Carsten has spent the bulk of his life and nearly 3 decades of recovery in Montana treating young men with addiction. He has supervised both primary inpatient and sober living communities. Carsten loves the outdoors, being a father, and helping people navigate troubled waters and difficult situations. He has two children and is married to his best friend. Carsten is an LAC in Montana.

Jake is a Licensed Addiction Counselor with his own background in recovery, he has also completed an MBA with a focus in healthcare administration. Working for multiple programs throughout his career, Jake has participated in the full spectrum of possible treatment environments. His experience with medical detox, primary care wilderness treatment and outpatient programs has lead him to feel unequivocally that continued care is an important step towards achieving self-efficacy in one’s long term recovery.

Having worked for the last 4 years as a therapist at a leading wilderness program, Jake is a huge proponent of delivering evidence-based treatment from a biopsychosocial approach rather than the disease model or insurance driven models. He finds success working with clients with multiple treatment failures, chronic relapsing, severely disruptive dual diagnosis issues, and treatment resistant symptoms. Having completed the 80hr Dialectical Behavioral Therapy training with New Roads Behavioral health, Jake is adept at working with the co-occurring substance abuse cases which we see increasing in frequency on an annual basis. Outside of work, Jake can be found in the mountains spending time with his wife and their 3 dogs.

Kyle is a 2018 Lean In alumni who spent the last 3 years sharpening his professional and adventure skills while working in wilderness therapy in southern Utah. Kyle continues to find purpose and connection while adventuring through the great outdoors. He helps us integrate therapeutic initiatives into our adventure programming. Adventures and hobbies include climbing ice and rock, snowboarding and ski touring, golfing, fishing, canyoneering, backpacking, and anything else you can think to do in the backcountry.

Jen is a native of Montana. After finding her own path to recovery she has spent the last 3 decades dedicated to inspiring healing in others. She holds a degree in Family and Human Services and has spent time as a wilderness guide for young men and women suffering from addiction. She has provided therapeutic case management services in the non-profit sector and for the State of Montana. Jen is a registered yoga teacher (500 hour through Yoga Alliance) and has spent years studying the mind-body connection as it relates to recovery. She is married to her best friend and has two children that inspire her continued growth in recovery.

Raised in Upstate New York, Amy Eller received an MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Washington State University and completed post-doctoral studies in Pediatric Neuropsychology at Oregon Health Sciences University. In 2002 she obtained a position as a Clinical Supervisor at Montana Academy, a therapeutic boarding school in the Flathead Valley, where she helped teenagers navigate the road to maturity for nearly two decades until the birth of her daughter. Since leaving her position as Clinical Supervisor, Amy has served on the Board of Directors of the Montana Academy Foundation.

Amanda is a birding enthusiast and river float queen who joined the LIRC team with a unique perspective and amazing enthusiasm! She has worked for a decade in the recovery field and is currently pursuing her addiction counseling license and social work degree at the University of Montana. She is passionate about recovery skills integration and supporting residents in the pursuit of their life goals.

Imagine a mixture of Bob Ross, Bear Grylls, and Mariah Carey. Now look at the picture of Ayden. He is a former Lean In Alum and wilderness treatment guide from California that has called Montana his home since the beginning of 2022. He is in recovery and enjoys taking the guys at the house to twelve step meetings, getting out and playing some pickle-ball, jamming on the guitar, and occasional reading bed time stories. He likes to bring the fun side of recovery and remind you that sobriety and healthy living can be fun!

Chas Kennedy was born and raised in Cleveland, OH. During his high school years he ran into substance abuse issues. His journey into recovery began in the mountains of Montana, and his sobriety began here 10 years ago. Montana is a sacred place for him, and his recovery. Chas wanted to create the best aftercare program in the country so he could help other young men get their lives back on track so they could live up to their full potential. Chas’ interests include golf, fishing and most importantly, family.

Charlie Kennedy has been a champion of recovery for over two decades. He has had a successful career in business and is a person in long term recovery. Charlie has been given many gifts as the result, and is determined to give back to young men struggling to get and stay sober. He loves his family, golf, and travel.