Epoch Counseling Center

Staff

Epoch Counseling Center has over 40 employees, including both clinical and administrative staff. Each Epoch location is supervised by a licensed clinician (LCPC, LCADC, LCSW-C) or a certified counselor approved as a supervisor by the Maryland State Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists. Our counseling staff includes licensed and certified substance abuse and mental health professionals as well as approved trainees and interns. The specific credentials, education, and training for the counselors working in a particular location are posted in the office’s waiting room. Clients may at any time request verification of their counselors’ credentials. It is important to note that counselors and social workers do not have the ability to prescribe medications. If there is a need for medications to assist in treatment or meet a somatic need, a referral would be made to an appropriate physician.

Leadership

Susan A. Tangires, LCPC, LCADC, M.S.
Director

Ms. Tangires has been affiliated with FRI and Epoch Counseling Center since 1998, when she was a graduate student intern at the Catonsville office. Ms. Tangires served Epoch as a coordinator since 2001, first at the Southeast location in Dundalk and then for five years in Catonsville. In the role of Coordinator, Ms. Tangires provided clinical training to numerous student interns, many of whom have gone on to work as members of the Epoch clinical staff. She has also worked in a group private practice in Glen Burnie since 2004. Ms. Tangires has served as the Director of Epoch Counseling Center since 2006. Under her leadership, Epoch has experienced significant growth in the number of clients served annually, and in its overall operating budget. Ms. Tangires was also instrumental in adding new services including mental health counseling and medication management, buprenorphine maintenance, anger management, and intensive outpatient treatment for adults.

Ms. Tangires' clinical experience includes not only substance abuse treatment, but treatment for a variety of other issues such as mood disorders, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, domestic violence, career changes, and relationship problems. She is dually licensed in Maryland, as a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and a Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LCADC). Ms. Tangires continues to work clinically with both adult and adolescent clients in addition to her responsibilities as Director. She was appointed by Governor Martin O’Malley to the Maryland Board of Professional Counselors and Therapists in 2009.

Ms. Tangires earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from the University of Maryland, College Park and a Master of Science degree in Clinical Community Counseling from Johns Hopkins University. Prior to entering the field of counseling, Ms. Tangires worked for 11 years as a bank examiner with the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Thrift Supervision. This experience provided a strong foundation in accounting, finance, management development, problem solving, and team building which have proven useful in the position of Director.

Stephanie Marinelli, LCPC, Ph.D.
Clinical Coordinator
Catonsville

Stephanie Marinelli, PhD, JD, LCPC, and a board approved alcohol and drug supervisor joined Epoch Counseling Center in July 2010 on a full-time basis at Epoch’s Catonsville office. She was previously an intern providing both individual and group therapy at Epoch’s Catonsville Center. Her primary interest is the relationship of addiction and trauma. Some of her other clinical interests include treatment of substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, trauma and abuse, as well as bereavement. She has also had extensive training in the use of Motivational Interviewing in the counseling process.

Dr. Marinelli earned her PhD in Pastoral Counseling (Clinical Psychology) at Loyola University Maryland. Her dissertation was entitled “The Impact of Religiousness on Women with a History of Breast Cancer.” She also received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Baltimore in 1989. She received her BS in Business Administration, with a Concentration in Accounting, from The University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill in 1984. Dr. Marinelli’s additional internship experience included grief counseling and psychotherapy with cancer patients, their families, their caregivers and employees providing services to this population, including the influence that spirituality could have on the grief process. She currently provides clinical supervision to counseling staff and interns while also maintaining an active caseload of group and individual clients.

Pete Taylor, LCPC, M.A.
Clinical Coordinator
Dundalk

Pete Taylor, MA, is a licensed, clinical professional counselor (LCPC) and a board- approved alcohol and drug supervisor. He joined the Epoch Counseling Center in July 2009 as the Clinical Coordinator of the Dundalk office. For six years prior to joining the Epoch staff, he was formerly employed by Baltimore County Department of Social Services in the capacity of Director of the Young Parent Support Center.

Mr. Taylor’s clinical experience includes working with victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, incarcerated men and women, chronically mentally ill adults, families and children, and substance addicted individuals. One of his areas of special interest is counseling individuals and groups in anger management. Mr. Taylor developed the curriculum used in the Baltimore County Detention Centers for anger management while employed as a therapist by the county in 2002. He currently provides services to a small private caseload of clients with needs in this area.

Mr. Taylor earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Social Science and a Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology from Towson University. He has conducted workshops in anger management, healthy relationships, aspects of the helping relationship and maintaining appropriate boundaries for agencies including Friends of the Family and the United States Armed Services Family Services Division.

Manette Mapa, LCPC, CSC-AD, M.S.
Clinical Coordinator
Lansdowne

Manette Mapa is a licensed professional counselor (LCPC), certified addictions counselor (CSC-AD), and board-approved alcohol & drug supervisor. She has been with FRI & Epoch Counseling Center since 2000, when she started out as a graduate intern at the Catonsville office. She then joined FRI’s Social Research Center as a clinical interviewer for studies utilizing Motivational Enhancement strategies for adolescent outpatient substance abuse clients and adult drug court probationers. Ms. Mapa returned to Epoch Counseling Center in Catonsville as a part time counselor in 2003 and became Clinical Coordinator for the Lansdowne office in 2005. She currently provides clinical supervision to counseling staff and interns while also maintaining an active caseload of group and individual clients.

Clinical interests include treatment of substance abuse, co-occurring disorders, mood and anxiety disorders, relationship problems and women’s issues. Research interests include the integration of psychology and spirituality with a focus on positive psychology. Ms. Mapa obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines. She completed her M.S. in Pastoral Counseling at Loyola College in Maryland.

Dana Sohlberg, CAC-AD, ADS, M.S.
Clinical Coordinator
Essex

Dana Sohlberg joined Epoch Counseling Center in 2008 and is a certified associate counselor (CAC-AD), certified prevention professional (CPP), and board-approved alcohol and drug supervisor. Her previous experience includes working as a counselor with co-occurring intensive level patients at the University of Maryland Medical Center, Community Psychiatry. She worked as a counselor and prevention coordinator at Treatment Resources for Youth in Baltimore, where she served high-risk adolescents in the community and lead in-school prevention efforts in three city schools. She also served as the Assistant Director of the agency for two years.

Ms. Sohlberg earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and has completed graduate work at the University of Baltimore. She completed her M.S. in Counseling Education at McDaniel College.

Other clinical interests include acudetox therapy in treating addiction. Ms. Sohlberg recently became certified as an acudetox specialist and is using acupuncture as an enhancement to substance abuse treatment. Additionally, she has a special interest in working with children and adolescents who have substance-abusing parents.