Facility profile Georgia

First Light Wilderness Therapy

Closed Dahlonega, Georgia

At a glance

Address: 889 Wimpy Mill Rd, Dahlonega, GA 30533
Operated: 2020 to 2024; source
Operator: Embark Behavioral Health

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First Light Wilderness Therapy was a program in Dahlonega, Georgia, operated by Embark Behavioral Health. It operated from 2020 to 2024.

About First Light Wilderness Therapy

It closed in 2024.source

Staff

Administration

Jeff Holloway

Executive director
Elsewhere in the industry
- Ridge Creek Executive Director, 2007
- Hidden Lake Academy Former Assistant Headmaster (2007)
Steve Sawyer

Cofounder
Elsewhere in the industry
- Vista at Dimple Dell Canyon Clinical Director, 2009
- Utah State Hospital Staff, before 2009
- Day Spring Staff, before 2009
- Odyssey House of Utah Staff, before 2009
- Lad Lake Therapeutic Line Staff, 1996
- Alternatives in Psychological Consultation Clinical Director, 1998
- Vista Adolescent Treatment Centers Clinical Director, 2007
- New Vision Wilderness Therapy Founder and Chief Clinical Consultant, Clinical Director, 2007-2013
- Deschutes Wilderness Therapy Founder
- Embark Behavioral Health outdoor programs chief clinical consultant
- Developmental Trauma Training Institute founder

Notable staff

Brandon Olson

Operations director
Elsewhere in the industry
- San Juan Wilderness Therapy
Emily Smith

Therapist
Elsewhere in the industry
- Trails Carolina therapist
- Journey Home therapist
Jean Coyle

Field director
Elsewhere in the industry
- SUWS of the Carolinas field guide
Kathleen Jamila Minnifield

Lead therapist
Elsewhere in the industry
- Trails Carolina field instructor
Kayla Cox Davenport

Therapist
Elsewhere in the industry
- Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness therapist
Mary Jo DeGrandi

Former Senior Director of Professional Relations, now an educational consultant
Elsewhere in the industry
- Family Support Collaborative Director, 2013
- Academy at Swift River Admissions Director
- Bromley Brook School Former Coordinator
- Embark Behavioral Health former Senior Director of Clinical Partnerships, now an educational consultant
Mycala Cherry

Therapist
Elsewhere in the industry
- Blue Ridge Therapeutic Wilderness field staff
- Devereux Foundation direct support professional
Nicole Prescott

Clinical director
Elsewhere in the industry
- Timberline Knolls RTC Primary and Family Therapist, 2018
- New Vision Wilderness Therapy Clinical Director, 2021
Summer Hornbeck

Admissions director
Elsewhere in the industry
- College Excel Program and Education Director, 2021
- Dragonfly Transitions Director of Admissions and Outreach, 2022
- New Vision Wilderness Therapy Former Admissions Director

Connections on the network map

The companies, people and programs our research map ties to this program. Open it on the network map.

Clinical staff

Devereux Foundation therapist

Documents

From the Unsilenced archive

4 documents about First Light Wilderness Therapy that Unsilenced collected and Kids Over Profits does not hold a copy of. They open on Unsilenced's Google Drive. Their whole folder: First Light Wilderness Therapy.

Reporting this program

This program closed in 2024, so the state agency that licensed it can no longer act against it. Other channels may still be able to: the boards that license the people who worked here, law enforcement, and the civil courts.

The Georgia reporting channels list each one and what it can do. Time limits depend on the state, the kind of harm and the survivor's age, and many states have lengthened or removed them for child sexual abuse, so a program closing long ago does not by itself mean it is too late. Laws change, so the time limits we list were correct when we checked them but may have been updated since; a lawyer can tell you where things stand now.