Deric Ravsten, DO, FAPA
Medical Director
Dr. Ravsten is a native of Southeast Idaho, graduated from Idaho State University, graduated from medical school at Des Moines University and then completed his Psychiatry residency at the University of Utah. He is a Board Certified Psychiatrist with a broad range of practice experience including work in outpatient clinic and inpatient hospital care. His professional passion stems from the challenge of helping patients to overcome the barriers of mental illness and addiction to feel better and to do more in their lives.
Special interests include: mental health disorders complicated by co-occuring substance use or personality disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, telepsychiatry, geropsychiatry, ADHD, and Schizophrenia.
Kraig Boyd, LPC, NCC
Therapist
Kraig Boyd, LPC, NCC, holds a masters degree in mental health counseling from Idaho State University and is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Idaho. Kraig is a retired mental health clinician for the Idaho Department of Correction and has almost twenty years of experience in the addiction treatment field. He has worked in outpatient, residential, and private practice settings. Kraig enjoys being a part of the growth and healing process that transforms people’s lives. “I love helping people find their own answers and watch them begin to live happier, healthier, and more meaningful lives.” Kraig’s integrated holistic approach to counseling embraces the need for emotional, physical, social, and spiritual healing. He has extensive experience dealing with a broad range of adult mental health concerns and has helped clients struggling with issues as diverse as trauma survival, addiction recovery, relationship problems, grief adjustment, chronic stress, depression, and anxiety. In addition to being qualified to address mental health issues, Kraig is a certified health coach enabling him to provide a wide array of wellness services. He especially enjoys outdoor experiential learning activities and creative arts therapeutic modalities.
Richy Gaona
Admissions Specialist
Richy Gaona is the Admissions Specialist for Moonlight Mountain Recovery. In his role, he is responsible for managing admissions and marketing for the facility. He also works as a liaison between Moonlight Mountain Recovery and the local community. He works to ensure that the residents are comfortable and have everything they need to aid in their recovery. Education is key to understanding recovery and the success of each person that sets foot inside our facility.
Richy joined Moonlight Mountain Recovery in October 2018 as Admissions Specialist; a role in which he manages patient admissions and works with families to educate and guide them through the recovery process. Prior to joining our team, he worked in various executive roles within the hotel and hospitality industry, including his most recent role as General Manager for Western States Lodging Management.
Richy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration & Leadership from Idaho State University. He is a member of multiple Chamber Boards, Rotary International Committees, holds positions on many boards throughout the community and finds every opportunity to fulfill his goal of always being willing to accept a new challenge. His passion is in helping others reach their potential, both locally and globally, and living the value of always serving others through leadership.
Brenda May
Skills Trainer
Brenda May is a Skills Trainer for Moonlight Mountain Recovery. For 30 years She had been employed in retail management. These were high-stress jobs and her coping mechanism was to use alcohol and drugs to escape. Her experience in management has helped her as a leader; to guide others she works with who have addiction problems to recover. Her recovery encompasses 10 years and she considers herself recovered as long as she works a daily program of recovery.
Recovery is her passion and an everyday part of her life. She surrounds herself with the most amazing successful people in recovery who give her support and help keep her sober. She is very involved with both 12 Step programs in our community and attends many meetings and helps plan events. She sponsors many women in programs and walks them through the steps and helps them find their way to a spiritual way of life. She has intensely studied the 12 Steps from both Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous and is very proficient in working the steps and walking others through them. She stays sober and recovered from her disease by helping others.
Brenda has compassion and love for all addicts and believes that an alcoholic or addict can recover if they are willing and ready to make the changes in their lives necessary to recover. She believes that addiction is just a symptom of much deeper issues. Working the Steps can help you overcome these so you can live a sober, happy, joyous and free life. She has the ability to relate to what other addicts are going through which makes her such a valuable member of the Moonlight team.
Jared Barton
Dietician
After earning a degree in Dietitics in 2007, Jared was blessed with a job with Dr. Warren Willey and Randy Vawdrey, NP-C at PICC urgent care. He then moved over to their family practice office where he blossomed and developed a complete nutritional consulting program within the physician’s office. In addition to working as a consult for Moonlight Mountain Recovery Center, he has spent more than 10 years working for Physician’s Optimal Health and other affiliated medical practices. Jared has logged over 10,000 hours in face to face nutrition counseling. In practice, Jared has provided nutritional and educational support for medical needs, athletic needs, weight loss, weight gain, and family nutrition.
Jared can provide nutrition education, meal planning, and exercise instruction to individuals of all backgrounds and with various health conditions. He has an exceptional commitment to his clients and has an uncanny ability to connect emotionally with them. Perhaps this is because he describes himself as a “former fat guy and junk food addict.” He was a chain smoker and heavy drinker for close to 10 years. In his words, these were his “beer, corndogs, and cigarettes” years. It didn’t take long for that lifestyle to take its toll. His choices, coupled with his family genetics, had kicked off numerous health problems he now counsels others about.
This is not just a job for Jared. This is part of a life-long commitment to preventing disease, being physically capable, enjoying life, and finding fulfillment in helping others do the same.
Annetta Johansen
Assistant Manager
Annetta Johansen is a Certified Nursing Assistant with nine years’ experience in caregiving. Virtually every job she has ever held has been in the caregiving field. She has worked with dual diagnosed disabled adults, children in day care, children with Autism, and has spent nearly nine years working with the elderly, specializing in hospice care. While she loved her time in hospice, nine years is a long time to care for those in hospice. It is emotionally and physically challenging, and while she found it rewarding, there is a lot of loss. Recently, she decided she needed a break from hospice, but not from caregiving. She chose to become part of recovery caregiving because it is very close to her heart. She has seen several family members struggle with addiction and the loss and the pain it causes.
Annetta initially chose to become a CNA when her niece, then 17, suffered a drug overdose, causing a brain injury. She became completely dependent on caregivers to meet all of her needs. She ultimately needed 24 hour care in a long term care facility, and that was the catalyst that made her decide to become a CNA. Annetta saw the care she was getting and wanted to become a caregiver herself. In 2012, she lost her Mother to liver failure from chronic alcohol use. She brought her to her home on hospice and cared for her until she died. In 2014, she lost her brother to liver failure from Hepatitis from sharing needles. She brought him to her home on hospice and cared for him until he died at the age of 43. In May of 2018, her niece that had started her on her path to become a CNA after a drug overdose, died at the age of 27, after spending nearly 10 years in a care facility. Drug and alcohol abuse has definitely hit very, very close to home for her.
(So onto lighter things) She has lived in Idaho all her life. She loves it here, really wouldn’t choose anywhere else. She has four children, aged 25, 22, 20 and 14. She has been married for nearly 25 years, and her husband is her best friend. She loves to travel with her family and she enjoys camping and fishing. She looks forward to working in recovery, and helping individuals that she believes are worthy of dignity, great care, and caregivers that hope to see them succeed and move forward towards a healthy life.