Treatment Team

 

 

The Hull Institute Team

The Therapists

Ann Hull Kuster, LISW, MBA

President

Ann is founder and president of The Hull Institute. She is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with over 30 years of experience, specializing for the past 20 years in the treatment of eating disorders and addictions. Ann received her Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Colorado.

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After working in several different areas of social work including crisis care, advocacy and case management, Ann continued to use these skills as she received her eating disorder training at the Cleveland Clinic.

Recognizing an unmet need in Northeast Ohio, Ann opened The Hull Institute in 2003 to help people who otherwise might not receive the care they need to find and maintain recovery.

Ann is recognized as an expert by her peers in the treatment of eating disorders. She collaborates with both local and national healthcare providers to provide the best possible care for her clients.

She recognizes the importance of being an educator as well as a student. Ann leads seminars and workshops and remains a student herself. In recognizing that trauma and PTSD are significant factors in eating disorders, Ann is trained in CRM (Comprehensive Resource Model), a trauma healing technique that helps survivors reconnect with their bodies as they work through their trauma to find lasting recovery.

Ann is known to be a highly skilled interventionist. Eating disorders and other addictions trick the brain into believing the problem isn’t “that bad.” Hence, interventions by family are sometimes necessary.

Ann took ownership of the New Beginnings Eating Disorders Center in 2016. While New Beginnings ran as an IOP for a brief period, in July, 2020, Ann will open New Beginnings EDC as an Akron Recovery Home (think ½ way house) for women with eating disorders and other addictions.

She believes on-line therapy will be the next great tool for increasing access to treatment and is developing a practice to provide such services.

Ann is a strong believer in the importance of work-life balance. As such, she is a curler–that ice sport people talk about, can’t figure out exactly, and enjoy watching during the winter Olympics. She curls with her husband 3-4 days a week in the winter as a fun way to socialize with others and keep her brain and body healthy. She is proof that anyone can have a great time participating in an activity even if you aren’t very good at it!

Jaime Haumesser, LPCC-S

Clinical Director
Sees clients in Strongsville and virtually

Jaime is a licensed professional clinical counselor with a clinical supervision designation. She graduated from Baldwin-Wallace College in 2003 with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology, and from John Carroll University in 2005 with a Master of Arts in Community Counseling. Jaime worked at The Lorain County Rape Crisis Center and with the Veterans Administration treating veterans returning home after combat. 

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In addition, Jaime worked at Ravenwood Mental Health Center in Geauga County where she did individual, family, and couples counseling for adults, adolescents and children. Jaime’s specific areas of training include: trauma, grief counseling, bullying, and wellness counseling. Jaime treats eating disorders, trauma, mood disorders, anxiety, ADHD, and chemical dependency. Jaime joined The Hull Institute in 2015 and quickly became adept at understanding the needs and challenges of clients with eating disorders. As trauma, grief, depression and anxiety are often at the core of an eating disorder, Jaime’s background is an asset in treatment. Jaime’s approach to counseling is often psychodynamic while incorporating cognitive behavioral techniques, and everything else that works. Jaime is a highly skilled therapist with a warm, genuine, and empathetic style.

Tania S. Lodge, PhD, LPCC-S

Sees clients in Fairlawn and virtually

Dr. Lodge joined The Hull Institute in 2017. Tania is the Clinical Director of Minority Behavioral Health Group, a community mental health agency in Akron, Ohio. She specializes in providing culturally specific mental health services including supervision and consultation, mental health assessments, professional development workshops, and continuing education trainings on cultural competency and culturally appropriate services. Dr. Lodge received her doctorate degree in clinical psychology and completed an APA accredited internship at the Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center. She holds two master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy and clinical psychology.

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Dr. Lodge is also licensed as a clinical counselor with supervision designation in the state of Ohio. She has over 15 years of clinical experience working with diverse populations in multiple settings. Her clinical and research interests include culturally specific assessments and treatment, African-centered psychology and psychotherapy, process addictions, interpersonal trauma, racial trauma, and psychological oppression. Tania’s extensive experience naturally lends itself to working with clients struggling with an eating disorder.

