Meet Our Staff

Dr. Tammy Malloy holds her PhD from Barry University’s School
of Social work and is a licensed clinical social work. Tammy is currently the Chief Clinical Officer at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches, Inc., where she has been working for the past 9 years. As Chief Clinical Officer, Tammy works closely with staff on a supervisory level implementing clinical treatment protocols and therapeutic programming while growing clinical, nursing and medical staff to meet the needs of the ever changing addiction and mental health population. Tammy also holds her certification in sex addiction which has led to her most recent research in parental bonding; engagement is sexually explicit internet material in youth, and hypersexual behaviors in adult women who have a SUD diagnosis. Moreover; Tammy holds an executive director of research title where she conducts internal studies, with her research team, and external studies with Florida Atlantic and Barry University. Research studies include examining the benefits of mindfulness with SUD patient who also suffer with co-occurring disorders as well as treatment retention and outcome studies assessing specific treatment interventions. These research studies are shared across the Country at addiction and mental health conferences as well as scholarly publications.

Dr. Hu holds a Bachelor of Arts from the New York University College of Arts and Sciences and a medical degree from the New York University School of Medicine. Dr. Hu completed his internship and residency at the University of Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital and has been practicing psychiatry for over ten years, specializing in substance abuse disorders. He is a board-certified diplomat of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) as well as the American Board of Addiction Medicine (ABAM), and a Healthgrades Recognized Doctor.

Fredi was born in Springfield, Massachusetts, and raised in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. Before moving to Florida in 2014, she had lived in Boston, California, and Connecticut. She moved to Florida to help take care of her elderly parents. Fredi got her high school diploma at Longmeadow High school. She received her bachelor’s degree from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts and her graduate degree at Sacramento State University in Sacramento, California. Fredi’s BA is in sociology with a minor in criminology and her master’s degree is in social work. She also has her clinical license both in Connecticut and Florida (LCSW).
Most of her career, Fredi has worked with dual diagnosed people, meaning they suffer from both mental health and substance abuse issues. She has been in the mental health/addiction field for over 20 years.

What makes Fredi passionate about what she does is that she’s a big believer in building relationships with people and in that, it allows for the person to heal and grow from almost anything that they are challenged with such as substance abuse, mental health, trauma, etc. She likes being a part of the healing process and seeing the patient being happy, healthy, and successful in life. Her favorite part of her position is building teams and empowering staff and being hands-on with the patients. Fredi’s goal for her career at Banyan is that she wants to continue to grow and develop as a positive leader to the programs that she oversees and to Banyan as a whole and continue to make her programs be as successful as she can. She would like for our facilities to be set apart from other treatment centers and to be the best of the best in the addiction and mental health treatment world! Fredi also would like to be part of a team to help create and grow other new programs, especially incorporating animal therapy.

Margot Lee is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in treating trauma, addiction, first responders, and co-occurring disorders. She earned her Master’s degree from Nova Southeastern University in 1998 and since then has worked with vulnerable populations including: sheltered children, victims of sexual violence, juvenile female prisoners with severe mental health issues, people suffering from addiction, and first responders. Margot has 20+ years of experience in counseling and leadership having experience as a primary therapist, director of case management, clinical director, program development specialist, director of crisis stabilization, and executive director. Margot has trained extensively to have therapeutic tools to work with her clients and holds certificates in hypnotherapy, certified rapid resolution therapy, level 2 EMDR training, certified as an early childhood development specialist, certified in brain gym, certified redline rescue training graduate, and is a certified clinical trauma professional. Margot has a passion for helping others and in addition to her role as Clinical Director at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches she volunteers at the Inner Truth Project working with victims of sexual violence and is the volunteer therapist for Chapter One, a not-for-profit support group for first responders.

Alexis Karwoski was born and raised in the state of Florida and pursued a career in the field of addiction and mental health as a result of a personal connection she has to the issues through her family history. She holds a Master’s degree in Mental Health Counseling and is a Certified Master’s Level Addiction Professional who is trained in EMDR. Working in the field of mental health, Alexis is inspired by watching patients’ growth as they go through the treatment process and seeing the difficulties they overcome. She believes that each individual is completely unique in their experience and journey, and states that she is able to learn and grow herself through her opportunity to help others. Alexis has been with Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches for more than two years, and was promoted from primary therapist to Mental Health Supervisor upon the program’s opening in 2019.

Jessica Ralph was born and raised in Maine and moved to Florida in 2007. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Communication and Business from the University of Maine. From there, she went on to receive certifications from the Human Resource Institute and Society of Human Resources as an HR professional. Jessica started with Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches in 2009 as an HR Coordinator; at that time, there were only 115 employees. She has stayed with the company through its growth and acquisition by Banyan in 2018.

