Professional Addiction Detox Team in Orange County

Katy Alexander holds the President role at Saddleback Recovery and Story Wellness. Bringing with her over 25 years of leadership experience. Katy began working in addiction treatment in 2005. Her passion and dedication to helping others comes from her own personal battles with overcoming addiction. Katy believes her personal experience has given her the unique ability to understand what those struggling with addiction or mental health are going through as well as connecting with the families that love them. Katy is a true advocate for family healing and recovery.
Katy has held various positions over the years in admissions, utilization review, billing, outreach, and executive leadership, which has equipped her with the knowledge and ability to fully understand the inner workings of a successful treatment program. Katy has built lasting relationships with partners in the community and strives to maintain those relationships. She understands the value of our community working together to fully help an individual and families in their recovery journey. Katy is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor; in addition to this, she has received additional training in clinical intervention, crisis management, leadership, and has attended several self-empowerment workshops for personal and professional growth.

This has prepared Katy to successfully lead a team with integrity, ethics, and mission-based goals by providing support, identifying strengths, and creating strategic plans for the overall succession of the team. A Southern California native, Katy values time with her family and enjoys spending time outdoors with them. She believes she has been gifted a second chance at life through her recovery and is called to help other families receive that same gift.

Shannon Eustace, a native of Huntington Beach, California, has several years of experience working in Addiction Treatment and holds the position of Program Manager at Saddleback Recovery.

Shannon is a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor, CADC-II; she is involved in all clinical aspects of the program, from individual counseling, facilitating groups, and participating in treatment and discharge planning to create a continued care plan that will allow each client to be successful in their recovery. She brings a wealth of crisis intervention, counseling, direct client care, operations, and supervisor experience to her role. Shannon oversees our case managers and care coordinators providing training and support to the team to ensure quality care is provided to each client and family. She believes that workplace culture truly sets the example for the standard of care; she strives to create a safe and effective work environment for staff and clients, exampling kindness, compassion, listening, and education.

Shannon’s desire to help others find healing through recovery comes from her own personal recovery experience. Shannon is passionate about allowing each person their own experience in early recovery and nurturing them through the process. Shannon believes that addiction is a “family disease” and has extensive knowledge and experience working with families to guide them through their own recovery process.

When Shannon is not working, she loves to spend time with her family and attend events with her grandchildren. She believes these are the “gifts of her recovery.”

Dr. Andrei Dokukin, MD, is a dedicated physician with a background that bridges clinical practice, research, and healthcare leadership, Dr. Dokukin brings a well-rounded perspective to modern medicine combining western and ancient medical knowledge to a well-rounded integrative practice. With each sub-specialty that he practices, he has a very personal relationship both as a practitioner as well as a patient.

Background in Dance (Bolshoi Ballet Academy, American Ballet Theatre) led him to pursue a career in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation making him an expert in musculoskeletal interventional medicine, as well as traumatic Brain Injury, Spinal Cord Injury, and Stroke rehabilitation. Chronic back pain because of a dance injury led him to pursue a path in Pain and Interventional Spine Medicine.

A realization that chronic opioid medications make the chronic pain conditions worse, and complete disagreements with conventional Pain Management approaches that only focused in addressing symptoms of a disease rather than the root cause, made him walk out of conventional Pain Management job and led him to a decade long pursuit of knowledge on how to treat chronic pain conditions without harming his patients with opioids.

Indirectly, the above-mentioned professional crisis, as well as personal spiritual “bankruptcy” led him to clinical alcoholism and eventually a near death experience. Now many years sober and in recovery, Dr. Dokukin’s true passion is Addiction Medicine and treating people with psychological conditions.

To recover his own physical health, he became a Hirudotherapy expert and pioneered the Renaissance of Leech medicine in the US. He is proud to be one of the handful of practitioners in the US utilizing this FDA approved approach in treatment of surgical and medical conditions in his practice.

With a career that bridges science, service, and compassion, Dr. Andrei Dokukin, MD, continues to shape healthcare through his dedication, vision, and unwavering commitment to the well-being of his patients and community.

According to Heather, the greatest pleasure of being the clinical director of Saddleback Recovery is watching the beautiful evolution of change in others. She remains “ridiculously passionate” about the work she does on a daily basis, which includes being an integral part of the multi-disciplinary treatment team providing individual, group, and family therapy, as well as formulating unique and specific treatment plans of each resident.

