BAEC Staff
Dr. John Gilburt, PhD. CAC III, LPsy
Boulder Alcohol Education Center was co-founded in 1982 by licensed psychologist John Gilburt Ph.D., CAC III. John has 40 years experience working in substance abuse. He is a nationally recognized expert witness and evaluator, and has published numerous articles on substance abuse. John is also an accomplished guitartist, world traveler, and fisherman. See About Us.
Sandy Akerlund (Office Manager, BA)
Sandy earned her BA in Criminal Justice and has over 5 years of experience in the criminal justice field. She also has over 10 years managing treatment agencies. Sandy has been with BAEC since 2017.
Meryl Romer, M.A., CACIII
Meryl Romer holds a Masters Degree in Dance Movement Therapy i.e. Body Centered Psychotherapy from Naropa University. She retired from Boulder County Public Health where she worked as an individual and group therapist at the Addiction Recovery Center. She was a member of the Boulder County Drug Court for ten years. She currently works at Boulder Alcohol Education Center doing individual and group therapy; and mental health and substance abuse evaluations. She specializes in offering coping skills to those dealing with anxiety; depression; trauma; and addiction through the use of relaxation and breath techniques.
Jeffrey Price, MA.LPC, LAC
Jeff has been working in the field for 25 years and has been at BAEC since 1996. He is a licensed professional counselor, a licensed addictions counselor and a certified group psychotherapist. Jeff specializes in working with men and women of all ages who are experiencing addictive behaviors and difficult emotions. He works with individuals, groups, couples, and families. He is a nationally known expert in Group Process.
Alejandro Perez, BA, CAC II
Alejandro’s cultural heritage has allowed him to work as a group facilitator and as a certified consultant for nurturing programs. His areas of expertise are prevention, parent education and family intervention. He has a Bachelor’s Degree physical Education and Recreational Therapy. He is a certified addictions counselor level II, is bilingual and has worked with the Latino Community in the substance abuse field since 1991.
Donna Cooper, MA, CAC III
Earned her Master of Arts degree from the University of Colorado, Denver in 1993. She has also completed classes and course work for Addiction Counseling between 1998 and 2004 and has a supervised level certificate. Her other primary post graduate work has been in somatic therapy for a while and, also received her certification from Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute, Broomfield, Colorado in Developmental and Physical Trauma.
Beth Lichtenstein, MA, LPC
Beth, Earned her Master of Art’s degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology from Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado; Bachelor of Art’s degree Double Distributed Major in Psychology and Religious Studies with an emphasis on Eastern studies at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Colorado.