What makes Jessica passionate about what she does is that she works to ensure that we have qualified, compassionate employees to treat our patients while being a fair and consistent advocate for both the organization and employees. Her favorite part of her position is when an employee’s growth shines through and is recognized. Her goal for her career at Banyan is to continue to ensure organized processes for employees as the business continues to grow.

Willa was born in West Palm Beach and raised by her grandparents. She attended the Academy of Nursing and is pursuing a Master’s in Nurse Education at Chamberlain University. Willa was a Medical Assistant for 25 years and at age 43 returned to school to receive a nursing degree. BHOPB was her first nursing job. While Willa is not in recovery, she always wanted to be an addiction nurse because her parents had drug and alcohol addictions.

 

The positive outcomes make her passionate. Willa loves what she does because she knows that she is helping save lives, educating loved ones about addiction, and helping them with better understanding. Willa’s favorite part of her position is providing guidance to the nursing staff and working with others to help patients succeed. Her career goal is to help Banyan be the best treatment facility, continue to educate and provide excellent care to patients and staff, and to increase her professional knowledge and addiction training.

Growing up between Chicago and South Florida, Paige has unfortunately had a lot of firsthand experience with addiction. She faced the tremendous losses of her brother, sister and best friend to addiction, and through the pain has grown extremely passionate about helping people who are struggling themselves. Paige started her journey in the recovery field in 2012 when she ran a sober living facility, before moving on to work in outpatient facilities in business development, admissions positions, and now family services. Having experienced such immense losses of her loved ones, Paige is passionate about helping not only those who are struggling, but their families too. Paige is a valued member of the Family Services Department and holds the title of Family Services Coordinator. She communicates with all families for our Lake Worth, Chicago, and Gilman locations.

Ernie was born & raised in Aliquippa, PA. Go Steelers! He has been clean & sober for nearly 12 years. He’s most grateful for the opportunity to share his experience, strength, and hope with others who struggle with the disease of addiction. Ernie started in the addiction field in 2012 as a counselor working at the same facility in PA where his recovery began in 2008.

Ernie has a BA (1996) & MA in criminology (2002) from the Indiana University of PA. He also has an MA in counseling (2011) from Messiah College. He is also a LMHC & MCAP. He’s passionate about what he does because he feels a strong sense of clarity, purpose & meaning in his life by having the opportunity to help others. Ernie loves that he has the opportunity to collaborate with a team of dedicated professionals to provide the highest quality patient care.

Ernie started with BHOPB in March 2015 as a primary therapist, was promoted to clinical coordinator in November 2016, & became a clinical supervisor when BHOPB became part of the Banyan family in June 2018. He says that Banyan stands out because of the focus that always remains on the client & providing the highest quality of care.

Caleb was born in Louisville, Kentucky and played football at Lindsey Wilson College, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Communication. Like many others in America today, Caleb suffered an injury on the field that resulted in the use of prescription pain medication, which eventually led him down the dark road of addiction. He sought treatment at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches, now a Banyan facility, more than four years ago and has been sober ever since. Caleb began his career at Banyan as an Admissions Coordinator and went on to receive several promotions within the organization. He now acts as a National Business Development Representative for the state of Kentucky, where he lives with his wife and son. Caleb is passionate about his position and being able to continue his career at Banyan in his home state, saying that he feels honored to be able to help those in his community who struggle with the same issues he once faced. He has made is his main goal to help anyone seeking treatment to get the help they need.

Robyn was born in Connecticut and raised between Connecticut and New York City, where she graduated from Pace University with her Bachelors in Arts and Sciences. When she wasn’t studying, Robyn worked as a Talent Manager. She also volunteered with New York Cares, where she tutored at risk children and assisted single mothers in obtaining their GED’s.

After dealing with the loss of her brother at the young age of 12, Robyn struggled with her own substance use and mental health issues for nearly two decades . In 2015, Robyn relocated to Florida seeking recovery. Since then, she has built a beautiful sober life for herself and has created many healthy relationships in the recovery community.

Robyn began her career with Banyan Treatment Centers as a Clinical Case Manager in 2018.  Working closely with our patients, Robyn found her true passion- not only helping people who struggle themselves, but also their families who suffer as a result of their loved ones’ addiction and mental health issues. Robyn believes everyone deserves to live a life beyond their wildest dreams and takes pride in helping people see the best versions of themselves. In 2020, Robyn joined the Family Services team at Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches. She is excited to grow, to expand her reach. and offer support for our patients’ families.