Instructor Bios

The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division, Colorado Department of Health accredits all Odyssey Training instructors. In addition, some instructors are also credentialed with Domestic Violence or the Criminal Justice system.

Beth Barta, LCSW, CAC III
Beth Barta is the Founder and Director of Insight Counseling Center which provides outpatient psychotherapy services to children, adolescents and adults.  In addition to Beth's training as a clinical social worker, she is a Colorado Certified Addictions Counselor with over 10 years of experience assisting people in creating positive change in their lives. She studied at the Gestalt Institute of the Rockies where she sought to deepen her work with clients and gain new tools as a therapist. Beth has attended mupltiple trainings in the areas addiction and trauma and is a certified EMDR practitioner.

Debra Wingfield, EdD, LPC
Dr. Wingfield is currently an affiliate Facility Member at Regis University where she teaches psychology and counseling courses. She developed and teaches a Domestic Violence Counselor Training curriculum at the University of Southern Colorado. Dr. Wingfield has been a practicing Counselor since 1975 with delinquent youth, families with child abuse and neglect issues, children from all dysfunctional family types, domestic violence victims,child witness/victims, and perpetrators. She has designed and implemented programs that address these issues. Dr. Wingfield provided consultation in program design, development, and evaluation to prevention programs for at-risk youth. Dr. Wingfield has a Masters of Art's Degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of West Florida (1975) and Doctor of Education Degree in Counselor education from the University of Northern Colorado (1993).

Donna Goldstrom, LPC, LAC

I received my Masters degree in Community Counseling from Kent State University in 1977. Since then I have worked in multiple settings including drug and alcohol inpatient, adolescent and family treatment, and outpatient mental health and substance abuse settings. I am currently a part of the Family Medicine Center’s Behavioral Health Team in Fort Collins. I work with the physicians at FMC to provide comprehensive and integrated health care as well as train the resident doctors in how to manage their patients who have substance abuse and/or mental health issues.

Doris Kruse, MAC, CCJS, CAC III
Doris Kruse, retired October 30, 2000 as Director of Running Creek Counseling Service, Inc. She is also the founder of that program. RCCS is an outpatient alcohol drug, DUI program and a Domestic Violence Perpetrator Program. Doris served as the Director for thirteen years. During her 25 years as a therapist in Colorado, she has worked in the Department of Corrections as well as all phases of outpatient care and inpatient treatment in two hospital programs. She teaches Alcohol/Drug Counselor Certification classes in several states, as well as some Domestic Violence classes. Ms. Kruse is the 1997 recipient of the Bonnie Forquer award.

Jean Armour, LPC, BSN, CACIII
Jean Armour is currently self employed after resigning from her position as an executive manager at Arapahoe House. She provides training and consultation services, as well as serving as the Clinical Supervisor for some area outpatient substance abuse treatment programs and therapists in private practice.

Michael Connelly, MA, LAC
Michael Connelly is the Director of the Odyssey Training Center. He has been a trainer for a variety of Certified Addition Counselor certification workshops since 1982 and has worked in the substance abuse field for over twenty years. He has experience working in detox, inpatient, outpatient, administration and private practice. He received his Master's Degree in Educational Psychology from the University of Colorado and specializes in adult education.

Michele Packard, CAC III Ph. D
 Michele is the Executive Director of Sage Training & Consulting, with headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. Dr. Packard is a licensed psychologist and certified addictions counselor with over 20 years in the mental health field. She is co-author of a chapter titled Innovations in the Treatment of Dual Disorders in the 2nd edition of Motivational Interviewing, as well as author of a number of articles including Coping with bipolar disorder: Advice for family members; Assessment of the problem drinker and Offender Risk-Modification Training. She is currently working on a book on Treatment Planning with the Personality Disorder Client in Brief and Longer-Term Settings. Dr. Packard has been a national trainer since 1990 for American Counseling Association, National Association of Drug Abuse Counselors and US Journal Training, to name a few. She travels extensively in the United States and Canada as a trainer for mental health professionals and for corporate speaking engagements. She served as Adjunct Faculty at the University of Colorado from 1980 -1988. Since 1993 she has served as a policy consultant to American Psychological Association, the Alberta Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse and many agencies providing mental health and substance abuse treatment. In 1993 she was voted Best Trainer by Colorado addictions program directors. In 1997 she was a recipient of the Best Practices Award by Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Interest Group. Dr. Packard is an invited track speaker for the July, 2004 AMHCA Annual Conference, Washington, D.C. Most recently she has presented at the Milton Erikson Brief Therapy Conference and at the Betty Ford Center.  

Miranda Moyer, LPC, LAC
Miranda Moyer earned a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology from the University of Denver and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Addiction Counselor. She is a full-time therapist working with children, adolescents, and families in the Grand Junction area. She provides training, clinical supervision and consultation services including the 2010 update of the DBH-mandated core curriculum for the CAC training program.

Pamela Semmler, MA, LPC, CAC III
Pam Semmler has been a trainer at Odyssey Training Center for the past six years. She earned a Masters of Arts in Counseling Psychology and Counselor Education from the University of Colorado at Denver and is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Addictions Counselor, Level III. She is currently the Counseling Services Coordinator at the Colorado AIDS Project where she works with a diverse population of clients who are dually diagnosed and living with HIV/AIDS. Pam also has a private practice in the Central Denver area and does Diversity Consultation and Training on a contractual basis in addition to her teaching at Odyssey Training Center.

Robin Oakes, Registrar
Robin Oakes is registrar for Odyssey Training Center.

Scott Covert
In his role, Scott oversees training for clients of The Change Companies®. His responsibilities include providing on-site and off-site training for key clients, specifically "train the trainer" coaching and implementation of Interactive Journaling®. Scott has comprehensive knowledge of The Change Companies®' products and curricula. An excellent communicator, Scott specializes in teaching and leading groups using his strong presentation and facilitation skills. He also is certified in training design from the Bob Pike Group.

Sharon Huntoon, MS, MAC, CAC III, LPC
Sharon Huntoon has been the Director of the MWSE(Women Seeking Empowerment) Counseling Center in Lafayette, Colorado for he past six years. Prior to that Sharon worked at the Boulder County Safe house for nine years. She serves as an expert witness as well as providing court ordered evaluations for substance abuse and domestic violence offenders. Sharon has presented workshops on domestic violence and substance abuse to numerous community organizations and treatment programs. Sharon is a compassionate and committed counselor with a wealth of professional experience.

Warren Humble, MA, LPC, CAC III, NCAC II
Warren Humble has served as the director of White River Counseling for over 23 years. He has extensive experience in providing treatment and supervision in the addiction and behavioral health fields. As an ADAD approved trainer for over 15 years he has provided training to programs throughout Colorado for counselors, humans service Organizations, and business groups.

Wendy Lee, LCSW, LAC
Wendy is the Program Director for the Boys Residential program at Turning Point and a medical social worker for Brookdale Senior Living in Ft Collins, CO. She has worked in the human services field for the past 18 years working with adolescents, families and seniors. Here experience includes residential, outpatient, day treatment and private practice. Wendy graduated from Colorado State University with her Masters in Social Work.