Child, Adolescent & Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Triangle – Durham, NC

Maddie Koermer (she/her) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of North Carolina. She obtained her Master of Social Work (MSW) from Loyola University of Chicago. Maddie began her career at Veritas Collaborative in 2016 and has experience working with patients and their families across multiple levels of care, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient. She is particularly passionate about the PHP and IOP levels of care and multi-family programming. As a clinical manager at Triangle Outpatient, Maddie is always pleased to help connect families to psychoeducational and supportive resources in their local area. She also thoroughly enjoys supervising student interns and clinicians in the field of eating disorder treatment.

Maddie greatly appreciates being part of a patient’s care team and enjoys walking alongside patients and families as they navigate the recovery journey. She pulls from various treatment modalities, including DBT, FBT, and motivational interviewing, and believes strongly that every eating disorder is significant enough to receive help. Maddie embraces diversity and believes in the importance of a non-judgmental, inclusive recovery environment. Maddie is an active Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Council member at Accanto Health.

Child, Adolescent & Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Triangle – Durham, NC

Amy Laster (she/her) is a Licensed Professional Counselor in North Carolina, having earned her Master of Science in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. Since 2019, Amy has worked with Veritas patients across numerous levels of care, including inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization (PHP), and intensive outpatient (IOP). She utilizes an integrated approach to therapy, which incorporates features of Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), and Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Her interest in lower levels of care led her to take one of the clinical manager positions for Triangle Outpatient. In this role, she serves as clinical and staff support for adult PHP and IOP and adolescent PHP and IOP. Amy is an experienced resource for our patients, able to provide individual therapy, family therapy, couples therapy, group therapy, clinical supervision, and therapeutic meal support.

Amy loves to learn and even helped develop the curriculum utilized across the Accanto Health System. She strongly believes success in treating eating disorders is underpinned by thorough assessment and development of an evidence-based treatment plan. Amy is also passionate about increasing access to care for all individuals in need. She enjoys partnering with external providers throughout the community to provide education on the detection and treatment of eating disorders. One of Amy’s goals is to grow awareness of inherent biases surrounding body size and nutrition, as well as to break down harmful eating disorder-related stigmas.

Douglas Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Eliza Russ, MBA, MSW, LCSW, CEDS-S, earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of the South in Sewanee, TN, and a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has experience providing individual, family, and group therapy for patients with eating disorders across multiple levels of care, most recently serving the outpatient population in a private practice. During that time, she also obtained her master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

In addition to her training as a psychotherapist, Eliza has experience providing clinical supervision to therapists and interns and is passionate about supporting the professional growth of emerging colleagues. She earned her Clinical Supervision Certification through NASW-NC and is an approved supervisor through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals.

Eliza strongly believes in providing evidence-based care that is individualized to meet the needs of the patient and family. She strives to create a safe, nonjudgmental space where clients can flourish. She approaches therapy with a sense of curiosity to help clients explore behavior patterns, gain insight, and develop potential solutions to facilitate changes that lead to a more peaceful “meaning-filled” life.

RTP Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC
Triangle Child, Adolescent, & Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC (Interim)

Marlo is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in North Carolina. She is an intensively training DBT therapist through The Linehan Institute. She started her career with Veritas in 2018 in the Intake and Admissions Department and moved into the Patient Navigation Manager role in 2020. Marlo has experience providing individual and group therapy for patients of all backgrounds in outpatient settings.

Marlo enjoys seeing the transformation that occurs in patients from the beginning of their journey to completion. She takes a holistic approach to treatment and believes that everyone deserves their recovery to be in a safe, non-judgmental, and supportive environment.

RTP Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Jenn Zambo, MS, RDN, LDN, CEDS, CHES, attended the University of Connecticut where she completed the Coordinated Dietetics Program to earn her Bachelor of Science in Dietetics. Jenn then went on to complete her Master of Science in Health Promotion, with a focus on health education. Jenn started her eating disorder career at the University of Connecticut Student Health Services, where she counseled students with eating disorders and advised a peer education group promoting eating disorder awareness. Prior to her transition to Veritas, Jenn worked as an eating disorder dietitian for an inpatient program affiliated with Walden Behavioral Care treating adults and adolescents. Jenn has since worked as a Registered Dietitian in inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient levels of care.

RTP Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Amy Gerberry (she/her) brings an abundance of heart and experience to the Veritas Collaborative team. She celebrates having been in the mental health field for nearly 30 years and over 20 years specializing in the treatment of eating disorders.

Eating disorder treatment is a passion for Amy as she has dedicated her career—including 18 years of it in leadership and training positions—to working with all levels of care. Given the privilege and opportunity to work in various treatment programs and hospitals across the country, building relationships with clinical professionals, patients, and families has been the most rewarding.

Amy enjoys training and leading teams in providing excellence in treatment to instill lasting recovery. She appreciates the experience and reputation that Veritas Collaborative has built and is excited to be part of this incredible organization. 

The journey to recovery can be complex and challenging, but full recovery is possible. Amy is proud to be a part of an organization with the skills and reputation to facilitate that successful recovery path for patients and their families.

“The best view comes from the hardest climb!”

RTP Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Amanda Barnhardt is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Clinical Supervisor who specializes in mental health.  She earned her master’s degree in Social Work at UNC Greensboro.  She also has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Women’s Studies from UNC-Chapel Hill.  Amanda has over ten years of experience working in the adult inpatient psychiatric setting, providing individual, group and family therapy.  She has also practiced outpatient psychotherapy with children and families.