Her educational background includes a BS in pastoral ministries and psychology (Vanguard University) and a Master’s of Science in Clinical Psychology (Vanguard University). She is also a California licensed marriage and family therapist, a certified eating disorder specialist, and is EMDR certified.

She educates from the efficacy of positive interventions and believes that everyone gets stuck once in a while, but she maintains that “it’s never too late to be who you might have been.”

Bio Coming Soon

Dave Alexander, a Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor CADC III and CCAR Recovery Coach, is a behavioral health professional with over 20 years of experience helping individuals and families navigate addiction and mental health challenges. He is part of the team at Saddleback Recovery, where he guides clients toward rebuilding their lives with purpose, hope, and dignity.

A UCLA graduate with a B.S. in Psychology, Dave began his career in education as founder of Future Youth Inc., a college admissions consulting company. In 2005, he shifted his focus to behavioral health, bringing his passion for coaching, accountability, and transformation to individuals struggling with addiction and mental health concerns. Dave has led programs across the continuum of care, including transitional housing, outpatient services, and educational support. He founded RAW – Recovery And Wellness, in 2013, helping hundreds of clients achieve lasting sobriety and meaningful lives. Since 2021, he has served at Saddleback Behavioral Health & Story Wellness, providing direct client care, staff leadership, crisis intervention, and collaborative support systems.

Dave has been in recovery for 14 years, an experience that deeply informs his work and fuels his commitment to helping others find hope and healing. His personal journey gives him a unique level of empathy, authenticity, and clarity of purpose—driving his passion to serve, support, and walk alongside individuals as they navigate their own recovery paths. Outside work, he enjoys family time in South Orange County and surfing along the Southern California coast with his wife, young daughter, and two “fur sons.”

Dave Alexander is a behavioral health professional with over two decades of experience supporting individuals and families affected by addiction and mental health challenges. He currently serves as part of the team at Saddleback Recovery, where he continues his long-standing mission to help clients rebuild their lives with dignity, purpose, and hope.

Dave graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a business emphasis. He began his career in education as the founder of Future Youth Inc., a college admissions consulting company that provided strategic academic planning, test preparation, and mentorship to hundreds of students. In 2005, Dave shifted his focus to supporting individuals struggling with mental health and addiction challenges, bringing his passion for coaching, accountability, and personal transformation into the behavioral health field.

He went on to lead the College Program at a prominent Orange County treatment center before founding RAW (Recovery And Wellness) in 2013. Dave oversaw a team of 15+ staff, implemented data-driven coaching systems, and supported young men not only in achieving sobriety, but in building meaningful, sustainable lives.

After more than a decade facilitating programs across the continuum of care—including transitional housing, outpatient services, and educational support—Dave joined Saddleback Behavioral Health & Story Wellness in 2021. His work includes direct client care, staff leadership, crisis intervention, discharge planning, and collaborative systems of support that prioritize long-term wellness. Dave believes that every client is the expert in their own life and deserves an individualized, strengths-based approach to treatment. His mentorship style integrates assessment, accountability, and compassionate guidance, fostering the conditions necessary for deep personal transformation.

Throughout his career, he has helped numerous individuals and families enter recovery, heal relationships, and reconnect with their purpose.

Dave is a Certified Alcohol Drug Counselor III & a Certified CCAR Recovery Coach. Outside of his professional work, Dave values time with his family. He lives in South Orange County with his wife, young daughter. When he’s not helping others navigate their recovery journeys, you can often find him surfing along the Southern California coast.

As outreach admissions coordinator, Tayler serves as the bridge between our community, outreach, and admissions team. She has worked in a myriad of roles in addiction and mental health treatment since 2017, including project management, utilization review, admissions, and case management. Beyond that, she has experience working in hospitals and for various insurance providers. Working in the mental health and substance abuse field has enabled Tayler to cultivate a skill set that makes her as adaptable as possible; she has learned that working in this field requires one to be able to work quickly and efficiently to ensure clients and families are receiving the care they need.

Tayler currently holds a bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration from Concordia University Irvine and a master’s degree in Healthcare Administration as of 2022. Tayler understands that addiction is a family disease, her ability to support those struggling with addiction or mental health in early recovery, but also to support the family to better understand their loved one and find their own recovery path, is such a unique gift and makes Tayler such an integral part of the Saddleback team.