The Anew Treatment Center is designed and led by a team whose personal and professional experiences with building and directing successful, comprehensive therapeutic community programs have helped thousands of individuals and their families heal and recover.
Anew is a rekindled and renewed model of care that for 40 years has helped thousands of individuals and their families heal, recover, and build a life beyond diagnosis. Anew’s philosophy is rooted in the therapeutic community approach as the path for true, sustainable change and healing, driven by the values of belonging, empowerment, and hope. The leadership and many of the program’s key staff have had the privilege of spending many years learning and facilitating this specialized method of treatment and are dedicated to preserving the fidelity and soul of a culture responsible for four decades of heartfelt care with an abundance of demonstrated success.
1979: The Birth of a New Treatment Paradigm
Hanbleceya, which means Vision Quest in the Sioux language, opened its doors as a small, long-term residential program for adults with Schizophrenia.
The Eighties: A New Transformation in Mental Health
The program offered a safe and sensitive community-based mental health care option, a notable departure from the standard institutionalized settings common during this time. Hanbleceya adopted a traditional therapeutic community model of treatment where individuals lived and worked cooperatively with one another to support healing and recovery.
The Nineties: An Emerging Model of Thoughtful Care
To reach more people, the residential program expanded to include intensive outpatient and supported living services dedicated to fostering independence and personal agency. The diagnostic range extended to include services for mood, anxiety, and substance-use disorders. A dedicated work incentive network was launched to create opportunities for individuals largely underserved in the academic and vocational arenas.
In 1997, Anew’s Chief Clinical Advisor, Dr. Karlyn Pleasants, joined the Hanbleceya community and began her rigorous training in this quintessential therapeutic community model, beginning a decades-long immersion in this exclusive clinical field that continues today.
The 2000’s: The Era of Flourishing Growth
In 2005, one of Anew’s managing members, Kerry Paulson, brought forward his exceptional business savvy and along with Dr. Pleasants and a dedicated group of employees, created the Hanbleceya Treatment Center, a full-spectrum system of care that quickly became nationally known as one of the foremost authorities in comprehensive, wrap-around treatment of individuals and families with complex mental health conditions.
Nutrition and physical wellness services, equine, and body-based therapies were added, along with a dedicated substance-use program. One of the first in the country, our intensive three-day diagnostic assessment practice was made available for individuals and families seeking clarity and guidance on mental illness and the treatment trajectory. Our therapist-in-training initiatives began, a one-of-a-kind training program for learning the specialized practice of therapeutic community and milieu treatment. We launched our exclusive multi-family support program that welcomed families both nationally and internationally. During this time, we also opened our first of several licensed residential facilities to serve individuals that would otherwise require hospitalization.
In 2008, Anew’s Facilities and Milieu Director, Kevin Bullard, joined the Hanbleceya team, bringing a strong sense of safety and security to a population in much need of trustworthy and reliable providers. Kevin’s long-standing tenure serves as a solid cornerstone in Anew’s cultural foundation.
The 2010’s: The Age of Pioneering Change
Our exponential growth continued into the new decade and established the pathway to what would become the Anew Treatment Center.
We formed Partners in Treatment, a professional collective that brought like-minded mental healthcare providers together to join forces and collaboratively work together to help people connect with services. The Hanbleceya Recovery Network was created with the addition of Helix Healing and Recovery, an intensive, short-term residential treatment option. Our extended outpatient and alumni program began for those who’d completed our programs and wished to stay connected to the community.
2014 was a monumental year in that Anew’s CEO Megan Harrison, Marketing and Admissions Director Michaela Zermeno, and Accounting Manager Nathalia Luz all joined the Hanbleceya team, bringing a tremendous amount of dedication, love, and steadfast commitment that supported the successes of Hanbleceya and upon which the foundation of Anew rests.
In 2017, the partnership sold Hanbleceya and supported its integration into a larger behavioral health network to round out its offerings with the inclusion of a long-term mental health treatment option. The Hanbleceya name was changed at the time as the new parent group sought to establish the program’s new identity in the field.
In 2018, we took our business and treatment model to Tennessee, and supported the opening of a sister facility in Nashville. Dr. Pleasants remained involved to help ease the transitions and preserve the fidelity of the timeless Hanbleceya culture through training and mentorship.
As the clinical heart of the treatment program for 25 years, and as one of the nation’s authorities on the therapeutic community approach to complex mental health treatment, Dr. Pleasants presented at over 35 events across the county, sharing her love for therapeutic communities, insights into milieu therapy, and for working with individuals and families to build a life beyond diagnosis.
The 2020’s: A Fresh Start to a Time-Honored Legacy
The Anew Treatment Center is rooted in a rich and enduring legacy that holds at its center the values of belonging, inclusion, belief-in, and empowerment.
Our renewed and revitalized approach takes the well-established therapeutic community paradigm and incorporates a sophisticated staging model that is flexible and adaptable to each individual and family system, ensuring a well-tailored, supportive treatment experience.
