Rest. Reset. Recover.

John Gillen

Director

European NAD Pioneer

John has travelled extensively around the world, culminating in 19 years’ experience looking at different models. He is the European pioneer of Nad+ (Nicotinamide Adenine Dinucleotide) treatment to Europe in 2010; and recently back from the USA bringing state of the art Virtual Reality Relapse Prevention and stress reduction therapy. his passion extends to other metabolic disturbances and neurodegenerative diseases.

The journey continues, in recent times john has travelled to Russia to study and research into a new therapy photobiomudulation or systemic laser therapy working with Nad+ scientists and the very best of the medical profession in the UK and the USA, together with Nadcell, Bionad Clinics own select Doctors, nurses, dieticians and therapists, Johns’ passion continues to endeavour to bring to the UK and Europe new developments with Nad+ therapy in preventive and restorative medicine and Wellness. In 2017 John Gillen was made a visiting Professor at the John Naisbitt university in Belgrade Serbia.

Alexander Lapa

Medical Director / Psychiatrist

MBBS, PG Dip Clin Ed, OA Dip CBT, OA Dip Psychology, SCOPE Certified

Dr Lapa graduated in Medicine in 2000 and since this time has accrued much experience working in the widest range of psychiatric settings with differing illness presentations and backgrounds in inpatient, community and secure settings. This has been aligned to continuation of professional development at postgraduate level in clinical research which has been very closely related to the everyday clinical practice conducted by this practitioner as a NHS and Private Psychiatrist. He is fully indemnified by the Medical and Dental Defense Union of Scotland (MDDUS) and MIAB Expert Insurance for Psychiatric and Private Medical practice. He is fully registered with the General Medical Council (GMC) in the UK with a licence to practice.

Dr Lapa is approved under Section 12(2) of the Mental Health Act (1983)

Member of Independent Doctors Federation (IDF), British Association for Psychopharmacology (BMA) and The Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO)

Dr Lapa’s extensive experience has also concentrated itself on the following areas of clinical practice:
- Assessment, Diagnosis and Pharmacological Treatment for Adults with ADHD.
- Drug and Alcohol Dependency and maintaining abstinence and continued recovery
- Intravenous and Intramuscular Vitamin and Mineral Infusion Therapy
- Dietary and Weight Management and through care from assessment to treatment to end goals and maintenance
- Aesthetic Practice and Procedures

Raffa Bari

CQC Registered Manager

Bsc, CertEd, CELTA, NLP Prac, PGCert, BAAT Raffa is dedicated and passionate about recovery and personal transformation and has as a background in Integrative Art psychotherapy (registered with the British Association of Art Therapists BAAT) focusing in the area of addiction, as well as many years of experience in the field.

Alongside a dedicated team, Raffa is committed in supporting all your recovery goals and help you enjoy an exceptional experience at Asana Lodge. Registered with the Care Quality Commission, Raffa is responsible for the day to day safe and caring services at Asana Lodge.

Raffa has a natural ability to deeply listen and connect on an individual level with the utmost compassion and respect, encouraging our clients each step of their journey. With wide-ranging experience of therapeutic interventions which have helped our clients to continue to develop their well-being, Raffa will ensure your therapeutic interventions are delivered to the highest quality throughout your stay, making sure you are able to work through the nature of your addiction, your fears and establish ways to rebuild your life and achieve your recovery.

Desiree Ford

Registered Nurse

RGN; RM; MSC. Counsellor & Psychotherapist NMC; BACP; RCN Registered

Desiree has been a Nurse since 1975, a Counsellor since 1992, and a Midwife since 1998 and has a plethora of nursing experience and an in-depth knowledge of developing and administering care programs, for patients with drug, alcohol, smoking and stress related addictions, by managing their behavioural aspects of care and tailoring their personalised program to their individual needs.

Desiree uses multiple approaches of Therapeutic Interventional techniques, such as CBT, Mindfulness and Schema Therapy tailored to the individuals requirements for a range of clients from adolescence behavioural and anger management, to adulthood for depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress, together with couple counselling for relationship development and reconciliation.

Seth Bolton

Lead Therapist and Group Facilitator

Seth is a passionate and dedicated therapist and group facilitator. He specialises in helping people understand their addictions, prevent relapse, learn skills to deal with emotional difficulties and unhelpful thinking patterns, and orient behaviours towards building a rich, full and meaningful life. Seth uses evidence-based therapies including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and mindfulness skills. In addition, he also has an in depth understanding of both the twelve step and SMART models of addiction recovery.

Seth has experience working with a wide range of problems including addictions, depression, anxiety related disorders such as obsessive-compulsive (OCD) and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD), anger management, guilt and shame and other emotional problems, stress and burnout, relationship issues and adjusting to challenging life events, such as job loss, divorce and bereavement.

Seth’s core qualifications include:
- Advanced diploma in integrative CBT (with distinction)
- Advanced diploma in CBT (with distinction)
- Diploma in CBT
- Certificate in counselling skills

Reflecting his passion for ongoing professional development, Seth has the following post-qualification training certificates:
- ‘’ACT for anxiety and depression’’ acceptance and commitment therapy training certificate
- ‘’ACT as a brief intervention’’ acceptance and commitment therapy training certificate
- ‘’SMART recovery’’ group facilitation training certificate

Seth is a fully accredited member of the national counselling society, one of the UK’s leading accreditation bodies for counsellors and psychotherapists that ensures all its members practice in a safe and ethical manner, including regular clinical supervision.

Laura Smart

Clinical Therapist

Laura is an experienced Integrative counsellor and group facilitator whose professional and therapeutic experience lies in working predominantly with clients affected by addictions, co-dependency and mental health and well-being related issues. As an Integrative counsellor she is skilled at building and maintaining trusting therapeutic relationships and uses a variety of models including Gestalt Therapy, Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT), Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT), Motivational Interviewing and The 12 Steps. She is dedicated to helping people recover from addictions and providing intensive therapeutic support and intervention, facilitating 1-2-1 and couples counselling, group therapy sessions, and workshops to enable clients to take responsibility for their addictions, lives and recovery.

Abi Molloy

Treatment Practitioner

Abi is a nurse of 39 years and has wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors including hospitals across London and Bedford and also private facilities like St Andrews High Dependancy Unit for people with mental health and private detox centres in Oxford.

Abi has also been a registered manager of a nursing agency with a vast experience of health issues across the spectrum and is now a Treatment Practitioner at Asana Lodge.

Matthew Henisson

Chef

Matthew is our resident chef at Asana Lodge who has been trained to Michelin level, working with the likes of John Burton Race and Gary Rhodes in the past. Matthews ambition is to "make people happy" and he strongly believes this can happen through food. No dish is too big or small for Matthew and he can cater for all clients individual need. His dishes come with great variety, always including lots of nutritional value and he takes inspiration from all around the world and with lots of seasonality.