Our Expert Eating Disorder Staff
Chrissy Hall, LCSW
Chrissy has worked in the behavioral healthcare field for over 25 years, primarily in clinical and business development executive leadership positions, serving residential treatment centers, freestanding acute care hospitals, outpatient, and military treatment programs. Her areas of expertise include overseeing quality and compliance for startups, clinical best practices, staff education and program development. Chrissy helped lead the project planning in the development of Aster Springs. Chrissy received her MSW from Virginia Commonwealth University and she is currently licensed as an LCSW.
Melanie Vann, MA, LMHP-R
Melanie Vann obtained her master’s degree in counseling psychology from Regent University. She is a licensed mental health provider in the state of Virginia. Melanie started her career treating eating disorders becoming a skilled clinician in trauma-based therapy, dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and experiential therapies. Due to the complexity of eating disorders, Melanie furthered her education by becoming a certified equine assisted therapist through the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association (EAGALA). She also went on to become a certified life coach through AACC. Melanie has worked in various settings in the mental health field to include business and program development, non-profits, podcasting, consulting, outreach, and education. She has held multiple positions to include primary therapist, program director, clinical director, and executive director. Melanie’s therapeutic approach is client- and strengths-focused to support her philosophy that full recovery and freedom from an eating disorder is possible. Her passion is to foster hope in individuals so they can live confident, empowered, and authentic lives.
Dr. Tom Scales
Dr. Tom Scales is the attending psychiatrist/physician at Odyssey Behavioral Healthcare which is the parent company for several eating disorder residential treatment facilities, including Aster Springs, where he provides psychiatric and medical care. He did his undergraduate training at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL, went to medical school at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, and did his residency training in a combined Internal Medicine/Psychiatry program at Rush Presbyterian St Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago, IL. He has done many presentations about eating disorders in the community and has made local media appearances discussing eating disorders. He was a radio show host in 2007 of a live web-based program entitled “Understanding Eating Disorders” on the website www.health.voiceamerica.com and featured professionals and lay people as guests in the eating disorder field. Most importantly, he is a husband and proud father of two children. He is a diplomat in the American Board of Internal Medicine, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and in Addiction Medicine through the American Board of Preventive Medicine.
Lemettris Williams, RN
Lemettris is a graduate of Bryant and Stratton College where she received a degree in nursing. She’s always had a passion for helping others and knew at a young age that she wanted to be a nurse. Lemettris has over 20 years of healthcare experience. She’s spent the past four years of her career serving the eating disorder community. She enjoys spending time with family and resides with her husband and two daughters in Chesterfield, VA.
Stephanie Sadtler, MSN, APRN, FNP-BC
Stephanie is a board-certified family nurse practitioner with an expertise in eating disorders. She earned her Master of Science degree from Walden University and has an undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from the University of Richmond. Prior to Stephanie’s work with eating disorders, her background includes specialties in gastrointestinal issues, emergency medicine, cardiology, and pulmonology. She has experience working with children, adolescents and adults. She remains passionate about managing patient care based on individual needs and concerns, then provide resources for future success. She remains passionate about managing patient care based on individual needs and concerns, then providing resources for future success.
Hannah White, MA, LPC-R
Hannah White obtained her master’s degree in clinical mental health counseling from Virginia Tech. She’s currently an LPC Resident in Counseling in the state of Virginia. Hannah has experience working with adults, adolescents, and children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), along with working with adults diagnosed with schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, borderline personality disorder (BPD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), bipolar disorder, and dementia. Hannah has worked providing in-home services along with interning at an inpatient psychiatric facility. Hannah views the therapeutic relationship as collaborative and the foundation of the therapeutic process. She takes a strengths-based approach and uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), rational emotive behavioral therapy (REBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and mindfulness. Hannah hopes to work with clients to identify coping strategies and strengths in their everyday life.
Megan White, MSW
Megan views the therapeutic process as a collaborative one and works with clients to identify their strengths and develop accessible coping skills that can be used in everyday life. She’s passionate about working with clients living with eating disorders and utilizies intersectional, Health At Every Size, and All Foods Fit approaches. Using methods such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), and mindfulness-based practices, Megan seeks to empower her clients to work towards their goals and overcome their obstacles to recovery and life beyond their eating disorder. Megan has experience working with adults and adolescents who live with anxiety, depression, challenges in body image acceptance, eating disorders, and trauma. Megan received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Neuroscience from the College of Charleston and her master’s in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University. She’s worked in partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient, intensive in-home, private practice, and school environments.
Joseph Wilson
Joe is a chef who has spent his entire culinary career within healthcare. He’s worked in adolescent residential care for eating disorders in Durham, NC, as well as partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient eating disorder treatment for adolescents and adult clients in Richmond, VA. A graduate of the Art Institutes Culinary Program in Durham, NC, Joseph also served in the U.S. Navy.
His food philosophy regarding eating disorder treatment is to minimize anxiety surrounding food. This is achieved through food exposures in a guided, fun, less clinical environment where clients can learn fundamental knowledge regarding ingredients, cooking methods, history, and applications. A key component of treatment includes culinary groups where clients learn these skills and the ability to process their relationship with the healing nature of nutrition.
