Dr. Nancy Young has 25 years experience specializing in therapy with adult individuals, couples, and groups, and, for the past 19 years, she has been an Adjunct Professor in Chapman University, teaching such classes as: Intro to Psychology, Romantic Love, Human Sexuality, Sex Therapy, and Substance Abuse Treatment. Her academic research has been on romantic love.  Past workshops have included: Emotionally Intelligent Communication Skills for Stress-less Living, Romantic Love: An Owner's Manual (the work of Gottman, the Stones, Hendrix, Tennov, others), Never on Sunday: Women & Sex, and Standing at The Crossroads: Psychology of Selves in Transition. She specializes in a variety of therapeutic methods, including cognitive-behavioral, Voice Dialogue, EMDR, and Gottman Method couple's therapy. She uses a holistic/transpersonal approach.  

Dr. Judy Fluor Runels has been working with people living with HIV and AIDS for the last six years. She has a Psy.D. in Psychology/Marriage and Family Therapy.  She works with couples, individuals, children, and adolescents, assisting them to develop better relationship and communications skills, and has extensive experience in working with people living with a chronic or terminal illness. Dr. Runels has run facilitated support groups for adults dealing with substance abuse issues, using a harm reduction model, has presented at HIV/AIDS conferences, assisted with HIV training for the County of Orange, and has done workshops on pain management, maintaining sobriety, and better ways to cope with stress. Her specialty is grief counseling, trauma, bereavement/loss issues, and caregiver burn out.  Her theoretical orientation is Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT), which is a humanistic, existential and experiential approach to help facilitate change. 

Mary Brill, LCSW has 15 years experience as a Psychotherapist. Working with individuals, couples and groups, she uses her skills in problem solving and mentoring to help people develop their inner resources. She's known for her unique ability to tame the inner critic and foster self-acceptance.

Mary finds that through meditation, dreams, writing, dialogue, and other creative approaches, we open to possibilities within ourselves that facilitate change, reveal new direction, help us unearth key solutions to our problems, and enliven our souls.

She offers an array of opportunities focused on personal growth, dream work, feminine wisdom, and spirituality. In addition to individual sessions, she conducts innovative group workshops, both locally and internationally. These soul-stirring journeys allow for an immersion in the deepest personal work.

Stephenie Champlin is our Office Manager and the Program Administrator for all our workshops. Stephenie graduated from Chapman University in June, 2002, in both Sociology and Psychology and is currently attending the Masters in Social Work Program at California State University-Long Beach. After working with pets and their owners for 13 years, as a veterinarian’s assistant and a manager for a major pet supply chain, she came to work for us in 2001. Since then, along with her work for us, she has worked in a domestic violence shelter and as a job coach for the developmentally disabled. Stephenie does everything, here at Pathways to Wellness, from answering the phone and appointment scheduling to handling all the financial and administrative work; she even takes care of the fish tanks!  Her care and compassion, along with a wonderfully compulsive work ethic, make our office and endeavors run smoothly.

Watson (on right) has nearly 6 years experience greeting and soothing dog-friendly clients in our office.  He is a non-shedding, allergy-friendly Australian Labradoodle as is his younger brother, Bailey.  Watson is wonderful with depressive clients as he is highly skilled in playfulness, affection, unconditional love, and not taking things too seriously.  He is greatly thrilled by those who let him sit on their laps (he is only 67 pounds!) but never seems to take rejection personally.  

Bailey (on left), with 5 years experience as a canine healer, empathizes with anxious and socially phobic clients as he is very sensitive and shows great concern when they are upset.  He does his best to help though he is sometimes bashful himself and takes up residence under the business office desk.  He is especially appreciated by those who are more introverted, less socially boisterous, and prefer a bit of personal space.