Scott Sowle
Founder & CEO
Scott Sowle has worked in behavioral healthcare for over three decades. He is the Founder and CEO of Muir Wood Healthcare, which operates Muir Wood Adolescent and Family Services (Muir Wood). Founded in 2013, Muir Wood operates ten treatment campuses with a total of 64 beds in Sonoma County, CA. Prior to launching Muir Wood, Scott was the Founder and COO of Newport Academy in Orange County, CA; Founding Executive Director for Visions Adolescent Treatment Programs in Los Angeles, CA; and Vice President of Hythiam Inc. A healthcare entrepreneur with a successful background in building companies in the behavioral healthcare space, Scott is particularly drawn to creating mission-driven programs that can be a catalyst for effective, ethical, and sustainable substance abuse and mental health treatment, especially with teens and their families, and as an advocate for the underserved.
Bryan Bowen
Partner/Chief Operating Officer
Bryan is a proven addiction treatment executive with a unique combination of experience in new business venture, management, business development, admissions, and intervention. With over 20 years in the treatment industry, Bryan got his start as an overnight tech and has worked his way up to be recognized as a National Leader in the Industry. Bryan has served on many non profit boards for recovery, addiction and intervention related organizations. These include; California Association of Addiction Recovery Resources (CAARR), The Association of Intervention Specialists, The Helen Vine Detox Center and The Henry Ohlhoff Programs.
Bryan’s philosophy on treatment is to provide the best clinical care and provide families with the education and resources they need to become an integral part of the healing process. He is an empathetic leader who creates teams that people want to be a part of. In his spare time, Bryan leads an active life in the beautiful surroundings of Northern California with his wife and daughter.
Tara Krueger, PsyD
Chief Clinical Officer
Dr. Krueger serves as Chief Clinical Officer, overseeing all aspects of clinical programming for Muir Wood’s growing teen mental health and substance use disorder treatment programs. Dr. Krueger comes to Muir Wood from Newport Healthcare where she served as National Director of Clinical Program Development.
A frequent national presenter on mental health topics, Dr. Krueger earned her doctorate from Argosy University and is trained in modalities including CBT, DBT, Functional Family Therapy, Attachment-Based Family Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing.
She has conducted research on stress and competency in parents of adolescents and young adults with ASD, as well as on female aggression and barriers to reentry from juvenile detention.
“Dr. Krueger’s impressive pedigree, extensive experience working with adolescents and their families, and her important academic contributions to our field, have made her an ideal addition to Muir Wood’s leadership team,” said Scott Sowle, Muir Wood Founder and CEO.
Brent Bowers
Chief Compliance Officer
Brent is an extremely respected professional in the field of behavioral health and addiction treatment with over two decades of experience working in executive-level positions at many highly regarded treatment programs and organizations. Additionally, as a consultant, Brent has been instrumental in assisting many other programs with licensure, accreditation, compliance, and regulatory issues. As the Director of Compliance for Muir Wood, Brent ensures that the facility is in compliance with all health and safety practices, monitors the policies and procedures to ensure they are in alignment with licensing, manages the program’s performance improvement planning and monthly meetings, monitors the electronic health records to ensure proper and timely documentation, monitors employee hiring practices and human resource compliance, and is a valued member of the executive leadership team at Muir Wood.
Pat D’Amico
Chief Marketing Officer
Pat has more than 20 years of behavioral health marketing experience and has worked for a who’s who of mental health and substance use disorder treatment brands. Most recently, Pat served as VP of Marketing for Altior Healthcare where he guided the marketing of four adolescent and young adult mental health treatment brands; Paradigm Treatment Centers (CA & TX), Innercept (ID), Shortridge Academy (NH), and Ironwood Maine (ME). From 2002 until 2018, Pat was a founding partner of Psynchronous Communications, a premier behavioral health marketing firm. During that period, Muir Wood was an agency client. So, Pat is well familiar with the Muir Wood brand, its people and its programs.
Prior to co-founding Psynchronous, Pat served as SVP/Group Director at the venerable Arnold Worldwide in Boston where he set the strategic direction for the $600mm Verizon account. While at Arnold, Pat also helped craft the branding for the launch of www.WSJ.com.
Pat has twice been honored for his work benefiting the hungry with the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Award for Public Service, “…the only award that ever really mattered,” says Pat who has seen an award or two in his time. Two fantastic grown daughters – a 2nd grade teacher and a musical theatre actress – and a healthy obsession with the guitar keep Pat occupied when he isn’t laser focused on his marketing responsibilities.
David Smith, MD, DFASAM, FAACT
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Smith is recognized as a national leader in addiction medicine, the psychopharmacology of drugs, new research strategies in the management of drug abuse problems, and the treatment of adolescent substance abuse. He is the founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinics of San Francisco and has been honored as one of the “Best Doctors in America.”
Dr. Smith is a fellow and past President of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, past president of the California Society of Addiction Medicine, past medical director for the California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, and past medical director for the California Collaborative Center for Substance Abuse Policy Research. In addition to his role as Chair of Addiction Medicine here at Muir Wood, Dr. Smith is also an adjunct professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Smith is the founder and publisher of the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs and co-editor of the International Addiction Infoline newsletter. In addition, he has authored or co-authored twenty-six books, written over 340 journal articles, edited twenty-eight journals, and been the technical consultant for twenty-eight drug abuse-related films.
Heather Stratford
Vice President of Payer Strategy & Relations
Heather brings over 30 years of experience to the Muir Wood team, with the last 25 years focused on behavioral health treatment. The behavioral health insurance realm can be complicated for families and programs alike. Her passion is helping both parties navigate the complexities which arise. Heather is well versed in revenue cycle management, payor strategy / contracting and utilization review. She enjoys working through the challenges each of these offers. When not working, Heather enjoys spending time with her family, fishing, and traveling.