Katie Galland, MA, LPC, LICDC

Sees clients in Beachwood, Rocky River and virtually

Katie joined The Hull Institute in 2017. Katie is a board certified Licensed Professional Counselor and Chemical Dependency Counselor in the state of Ohio. She also is an art therapist. Katie received her BA in fine arts and Master of Arts degrees in counseling and art therapy from Ursuline College. Katie works with adolescents and adults with mental health issues and/or addiction problems through the use of art as therapy.

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She has over 10 years of experience with many different types of clients in various settings: hospitals, residential facilities, and outpatient settings. She brings the world of art to individuals, in order to help them find their inner voice, allowing them to grow, learn, and heal.

Katie is eager to use art, her addictions training and various other treatment modalities in her work with people with eating disorders.

Caise Rode McHale, MSSA, LISW

Sees clients in Beachwood and virtually

Caise is a Licensed Social Worker with a Master’s Degree from Case Western Reserve University and a Bachelor’s Degree from The Ohio State University. She has over 20 years experience working with adults, children and families. Her background ranges from school administration in New York City to hospital and school-based social work and counseling in Cleveland. Most recently, she has worked in private practice for 12 years with at-risk youth and adults in residential and outpatient settings.

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Caise joined The Hull Institute in 2018. She has a solid knowledge of how to treat eating disorders and co-occurring issues. Her goal with clients is to help them find empowerment and strength to do the work necessary for lasting recovery. With kids and adolescents, Caise, works with the families to address barriers to recovery and strengthen family systems. Caise has Trauma-Focused CBT and DBT training, along with a large tool box of skills helpful for recovery and growth. Caise is constantly searching for evidenced-based, creative and innovative intervention techniques while keeping the tone of sessions bright, relevant, daring and fun!

Sarah Novak, MSW, LISW-S

Sees clients virtually

Sarah received both her BA in Psychology and Master of Social Work from The Ohio State University. Sarah’s professional experience includes working in mental health counseling and case management, homeless outreach, and community based healthcare. Sarah follows a strengths-based, person-centered approach, utilizing evidence-based tools from cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and EMDR. 

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She believes strongly in working in collaboration with her clients to address barriers and patterns that hinder as well as working towards recovery and overall wellness. It is important to Sarah for her clients to be greeted with empathy and warmth and to be empowered to work towards their individual goals. Sarah is trained in EMDR, an evidence-based treatment for trauma.

Matt Seeman, LPC

Sees clients in Fairlawn, Strongsville and virtually

Matt Seeman is currently working toward his Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of the Cumberlands.  He obtained a Middle Childhood Education Degree from John Carroll University and spent 7 years as a Middle School Math and Science teacher before beginning his career as a counselor. Matt uses a person-centered approach, focusing on the client’s strengths while utilizing motivational interviewing and DBT techniques.

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Matt has a strong interest in working with people with eating disorders and plans to continue his work with The Hull Institute after he graduates in December 2020.

He is being trained at The Hull Institute in Intuitive Eating techniques and finds them very useful.  Matt works particularly well with kids, teens and males.   In addition to training at the Hull Institute, Matt also works for Bellefaire JCB, a mental health agency in Medina, where he works with children and adolescents with social and behavioral disorders.  Outside of work, Matt enjoys spending time with his family, playing board games with friends, and making yearly trips to Colorado to climb mountains.

Michelle Castelucci Demangone, MA., LPC

Sees clients in Beachwood and virtually

Michelle is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who is passionate about coming alongside individuals who are working through challenges and transitions, and together, creating new, successful life paths. She is committed to a wholistic, client centered, inclusive approach, with a strong background in cognitive behavioral therapy as well as a pragmatic, one step at a time approach that builds on the strengths of her clients.

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Michelle has a strong clinical interest in eating disorders as well as a clinical focus on anxiety, depression, mood disorders, trauma, life transitions and grief. Michelle completed her undergraduate education at Drew University and her Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling at John Carroll University. As part of her holistic approach, Michelle completed training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as a Health Coach. When she is not working, Michelle enjoys spending time with family and friends as well as her 2 dogs, Murphy and Tartan.

Christine O’Brien, LPCC

Sees clients in Beachwood, Rocky River and virtually

Christine O’Brien completed her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of the Cumberlands. She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from John Carroll University. Christine is passionate about health in all realms including mental, physical and spiritual. She believes that each person is unique and follows a person-centered approach, as she sees individuals as experts in their own lives.