Emily Moorefield, RD
Emily is a registered dietician who obtained her undergraduate degree in nutrition and dietetics from James Madison University. She went on to complete her dietetic internship at University of Virginia Health Systems. She’s currently working on her accreditation to be a Certified Eating Disorder Registered Dietitian (CED-RD). Prior to joining the Aster Springs team, Emily served as the Nutrition Manager at an eating disorder facility. Her career has included working at various levels of care for treating eating disorders to help clients improve their relationship with food. She’s also had the opportunity to raise awareness and provide education to the community on eating disorders through presentations and interdisciplinary panel discussions. Her counseling techniques integrate evidence-based nutrition science and motivational interviewing to aid her clients in reaching their full potential. Emily takes a therapeutic approach to nutrition and can connect with clients exceeding far beyond their relationship with food. She utilizes the Health at Every Size and All Foods Fit approaches.
Olivia Hutchinson, RD
Olivia completed her dietetic internship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA in 2016, and has been practicing as a dietitian since. Prior to joining the Aster Springs team, she worked in the acute care setting with a wide variety of patients, including those with eating disorders. She’s passionate about working with eating disorders and takes a client-centered approach to help clients achieve their recovery goals.
Stephanie Hayes, RD
Stephanie is a graduate from the University of Maryland where she obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics. She then completed her Dietetic Internship and supervised practice at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she gained experience serving a variety of populations in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. It was through her own recovery from disordered eating and body dysmorphia that she became passionate about helping others heal their relationship with food and their bodies. Stephanie is an advocate for intuitive eating, Health at Every Size (HAES), and an all-foods-fit mindset. It’s her priority to meet clients where they are to support them in their walk toward recovery. In her time outside of work, she loves to spend time outdoors soaking up the sun and being surrounded by loved ones (including her two cats, Waffles and Biscuit).
Helen Bragg, QMHP A & C
Helen has a passion for uplifting and empowering clients that’s spanned over a sixteen-year career. Though her experience has been in several dynamic clinical settings from forensic mental health to therapeutic residential psych, Helen’s truest vocation is within eating disorder treatment. In the five years she’s worked with this population, she’s created a unique approach that is both dialectic and compassion focused. Ultimately, Helen’s vision for the work at Aster Springs is to provide the best and most informed healing for clients as they move towards recovery.
Ashley Pennington
Ashley joined the Odyssey Eating Disorder Network with extensive expertise in intake and admissions operations, utilization review and continuing care coordination, business relations, and evidence-based therapeutic modalities. She has extensive expertise specifically with eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety disorders, substance abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, and personality disorders. She received both her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Master of Arts in Clinical-Adult Psychology from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Ashley began her career as a Direct Care Counselor at a residential eating disorder treatment center during which she fell in love with the challenging and rewarding aspects of treating those suffering from eating disorders and other co-occurring disorders. She values the opportunity of being the first point of contact for all clients, their loved ones, and outpatient treatment providers, as well as ensuring that all parties involved receive quality care during and after the referral process. Most recently, Ashley was the Director of Admissions for a start-up residential eating disorder treatment center, in which she provided oversight and management for admissions, UR, and continuing care/discharge coordination.
Claire Coker
Claire joined the Odyssey Eating Disorder Network with over nine years of experience in direct client care, community outreach, and youth programming. She discovered her passion of working within the eating disorder field while completing her Master of Divinity from Wesley Theology Seminary in Washington, DC. Claire brings her expertise in Public Theology, specializing in how theological beliefs inform embodiment. Most recently, she supported the launch of a new residential program for those recovering from eating disorders through curriculum development, direct client care, operations, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Claire is excited to support Odyssey’s Eating Disorder Network through community building and feels deeply aligned with Odyssey’s values of integrity and accountability. Through partnering with clinicians, Claire hopes to make finding quality care easier for those seeking healing.
Alycia Aldieri, LPC
As the National Director of Eating Disorder Admissions, Alycia works with the Eating Disorder Clinical Partnership Team to provide a responsive, compassionate, and streamlined process for admission into treatment. Her professional experiences include working with both adults and adolescents with co-occurring disorders, primarily in a residential setting. She’s a graduate of Benedictine University’s Master of Science of Clinical Psychology program. She also received her bachelor’s degree in Music Therapy from East Carolina University, where she received classical vocal training. Alycia’s therapeutic and professional approach derives from her therapeutic work, spiritual beliefs, and 12-step principles. She strongly values providing the highest level of integrity, compassion, and ethics when helping families and individuals affected by eating disorders and addiction. She believes living a life of recovery is worth the fight and holds hope that recovery is achievable to anyone willing. Alycia finds peace in being of service to others, and her goal is to ensure a smooth admission process for each client and their loved ones.
Ciera Johnson, MS
Ciera has always had a passion for helping people. She started her journey studying psychology at Virginia Commonwealth University and obtained her Bachelor of Science degree in 2016. She wanted to continue her passion for helping others by studying human behavior at work and received a Master of Science degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Radford University in 2018. Ciera enjoys making a difference in the workplace by always putting the employee first, and she is excited to join a team of passionate and hard-working individuals at Aster Springs.
