos@coyotecoast.org

Alex, one of the principles of Coyote Coast, is Admissions Director and Family Therapist. Alex shares a passion and vision for working with adolescents and their families and he has gained extensive knowledge and expertise in adolescent psychology during the past 20 years. He has served as an adventure camp director in El Cerrito, a local high school football coach, an inpatient psychiatric mental health worker, a school based graduate school intern in Alcalanes Unified School District and as an outpatient therapist for at-risk adolescents in Berkeley. During the past 9 years, Alex was the Deputy Director of Jail After-Care Services working with adult offenders challenged by mental illness in both the San Francisco County Jail and Superior Court System. Alex was instrumental in the design and implementation of San Francisco County’s Behavioral Health Court. Through his experiences, Alex has developed a special interest in the transitional age population particularly due to the unique challenges teens face as they transition into adulthood. Alex also loves spending time with his wife and young daughter. He is introducing his daughter to hiking, camping, and fishing.

Shamita A. Dhar, LCSW
shamitadhar@coyotecoast.org

Shamita is Director of Clinical Operations and both a Group and Family Therapist. She has been working with Coyote Coast for two years. Her professional experience has centered on working with young people who are challenged by life stressors and who are making important transitions in their lives. Shamita has received a Masters in Social Work, with an emphasis in Management & Planning from the University of California at Berkeley. During graduate school, Shamita spent time at the HOME Project, youth development organization, facilitating college & vocational preparation projects for underserved youth. Through the San Francisco State Foundation, Shamita has also spent time abroad serving as an art instructor in El Salvador working on various community development projects. Prior to working with Coyote Coast, Shamita spent two years working at Fred Finch Youth Center in Oakland, providing individual, group and family therapy services to young people in residential treatment who are dually diagnosed with developmental disabilities and mental health challenges.

Michele Holt, LCSW, MFT
micheleholt@coyotecoast.org

Michele Holt is Clinical Director and both a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Marriage and Family Therapist. She has over thirty years of experience working with youth and families in a variety of capacities; her work ranging from psychosocial interviewing, crisis counseling, and intensive therapeutic services to a variety of populations including, homeless individuals, individuals and families facing addiction and other substance–related issues, victims of sexual assault, and adolescents referred from juvenile courts and mental health facilities. Michele has also facilitated a variety of groups. Michele is currently an adjunct faculty member with John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill, where she supervises graduate psychology students and in 2008 received an Outstanding Supervisor Award. Michele provides Coyote Coast Staff with ongoing clinical consultation and training in Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) to promote positive outcomes and ground clinicians in an evidence-based model that has been proven to facilitate parental commitment and investment, improve the overall relationship and strengthen parenting skills.

Stuart Brotman, LCSW
stuartbrotman@coyotecoast.org

Stuart Brotman has been working with youth and adolescents for over 20 years and is one of the founders of Coyote Coast. He began his work with adolescents in 1985 as a staff member in an adolescent residential treatment center. After earning his Masters in Social Work, he has continued to gain extensive clinical experience through individual; family and group work with teens and families in both mental health and educational settings.  This includes being a case management/therapist in a drug and alcohol treatment center, therapist in both public and private day treatment school settings (including adolescents with Autism/Aspergers syndromes), therapist in a locked residential facility and as a counselor in both public mainstream and continuation high schools.  Additionally, he has organized and participated in diverse experiential adventures with adolescents including national and international travel, backpacking, ropes courses and team building exercises.


Risa Delappe, MFT-Intern
risadelappe@coyotecoast.org

Risa has worked with adolescents for the past six years in various settings. These have included leading environmental education groups with San Joaquin County and Exploring New Horizons in Pescadero, facilitating groups and providing individual therapy at a therapeutic high school, and leading young women’s rites of passage groups for Stepping Stones Project in the East Bay.  She recently received her master’s degree in counseling psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies with a specialization in expressive arts therapy.  She is excited to bring her connection with the outdoors, the arts, and working with youth together at Coyote Coast! 


Jonathan Parker, MFT
jonathanparker@coyotecoast.org

Jon moved to the Bay Area from the New York Metropolitan Area in 2000, leaving behind a career in corporate public relations which allowed him to travel around the world promoting his clients. After moving to the West Coast, he decided to pursue a career that was more personally fulfilling and went back to school to get his Master's degree in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University. He has worked with clients at the school's Community Counseling Center in Pleasant Hill, and has focused on working with adolescents through positions at Thunder Road, a residential adolescent substance abuse facility in Oakland, and at Miramonte High School in Orinda. He has also worked as a personal trainer and loves to hike and bike throughout the Oakland Hills.


Jeanne Scott, MFT
jeannescott@coyotecoast.org

Jeanne worked in the corporate world before returning to graduate school fifteen years ago, making a significant career change by training in a helping profession. After completing her master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy at San Francisco State, she worked in middle schools and high schools in Marin County, both as a therapist and academic counselor.  There she developed skills in working with school personnel and parents to help adolescents develop success in the public school setting.   She also worked in non-profit agencies helping clients with substance abuse and trauma issues.  For the past eight years, Jeanne has focused her practice by working with adolescents in residential treatment, concentrating on often-interrelated issues such as mood disorders, socialization problems, substance abuse, anger management, and, most importantly, safety and harmony in the family system as well as success in launching into adulthood.

