Pasadena Villa Outpatient – Chapel Hill

Executive Director

Katharine Augustine, LMFT

Katharine Augustine is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, having earned her Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pfeiffer University in 2014. In her clinical work, Katharine has experience in community mental health and outpatient therapy settings, as well as higher levels of care. Prior to her work at Pasadena Villa, she served as the Assistant Director and co-creator of the adolescent intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization programs at Bright Path Behavioral Health.

Katharine brings a warm authenticity to her clinical and organizational leadership, which allows her to create an environment of safety and empowerment for both patients and staff. She takes a human-first approach to the provision of mental health care, centering the patient as the expert of their own experience. She is skilled at providing clinical supervision from a systemic perspective, while also drawing on her training in multiple evidence-based models of treatment.

Psychotherapist

Bri Safer, MS, LCMHC, CRC

Bri Safer is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) and a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), having earned her Master of Science degree at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology at Miami University (Ohio). Bri has worked with clients of all ages through inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, and intensive outpatient levels of care. Bri has experience providing individuals, couples, group, and family therapy in clinical settings.

Bri has a strong belief in evidence-based treatment to serve her clients best. Bri utilizes many treatment modalities supported by research including, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Motivational Interviewing, Solution-Focused Therapy and Person-Centered Therapy. Bri uses warmth, humor, and empathy to build therapeutic relationships. Bri will work in partnership with her clients to develop a unique treatment plan to meet clients where they are in their journey, with the main goal of helping others discover or re-discover their strength and purpose as they work towards living fulfilling lives.

Music Therapist

Joyu Lee, NAMI, NMT, MM, MT-BC

Joyu is a music psychotherapist and professional cellist in the Triangle area of North Carolina. She’s the owner of Music and Your Mind, LLC, and a founding member of Vida Strings.

Joyu is a passionate and experienced therapist with 20+ years of combined international experiences in creative/expressive arts therapy, cello performance, music education, and arts administration. She is trained in the Bonny Method Guided Imagery and Music and is a Fellow of the Association for Music and Imagery. Joyu currently is the only independent certified Music Breathing practitioner in North Carolina and is completing her Narrative Therapy Certification through NTI in May 2022.

Board-Certified Psychiatrist Attending

Abdul Khalid, MD

Dr. Khalid is a board-certified adult psychiatrist with over a decade of experience. Dr. Khalid completed his adult psychiatric residency at Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in Queens Village and post-doctoral residency fellow at New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York. Dr. Khalid has been working for the state of North Carolina since 2009. Over the years, Dr. Khalid has served in a variety of clinical settings including inpatient and outpatient services. Since 2019, Dr. Khalid has been the Chief Medical Officer at an inpatient facility. Dr. Khalid’s areas of interest include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and substance use disorders. Dr. Khalid believes that honesty, integrity, and a healthy perspective are essential components of leading a happy life.

Board-Certified Psychiatrist Attending

Muhammad Saeed, MD

Over the years, Dr. Saeed has served in a variety of clinical settings including inpatient, outpatient, and consultation/liaison services. He has been serving at a local psychiatric hospital as a Clinical Director of Geriatric Services since 2012. His primary focus is helping individuals who are struggling with a persistent and serious mental illness to the functional recovery. Additionally, Dr. Saeed has been providing transcranial magnetic stimulation, which addressed treatment-resistant depression, at several treatment locations in the triangle area. His areas of interest include mood disorders, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, and cognitive disorders. Dr. Saeed is board certified in adult and geriatric psychiatry by American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He completed adult psychiatry training at the University of Texas at Houston Health Science Center in 2007 where he also served as a Chief Resident. He further completed his geriatric psychiatry fellowship at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial program. In 2008, Dr. Saeed relocated to North Carolina and served in the psychiatry department of ECU at Brody School of Medicine as the assistant professor until 2012. Dr. Saeed also shares his mental health knowledge with others by conducting seminars through Eastern and Wake County AHEC.

Yoga Therapist

Kelsey Hargrove, LCMHCS, RYT

Office Coordinator

Destiny Headen

Born and raised in North Carolina, Destiny graduated from North Carolina A&T State University in 2017 with a BA in psychology. She is currently obtaining her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Destiny enjoys reading, listening to and creating music, and spending time with friends and family.

Psychotherapist

Sonia Payerpaj

Sonia Payerpaj is a licensed clinical social work associate (LCSWA) and licensed clinical addictions specialist associate (LCASA), having earned her Master of Social Work and Bachelor of Psychology degrees from UNC Chapel Hill in 2018 and 2022. Sonia has experience working in outpatient, residential, and inpatient levels of care, as well as community mental health settings. Prior to her work at Pasadena Villa, Sonia worked as a Behavioral Health Clinician at Eleanor Health treating substance use and mental health issues. Sonia also completed her clinical internships at Healing Transitions in Raleigh as well as UNC Family Medicine at Chapel Hill, serving in various roles including as a social worker, care manager, and psychotherapist. Sonia also worked as a Therapeutic Assistant/Mental Health Technician at Veritas Collaborative in Durham, serving inpatient, residential, and outpatient clients in recovery from eating disorders and other co-occurring mental health issues.

Sonia utilizes a person-centered approach to meet each client where they are and aims to provide a compassionate, non-judgmental, and safe environment for each client to heal, while using tailored evidence-based interventions and modalities to assist clients in pursuing their treatment goals. Sonia is passionate in forming a therapeutic alliance with each client and using the following evidence-based practices to inform a large majority of her work: trauma-informed care, harm reduction, cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance commitment therapy, motivational interviewing, strength-based therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy. Sonia strongly believes that each client has the capacity to heal in their own unique way, and she is driven to walk alongside clients as they create meaningful and fulfilling lives.

Psychotherapist

Allison Forbes

Allison is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Associate, having earned a Master’s in Social Work at UNC Chapel Hill School of Social Work and a bachelor’s degree at UNC Chapel Hill in Gender and Sexuality Studies. Prior to working at Pasadena Villa, Allison worked with adolescents in partial hospitalization at Bright Path Behavioral Health as an individual, family, and group psychotherapist. Allison specializes in creating engaging group therapy curricula and has special interests in trauma, family systems, and body-based approaches to treatment.