Kennebec Behavioral Health hires counseling service director

Melissa Cooper, LCPC, has been hired as the new Director of School Based and In-Home Counseling Service at Kennebec Behavioral Health in Waterville. This service provides mental health counseling for children and youth within the school setting and other community sites. Licensed clinicians work closely with schools and parent/guardians throughout the mid-Maine region and beyond to provide assessment and therapy services, according to a news release from KBH.

Cooper is the former assistant clinical director of Behavioral Health Services at Catholic Charities Maine. She has been working clinically in the children’s sector for the past 15 years, beginning with the Child Witness to Violence Project in Boston, Massachusetts. In 2004, she joined the Functional Family Therapy team at Catholic Charities Maine, providing home-based therapy to youth and their families throughout many regions in the state.

In 2006, Cooper completed the FFT Clinical Externship Program, an intensive training involving 72 hours of direct client contact and live supervision. In 2007 she completed a specialized FFT Supervisor Training, upon which she began supervisory responsibilities; to include hiring, training, as well as administrative and clinical oversight to ensure adherence and fidelity to the model as well as implementation of contractual standards. Over the years her duties also included directing the Therapeutic Foster Care program and conducting clinical portions of agency orientation training.

Pat McKenzie, administrator for KBH’s Outpatient and Substance Abuse Services said, “Melissa brings a strong clinical and program management skillset to support the important school partners and a passion for providing excellent service in our community,” according to the release.

Kennebec Behavioral Health is a nonprofit health-care organization that has provided mental health and substance abuse services and supports in central Maine since 1960, and operates clinics in Waterville, Skowhegan, Winthrop and Augusta, and has three vocational clubhouses in Waterville, Augusta and Lewiston.

Breerwood joins Levey, Wagley, Putman & Eccher, P.A.

The shareholders of Levey, Wagley, Putman & Eccher, P.A., recently announced that Madelyn O. Breerwood, a Winthrop native, has joined the practice as an associate attorney on May 1. Breerwood returned to Maine last year to practice elder law. She spent her first three years of practice in New Orleans representing plaintiffs in mass tort litigation. At Levey, Wagley, Putman & Eccher, P.A., she will be assisting clients with estate planning, trusts and probate.

Breerwood graduated cum laude from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in December 2013 and attended Tulane University’s A.B. Freeman School of Business in New Orleans for her undergraduate education. She was admitted to the Maine State Bar in October 2016.

Compiled from contributed releases