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Christine also utilizes motivational interviewing, DBT and CBT. She sees therapy as a collaborative process and makes sure her clients know this. Christine’s clinical focus includes eating disorders, anxiety, mood disorders, relationship problems, trauma. When Christine isn’t working, she can be in Cuyahoga Valley National Park with her husband and dog or tackling a home improvement project for which she is not qualified.

Stephanie Paige, LPCC

Sees clients in Beachwood and virtually

Stephanie completed her Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Arizona State University. She received her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Miami University. Stephanie uses an integration of ACT, DBT, CBT, and person-centered approaches to support her clients, focusing on learning new skills while also processing deeply challenging events and emotions that are contributing to eating disorder behaviors. It is her firm belief that full recovery
is possible, and she is ready to walk the journey with clients to finding freedom from the grip of their eating disorder.

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Stephanie has 2.5 years of experience working at Rosewood Centers for Eating Disorders in Arizona, where she received training for the treatment of all eating disorders including Anorexia, Bulimia, Binge Eating Disorder, and ARFID. Stephanie works particularly well with adults and enjoys addressing co-occurring issues including self-esteem, body image disturbance, trauma, anxiety, and depression. Stephanie is also trained in EMDR therapy and can utilize this modality when it may benefit her clients. Outside of work, Stephanie is a proud, new mama to a baby girl born in November 2022. She also loves spending time with her husband and fur-baby (Safford, Corgi), hiking, and playing board games with friends.

Sarah Swirsky, MSW, LSW, CCTP

Sees clients in Fairlawn and virtually

Sarah joined the Hull Institute in December 2022. She is a Licensed Social Worker with a Masters in Social Work and a Bachelors in Health Education with certificates in Cognitive Behavior Therapy and as a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. She will have completed a Trauma Sensitive Yoga Teacher Training program in April 2023 and will have this service available for private or group sessions and/ or is happy to incorporate into traditional talk-therapy. Sarah takes a holistic and person-centered approach utilizing her diverse experiences and training within the mental health field. Sarah also enjoys utilizing creative approaches in her work, and loves helping others make peace with food, as she practices Intuitive and Mindful eating herself.

Nicholette Rhodes, LPC

Sees clients virtually

Nicholette is a Licensed Professional Counselor, who officially joined The Hull Institute after a year of student experience. She received her master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Malone University. She is a Registered Dietitian, after earning her BA in Science in Applied Science from Youngstown State University. Nicholette has lived experience with an eating disorder starting as a college athlete progressing into her early to mid-20’s. Nicholette strives to provide individualized and holistic care, using a person-centered approach, applying motivational interviewing, CBT, and ACT techniques, emphasizing living a life congruent to one’s healthy self, while tackling the roots of an eating disorder. Nicholette is passionate about debunking diet culture and providing a health at every size approach for every BODY. Outside of work, Nicholette enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing golf, and cooking up delicious recipes in the kitchen. 

Sam Emch, LPC

Sees clients in Beachwood and virtually.

Samantha Emch received her Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Grand Canyon University. Sam has been treating Adolescents and adults with experiences of Trauma, Depression, Anxiety, and PTSD, and now eating disorders. Sam has worked in individual and group settings, including Intensive Outpatient Program, Partial Hospitalization Program, Mood Management, and parent groups. Sam has many tools to teach and reach teens and adults and her treatment modalities include Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy. Sam is committed to advocating and helping her clients grow and learn skills to better help them be successful outside of therapy. In Sam’s free time she loves to travel with her family around the world and watch musicals.

The Dietitians

Taryn McPherson RDN, LD

Director of Nutrition Services

Sees clients virtually

Taryn graduated from The Ohio State University and has been a practicing Registered Dietitian since 2010, she is also a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and NASM certified personal trainer. Through her compassionate, individualized approach, she specializes in helping those struggling with eating disorders and disordered eating find peace with food and their body,  and reclaim their life.

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Taryn recently joined the Hull Institute after moving back to Cleveland from Los Angeles where she worked in eating disorder treatment at various levels of care and where she continues to oversee the nutrition program at Keystone Treatment.

Outside of work, Taryn enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with her family.