Amanda received her Certification in Clinical Supervision in 2013 from the National Association of Social Workers and has provided clinical supervision to provisionally licensed clinicians across several behavioral health settings, including intensive In-home services, inpatient and outpatient psychotherapy, child welfare, and intake clinicians at Veritas Collaborative.

Amanda is passionate about creative, client-centered interventions informed by evidenced-based psychotherapy modalities such as DBT, CBT, and ACT.

RTP Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC
Child, Adolescent & Adult Center – Charlotte, NC

Dr. Ornstein has recently relocated to North Carolina with her husband and two daughters and is excited to join Veritas Collaborative as the Medical Director of the Child and Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center in Durham and the Child, Adolescent, and Adult Center in Charlotte. She is a board-certified Adolescent Medicine specialist with over 20 years of experience treating patients with eating disorders.

Dr. Ornstein grew up in New York City and graduated magna cum laude from Brown University with a BS degree in Psychology. She headed back to New York for medical school, where she earned her MD from New York University School of Medicine. She did her Pediatrics residency at Columbia-Presbyterian Babies and Children’s Hospital in New York. Dr. Ornstein then went on to do a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Schneider Children’s Hospital (now Cohen Children’s Hospital), part of Northwell Health in New Hyde Park, NY, where she then worked as an attending physician in the Division of Adolescent Medicine from 2002-2008.  Dr. Ornstein moved to Pennsylvania in 2008 and joined the Division of Adolescent Medicine and Eating Disorders at the Penn State Hershey Children’s Hospital.  She was appointed interim division chief in January 2015, and served in this role through 2017.  She was promoted to Professor of Pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine, where she was involved in teaching both medical students and residents. She was also made Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania and was involved in teaching multidisciplinary Adolescent Health fellows at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Ornstein is widely published in the field of eating disorders, and her research interests include child and adolescent eating disorders, with an emphasis on Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder, outcomes of eating disorders treatment, and the use of saliva as a possible biomarker in anorexia nervosa.  She has presented research as well as workshops at both the International Conference on Eating Disorders and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, where she has also served on scientific program planning committees. She is a Fellow of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.  Dr. Ornstein has been named in the Best Doctors in America database annually since 2009.

Child & Adolescent Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC
Child, Adolescent & Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Triangle – Durham, NC
Child, Adolescent & Adult Center – Charlotte, NC

Sara Hofmeier is a Licensed Professional Counselor, having earned her Master’s in Counseling from UNC Greensboro. Sara has been working with patients with eating disorders since 2007 and comes to Veritas from the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders where she was the program’s Clinical Director and an Assistant Professor. Sara has experience providing individual, group, and family therapy for patients with eating disorders across multiple levels of care including inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient treatment settings. In addition to her experience in direct patient care, Sara has extensive experience providing supervision and training to new therapists and particularly enjoys providing supervision around the care and treatment of patients with eating disorders.

Sara strongly believes in an evidence informed approach to best practice treatment and pulls from several therapeutic approaches in her work with patients and families with eating disorders, including Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and the Maudsley model of Family Based Therapy. Sara also believes in a collaborative and strengths-based approach to treatment and particularly enjoys helping patients find new ways to describe their experiences and struggles in a non-judgmental manner as they move toward recovery.

Douglas Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC
Triangle Child, Adolescent, & Adult Eating Disorder Center – Durham, NC (Interim)

Elysse Thebner Miller, MPH, RD, LDN is a Registered Dietitian (RD) and Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist (LDN) at Veritas Collaborative. She attended Ithaca College where she completed her Bachelors of Science degree in Health Sciences/Pre-Medical Studies with an emphasis in Nutrition, with minors in Anthropology and Art. Elysse attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Gillings School of Global Public Health where she completed her Masters in Public Health with a focus on Nutrition. Elysse completed her Dietetic Internship at UNC Center for Excellence of Eating Disorders and Duke University. She most recently worked as a Registered Dietitian at UNC CEED clinic as inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient dietitian as well as research dietitian in trials for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge eating disorder.

Douglas Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Mem Wood, MS, LCMHC is a psychotherapist at Veritas Collaborative. She attended New College of Florida, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature and Gender Studies. Mem earned her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at Florida International University. Mem completed her training at the Renfrew Center of South Florida, a residential treatment center for eating disorders. Prior to her transition to Veritas, Mem worked most recently as Program Manager at the Renfrew Center of South Florida, while also serving as manager of the Aftercare Department and a primary therapist for individuals with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorder, and other eating disorder diagnoses at the residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient levels of care.

Douglas Adult Eating Disorder Treatment Center – Durham, NC

Before joining the Veritas team in 2017, Joe held faculty positions in the medical schools at Duke University and the University of North Carolina (UNC). While at UNC Joe was the medical director of the UNC Center of Excellence for Eating Disorders where he treated patients at the inpatient, partial hospitalization, and outpatient levels of care as well as participated in research examining new treatment approaches to patients with eating disorders.

His experience working with patients in extreme physical and emotional distress and walking with them through the recovery process has made him a passionate advocate for the care of patients with eating disorders. Joe brings a unique approach to his clinical work that he ascribes to his training as both a psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist. He is board certified in General as well as Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and is a licensed clinical psychologist.

Consistent with his training in psychiatry and psychology, Joe approaches his patients with a deep appreciation for the connection between mind and body and the ways in which eating disorders affect individuals across these domains. He approaches his patients with an understanding that recovering from an eating disorder requires a sustained effort over time through inevitable emotional and physical struggles. He believes that patients can overcome these struggles through multidisciplinary treatment that addresses patterns of thoughts and feelings that drive eating disordered behaviors, and by helping patients to connect their recovery efforts with their deeply held values and life goals.