Teri Gillotti, MFT
terigillotti@coyotecoast.org

Teri has worked with children, adolescents and their families during the past 20 years.  She has worked in schools in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties as a therapist.  Teri has worked in a Therapeutic Day Treatment Center in Solano County, The Lynn Center with young children and their families, and The East Bay Agency for Children and Contra Costa County Mental Health as a Team Leader for the Young Adult Program.  She feels honored to witness and support young people in transition and be a part of strengthening connection in their families.

Pay Rose, MFT

payrose@coyotecoast.org

Pay Rose is a Licensed Therapist and Clinical Supervisor with offices in Berkeley and Oakland.  Pay has worked with families, adolescents, children and adults for over 15 years in a variety of settings, including:  Residential Treatment Centers, Public and Non-Public Schools, Alternative Schools, Mental Health Clinics, Drug and Alcohol Treatment Centers, Intensive Therapeutic Foster Care, and Private Practice.  Pay works with people of all ages but particularly enjoys working with adolescents in the roles of Therapist and Mentor.  Pay is especially skilled at working with people in crisis, using a calming, strength-based and supportive approach. Pay is a Bay Area native who enjoys exercise, travel adventures, throwing and teaching boomerangs.

Matthew Foley, MFT-Intern

mattfoley@coyotecoast.org

Matt draws from over ten years of working with teens as a teacher, mentor, and therapist. After graduating from college, Matt moved to China and eventually India where he directed semester abroad programs for high school and college students. Matt returned to the Bay Area to combine interests in mindfulness meditation with traditional psychology as a student in San Francisco State's Clinical Psychology graduate program. Matt’s clinical work has been at the SFSU’s Counseling Center and the Center for Special Problems in San Francisco, with a focus on trauma resolution and substance abuse issues. Matt has also worked with teens in foster care through La Cheim Therapeutic Behavioral Services, providing individual counseling and mentoring. In his free time, Matt likes to explore the East Bay hills and play his drums.

Jason Lechner, MFT-Intern

jasonlechner@coyotecoast.org

A graduate from Acalanes High School in 1996, this former professional musician is somewhat of a "homegrown" member of Coyote Coast.  Having recently earned a Master of Arts in Integral Counseling Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies, he is pleased to return to working with adolescents that are struggling to find their own sense of identity in the midst of an environment he himself had to navigate years ago.  Over the years, he has come to develop a particular strength in working with issues of addiction and substance abuse, having spent four years counseling at Thunder Road Adolescent Treatment Center and more recently two years with the New Bridge Foundation.  Firmly believing in the importance of holistic and multidimensional approaches to well being, Jason practices Aikido to train his body and principles of Zen meditation to balance the mind.

Claire Arbour, ASW

clairearbour@coyotecoast.org

Claire is an Associate Social Worker and a graduate of Smith College School for Social Work.  In addition to working with Coyote Coast, she has a private therapy practice in San Francisco and Oakland.  Claire has been a mental health professional treating families, adolescents, individual adults, couples, and groups since 2003.  She has worked in residential treatment facilities, community mental health settings (including home-based and school-visiting programs) and outpatient clinics.  Before becoming a social worker she worked as a collegiate-level athletic coach and an outdoor educator. She worked closely with individuals and groups, establishing goals and working towards achieving them while developing programs that improved participants’ self-awareness and emotional resilience in the face of challenges.  Claire loves family therapy and is working to combine both what is good for young people and for the adults who love, nurture and encourage them.

Brian Burke

brianburke@coyotecoast.org

Brian is a Bay Area native and the Activities Program Coordinator Intern for Coyote Coast. At age 17, Brian attended Sagewalk, a therapeutic wilderness program in Oregon, and Northwest Academy, an emotional growth boarding school in Northern Idaho. After discovering an entirely new and healthy path for his life while at Sagewalk and Northwest, Brian began attending the University of San Francisco, where he played on the intercollegiate golf team as a freshman. In 2007-08, Brian took the year off from college to earn his Wilderness EMT certification from the Wilderness Medicine Institute of the National Outdoor Leadership School. Also during that year, Brian worked as a field instructor at Second Nature Uintas, a therapeutic wilderness program in Utah, where he returned to work last summer. In addition to his experience at Second Nature, Brian has various experiences working with youth, including teaching life skills through the game of golf and teaching health education to underprivileged high school students in San Francisco. He is looking forward to graduating from USF with a philosophy degree this summer.

Todd Harvey, MFT-Intern

toddharvey@coyotecoast.org

In addition to working with teens at Coyote Coast, Todd Harvey is also a staff therapist at The Psychotherapy Institute in Berkeley where he facilitates long-term psycho-analysis with individual adults and couples. Todd's past professional experiences include supporting individuals facing addiction and significant psychological challenges at the Haight Ashbury's Center for Recovery, a residential recovery program working with adults who have a dual-diagnosis and who are either homeless or recently released from jail.  Todd has also held an internship with Berkeley's First Presbyterian Church's Counseling Program where he worked with individuals  facing significant transitions and emotional challenges including, grief, sexual orientation issues, and relationship issues .  Prior to becoming a therapist, Todd has worked to develop affordable housing and homeless programs.  He has also been accused of being outdoorsy and adventurous, cycling across the country and hiking through the Appalachian Trail.