Kate Ferro, M.Ed., RD, LD

Sees clients virtually

Kate received her undergraduate degree in nutrition from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). While at CWRU, she was a competitive runner, member of the school’s track & field team and taught cycling classes at One-to-One Fitness on the university campus. After college, Kate worked as a laboratory technician at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lerner Research Institute in the Department of Pathobiology under the supervision of Dr. Gail Cresci. In this role, she learned a vast amount about how to conduct meaningful and ethical research, became more familiar with the fundamentals of nutrition, which are rooted in research, and co-authored four professional publications.

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For 3 years, Kate was the administrative assistant to the Chairwoman of the Dietitians in Nutrition Support-Dietetic Practice Group, a national organization. Kate has completed a two-year Masters of Education (M.Ed.) program at Cleveland State University in exercise science. As part of her education, she completed a practicum at Metro Health Anamoth Family Pediatric Wellness Center, where she taught youth and families how to exercise and build healthy lifestyles.

Kate has completed the Cleveland Clinic’s prestigious Dietetic Internship Program, a role which helped her master the cutting-edge Nutrition Focused Physical Exam (NFPE) that looks at the physical manifestations of malnutrition, including physical signs of macro and micronutrient deficiencies. During her M.Ed. program, she also worked part-time at the Cleveland Clinic as a Dietetic Technician while being trained in all aspects of nutrition, including her interests in nutrition in athletes, and eating disorders.
Kate joined The Hull Institute in 2016 and has been trained by expert dietitians from The Hull Institute and New Beginnings Eating Disorders Center, and she continues to further her education and knowledge about how best to restore health to people with malnourished brains and bodies. Kate sees clients individually and runs the nutrition component of the intensive outpatient programs.

Outside of her professional career, Kate continues to instruct cycling classes on a weekly basis at One-to-One Fitness and enjoys hiking with her husband and their two dogs, Dagny, a German Short-haired Pointer, and Sparky, a Cockapoo.

Cindy Mironets, RDN, LD

Sees clients virtually

Cindy is a registered dietitian who graduated from the University of Akron in 2022. Starting as an intern at Hull Institute, she found her calling and passion to help those fighting eating disorders as well as everyday disordered eating habits. As a dietitian, she approaches recovery with the mindset of cultivating a healthy relationship with food, exercise, and body where none of these have the power to control one’s life. Cindy follows a person-centered, individualized approach, recognizing the different needs of individuals and paths to recovery.

The Miller Center Team

The Miller Center, A Division of The Hull Institute, LLC

 

We opened The Miller Center in 2020 to meet the needs of residents of Ohio who want counseling with a top-notch therapist, quickly and easily. The Miller Center is here to provide general outpatient counseling for any condition(s).

Gina Aiello, M.Ed, LPC, NCC

Sees clients in virtually

Gina is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a National Certified Counselor. Gina graduated from Kent State University with a Master’s Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, earned her certificate in Addictions Counseling, and has her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology and Sociobiology.

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Gina first started her career in behavioral health at a Drug and Alcohol intensive outpatient treatment center for 4 years. Prior to graduate school, Gina work as a Personal Care Provider in assisting young adults on the Autism Spectrum. Gina currently works part-time, virtually, with the Miller Center while working full-time at a community mental health agency in Pennsylvania. Gina strives to create a non-judgmental, safe environment for clients to explore and process their thoughts and feelings while learning effective ways to cope and manage their identified areas of concern. Gina has experience working with both adults and adolescents with severe persistent mental disorders, anxiety, depression, grief, trauma and addiction. Gina is compassionate, caring, and straightforward with her counseling approach. Gina enjoys and active lifestyle, baking and is obsessed with her doggy, Popeye.

Miriam Bilskiy LISW-S

Sees clients in Rocky River and virtually

Miriam Bilskiy is a licensed clinical social worker with a supervision designation. Miriam has over ten years of counseling experience in various settings. She specializes in grief and trauma, uses EMDR in her practice, and recently received Gottman Level ll training on marriage counseling. Miriam completed her undergraduate program at Moody Bible Institute and her masters at University of Akron.

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Miriam worked at Metro Health in the emergency department as well as Cornerstone of Hope doing groups and individual counseling for the bereaved. She has an ability to connect with diverse populations. Although she integrates a cognitive behavioral approach and EMDR into her practice, she believes the strongest tool she has is the therapeutic alliance and the power of the counseling relationship itself to bring healing and hope to the client. When she is not working she is perfecting her sourdough baking techniques and is exploring Cleveland’s cultural spots with her family.