RtW’s History
This page is set up to acknowledge the four+ years that RtW functioned as a clinical training site in Santa Cruz in
Gender Affirming, Eating Disorders, Substance Use Disorders & Relationship Care
and to gratefully acknowledge the many people who have helped RtW be what it was, is and will be.
The Story of RtW
In 2018… Kat Zwick increased services at their private practice in order to fill a community need in Santa Cruz, CA for outpatient services specifically in robust eating disorder care and gender affirming care, in addition to other presenting issues. Kat moved into a large suite of offices in Downtown Santa Cruz and began hiring pre-licensed clinicians specifically seeking specialized training in eating disorder and gender affirming care who could provide individual, family, and group psychotherapy to these special populations.
RtW also helped fill a gap relative to step-down plans for clients discharging from local PHP/IOP treatment centers who benefitted from ongoing skills, nutrition, yoga and process groups related to their recovery; these clients were able to receive individual, group and family therapy at RtW in addition to multidisciplinary coordination of care due to Kat’s treatment model and philosophy after years of working in higher levels of care. RtW also collaborated to refer clients up to local treatment centers.
RtW was proud to be a trusted outpatient treatment center for clients, particularly in the LGBTQIA community, struggling with sometimes pervasive and chronic challenges to get multiple treatment plan needs met in order to successfully progress and move forward in their lives! RtW operated as a trauma-informed and social justice oriented clinical training site for clinicians, clients and the community.
After the COVID-19 pandemic and the CZU fires in 2020, RtW became an exclusively Telehealth practice and continued to provide the same services online; in 2023, after the last of RtW’s Fellows graduated, Kat transitioned back to a private practice and relocated back to Chicago, IL, her “home,” in 2024.
Some of the Fellows & Staff Trained at RtW:
In August 2018, Dr. Ashleigh Kramer-Walthall (she/her) became RtW’s first Fellow. Ashleigh engaged in her postdoctoral Fellowship entirely at RtW, under the clinical supervision of Dr. Susan Gulbe-Walsh (she/her), and under the training and clinical direction of Kat Zwick. Ashleigh completed her postdoc hours at RtW and achieved licensure as a Clinical Psychologist in August 2020. Ashleigh was predominantly trained in eating disorders and gender affirming care. She started her own private practice in November 2020. You can find her at completewithin.org.
In June 2019, River Ornellas (they/them) joined RtW and was supervised by Kat Zwick. They specialized in gender affirming care and received training and supervision in eating disorders and codependency and brought this training to their work with their clients. River completed their pre-licensure clinical hours in December 2021. River moved into private practice in February 2022, and you can find them at their private practice here.
In June 2020, Whitney Heier (she/her) joined RtW as a pre-licensed employee under the supervision of Kat Zwick. After starting at RtW as an Interim Clinician covering clients for a staff member who was away, Whitney was then offered a position as an Eating Disorders & Family Therapy Fellow in August 2020 and in the Summer of 2021, Whitney began adding gender affirming care to her clinical work at RtW. Whitney successfully graduated from her Fellowship as a licensed clinician in April 2022 and is now working in her own private practice in Santa Cruz. You can find her here.
In September 2020, Theo Villalobos (all pronouns) became a Gender Affirming Care & Eating Disorders Fellow and was supervised by Kat Zwick. They specialized in gender affirming care for clients recovering from eating disorders, substance use disorders, and other co-occurring challenges at RtW. After they graduated from their Fellowship in September 2021, they went into private practice full time but remain on at RtW as an Assessment Specialist for incoming DBT clients. You can find them here at their private practice.
In June 2021, Heather Freeman (she/her) became a part-time Gender Affirming Care, Eating Disorders and Yoga Therapy Fellow, supervised by Dr. Susan Gulbe Walsh. She also provided administrative, program development and marketing support to Kat Zwick while at RtW. Heather continued to work full-time at Stanford University’s YogaX program as its Manager.
Other contracted staff - without whom RtW would not have been possible! - were as follows:
-Ramon Mentor (he/him) - Interior Contractor for RtW’s offices
-Rae Clements, BA (she/her) - Intake Coordinator & Administrative Assistant
-Lauren Reppy, MA, LMFT (she/her)- Interim Clinical Assessor
-Kat Brown, RD (she/her) - Group Dietitian - Intuitive Eating
-Laura Griffith Machado, PsyD (she/her) - Interim Clinical Assessor
-Emilee Turbeville, AA (she/her) - Personal & Administrative Assistant to Executive Director Kat Zwick; Admin & Billing Assistant
-Micah Hammond, MA, LPCC (she/her) - Gender Affirming & Eating Disorders Therapist & Interim On-Call Supervision
Kat also appreciates and acknowledges the many consultants and specialists who worked with Kat and RtW staff over the years, including but not limited to:
-Desiree Adaway (she/her) - Anti-Racism at Work, Anti-Racism Consulting
-Geoff Ashmun, MA, LPCC (he/him) - Communications & Clinical Consulting
-Callum Bobb, MA (they/them) - Gender Affirming Workplace Practices
-Harper Cheaney, LMFT (they/them) - Gender Affirming Care Consultation & Interim Therapist
-Elizabeth Ehrenberg, LMFT (she/her) - Group & White Clinician Accountability Consultation
-Dana Farquhar, BA (she/her) - Business Consulting
-Ben Geilhufe, MA, LPCC (he/him) - Gender Affirming Care
-Finn Gratton, MA, LMFT (they/them) - Gender Affirming and Neurodivergent Affirming Care
-Jen Hastings, MD (no pronouns, Jen’s name) - Gender Affirming Care
-Dean Khambatta,LMFT (he/him) - Interim Gender Affirming Therapist
-Tracy Litzinger, JD (she/her) - Legal Consulting in Employment Law
-Anna Paganelli, MA, LMFT (she/they) - Employment Consulting
-Sorin Thomas, LPC (they/them) - Gender Affirming Management Practices
-Santa Cruz Gender Diversity Consultation Group