With Jessica Van Leer, Anew’s Clinical Director, and Alyssa Coelho, Anew’s Designer and Media Manager joining the team in 2022, we are thrilled to bring our combined 80 years of expertise to the Scottsdale community, continuing the time-honored tradition and culture of offering a safe, compassionate space in which to heal, grow, and thrive.
Megan Harrison is the Chief Executive Officer and a managing partner of the Anew Treatment Center. Megan has a wealth of clinical and managerial experience through her roles as a therapist, clinical directorships, senior managing positions, and as president of a private consulting firm. She joined the Hanbleceya Treatment Center in 2014, igniting her passion to bring an informed systems approach to helping individuals and their families heal from current and generational effects of mental illness. Megan is eager to expand the reach of a therapeutic community system that has helped to heal thousands of individuals for more than 40 years by bringing a renewed and fresh approach to the Scottsdale area.
For 25 years, Dr. Pleasants has helped create thriving therapeutic environments that have supported thousands of individuals and their families successfully build a life of self-management, health, and independence beyond the bounds of psychiatric diagnoses. She joined the Hanbleceya community in 1997 as a therapist, acquired the program in 2005 and co-founded the Hanbleceya Treatment Center, and has since dedicated herself to cultivating programs with a culture of belonging, hope, and sustainable change. She sees recovery and growth as a collective endeavor that relies on reciprocal support, promoting the belief that we thrive by receiving as well as giving back. Dr. Pleasants is considered one the nation’s authorities on working with severe mental illness at the individual, sibling, and whole-family levels. And now, she is excited to bring her vast experiences and clinical skills to the Anew Treatment Center team.
Kerry, along with his wife, Dr. Karlyn Pleasants, co-founded the Hanbleceya Treatment Center in San Diego in 2005. A leader in the mental health industry, Kerry has founded and helped develop various residential mental health programs in San Diego, Seattle, Nashville and now Scottsdale, Arizona. After the sale of Hanbleceya and Helix Healing and Recovery in 2017 to Constellation Behavioral Health, he stayed closely involved in the treatment-provision field and ultimately partnered with several others from the industry to help form the Anew Treatment Center, a unique, modernized version of a therapeutic community program model that has thrived for more than 4 decades.
A well-respected Arizona Board licensed LPC and Clinical Supervisor, Jessica graduated from Arizona State University in 2015 with a Masters Degree in Counseling. While she specializes in individual, group and family therapy, her particular areas of expertise include anxiety, depression, trauma, substance use, self-esteem, life changes and relationships. Jessica’s passion is to help individuals and families develop a pathway for growth and use those skills to improve relationships, increase happiness and decrease conflict. Prior to working at Anew Treatment Center, Jessica’s previous employment history provided her with valuable experience in adolescence and adult substance abuse, common mental health issues and behavior modification in a school setting. Experienced across various age groups, her primary focus is providing exceptional client care. Jessica has been licensed since 2016.
Michaela began her journey in therapeutic community treatment in 2014 and has helped hundreds of individuals develop the skills necessary for long-standing recovery and independence. She has managed various roles in her experience, including specialized activities of daily living training, academic and vocational plan development, and managing clinical and residential milieus. She thrives in creating community-bonding opportunities and has successfully developed and managed multiple events and programs designed to support clients and their families in building cohesion and connection. Michaela is thrilled to bring her extensive marketing and support of the treatment-entry experience to her new role as Marketing and Admissions Director at the Anew Treatment Center.
For more than six years, Alyssa has served individuals and businesses on their journeys to positively impact the world around them. As a modern Poet and Novelist, current Designer and full-time Creator, Alyssa uses the power of words, stories, and visuals to romance souls into falling in love with their precious existence. She reminds us of our wild potential, of our hungry spirits, and of the entire world awaiting our unique gifts. She coaches and designs to inspire and mobilize individuals and communities to take action toward becoming the answers our world, our cultures, and our souls need to create a future where every individual is able to experience a vibrant and authentic life.
Kevin’s first job in the mental health industry was with the Hanbleceya Treatment Center in 2008 as part of the Linestaff team. Along the way he took on positions as House Manager, Linestaff Manager, Assistant Milieu Director, Milieu Director, and Facilities Manager. Kevin has trained in supportive mental health and substance use intervention processes and has successfully supported dozens of individuals in getting the help they need. Because of his unique and specialized training, plays an integral part in helping keep the therapeutic milieu safe, stable, and supportive.
Nathalia first joined the Hanbleceya Treatment Center system in 2014 as part of the accounting and finance team. She has a long history in both the Hanbleceya and BrightQuest San Diego programs, and established her own accounting business in 2018. Her familiarity with our system and her history of providing consistent and reliable support is a gift for the Anew Treatment Center system.
Our staff community embodies the same beliefs and tenets we hold for clinical care: that individuals thrive and do their best growing when working alongside each other in a welcoming and committed environment. If you are looking for not only a job, but a place to belong, we’d love to hear from you.
Our staff community embodies the same beliefs and tenets we hold for clinical care: that individuals thrive and do their best growing when working alongside each other in a welcoming and committed environment. If you are looking for not only a job, but a place to belong, we’d love to hear from you.
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