About us:
Our Staff
The professional staff have years of experience in teaching, training, consulting and provision of clinical services to youth and families.
Our biggest accomplishment is by far our commitment in creating a caring compassionate work environment that strives to serve families with the utmost respect and regard while maintaining our own wholeheartedness.
Apryl Miller, LCSW
Executive Director
Additionally, she served on faculty for nearly a decade at the College of Santa Fe and has taught as adjunct for various graduate departments in New Mexico. She also has a small private practice and strives to maintain a wholehearted approach in her personal life as well as in her leadership role and clinical practice.
Marisol Peña, LMSW
Associate Director/Staff Therapist
Marisol grew up in Northern New Mexico in the small town of Española. Marisol was surrounded by a community who cared deeply for one another, which inspired her to pursue a degree in Social Work at NM Highlands University in Las Vegas, NM. Upon graduating in 2014 with a Bachelor’s in Social Work, she was hired by The Sky Center to be a Spanish Interpreter for family counseling sessions. She was quickly promoted to Office Manager, supporting day-to-day office procedures and systems and serving as a principal source of information for student trainees and staff on policies, procedures, programs, and office activities. After completing her Master of Clinical Social Work in May of 2022, Marisol accepted a new role as the Associate Director that continues to support the development, implementation, and promotion of The Sky Center’s youth suicide prevention services and direct clinical services to clients.
She is committed to providing mental health services for families and doing her part in filling in the gap of bilingual therapists in New Mexico. In her spare time, she is with her partner and their two border collies Po and Ghost, traveling, reading books, and playing sand volleyball.
Tahoma Wrubleski
Natural Helpers Coordinator
Tahoma became a member of the Sky Center team in early 2021, transitioning in as the new Natural Helpers Coordinator. Previously, Tahoma was working as a wilderness therapy field guide with Open Sky Wilderness Therapy in Colorado and Utah. He is committed to supporting others through the helping professions and is planning to pursue his Master’s degree in Counseling; he will begin his graduate studies in the fall. In his High School years, Tahoma was a part of the Natural Helpers program himself leading him to having a personal connection with and appreciation for this program. Tahoma has a passion for helping others recognize the value they have in this world and how they can share what they have to offer with those around them. In his free time, Tahoma enjoys dance and movement, making art, gardening, and spending time in nature.
Robert Kristy (Bob), MA, LCSW
Adolescent HUGS Coordinator
Bob began his career at The Sky Center as a therapist-intern in 2011. Upon ending his two-year internship, Bob was hired in 2013 as Coordinator of the Adolescent HUGS program, a joint venture between The Sky Center and Christus St. Vincent Hospital that offers wraparound, therapeutic, and non-traditional services to at-risk individuals under the age of 22. In 2015, Bob and Katrina Koehler, Executive Director of Gerard’s House, started Semicolon, a peer teen support group for those met with the challenge of transforming suicidal ideation.
Bob received his BA in political science at UCLA and a MA in political theory at the University of Maryland. Applying his knowledge of social psychology that links individual and social liberation, Bob received his masters in social work (MSW) at New Mexico Highlands University. When not serving the needs of young people and their families, Bob devotes time and energy to baseball, rock n roll, and community activism.
Leah O’Shell
Postvention Team & Gatekeeper Traning Coordinator
Leah is serving on the Sky Center team as the Postvention Team Coordinator. She first began working with the Postvention team as a volunteer in 2017. She is honored to serve the northern New Mexico community in this capacity. As a native of Santa Fe Leah has spent 24 years in education. Her work was focused on working with students in high need, helping to mentor them and assisting them in getting the resources they need. As a Community Resource Coordinator and the Director of Family & Community Engagement for the Santa Fe Public Schools she was able to engage families & support them with resources. Leah graduated from New Mexico Highlands University with a Masters degree in Counseling. She currently works at Kearny Elementary as the school counselor. Her passion is helping families in need and providing a safe place for students to express their emotions and needs.
Maria DeBlassie, BA
Office Assistant/Spanish Interpreter
Maria joined The Sky Center team in the Fall of 2021 as Office Assistant and Spanish Interpreter. She was born in Mexico, married to a New Mexican, and now appreciates the difference between red, green, and Christmas. She is a Certified Legal Interpreter/Translator and can confidently converse in Spanish, French, and Italian. She is a retired teacher with former US, Mexico, and Europe students. She graduated Cum Laude from SHSU with a degree in Communication and a minor in Psychology, which means she is a great communicator and listener. Maria loves to travel, has visited more than ten countries, and enjoys talking about history and 80s music. In her free time, she paints, does furniture restoration while listening to loud music, or is a mom to 2 young ladies, two dogs, and two cats.
The Sky Center Clinical Supervisors
Dennis Bumgarner, LCSW, ACSW
Clinical Supervisor
Dennis has been a clinical supervisor at The Sky Center since 2014. Additionally, he is the Clinical Director at Susan’s Legacy, a nonprofit in Albuquerque. He also maintains a private practice in Placitas, New Mexico. He received his M.S.W. from Indiana University in 1977. In addition to his clinical work, he has taught social work and psychotherapy at Ball State University and Christian Theological Seminary. He is the past president of Habitat for Humanity and Freewheelin’ Community Bikes in Indianapolis. His spare time is spent cycling, mountain biking, and hiking throughout the southwest along with song-writing and playing the guitar.
Claire Pfister, LCSW
Clinical Supervisor
Claire joined the Sky team in 2017 as a clinical supervisor in our family counseling and graduate training program.. She obtained an MSW from the University of Denver in 1991 concentrating in family therapy, child protection, and drug dependency. She then moved to Australia for thirty years. She furthered her family therapy studies there, completing an intensive two year Milan family therapy course through Relationships Australia and then obtaining a two year Graduate diploma in couple and family therapy through the university of New South Wales. For the past twenty-five years she has worked with families and individuals in a variety of settings both urban and rural and with both voluntary and involuntary clients. In her spare time she has been concentrating on her new project of food production at her farm on the outskirts of Santa Fe while also studying Jungian therapy and Kabbalah.
Annai Burrola, LCSW, IMH-E®
Clinical Supervisor/ Trainer
Annai Burrola was born and raised in Santa Fe, New Mexico, by her parents, who are both from Chihuahua, Mexico. Annai is fully bilingual in Spanish and English and has worked with the Santa Fe community in various settings for over ten years. Annai graduated from the Facundo Valdez School of Social Work at New Mexico Highlands University in May 2020 with a Master’s in Clinical Social Work. She is a bilingual therapist with Southwest Family Guidance Center and previously worked with Growing Up NM for seven years.
In the spring of 2020, Annai finished her practicum as a bilingual intern therapist with the Sky Center and was hired as the Development Coordinator. In the Fall of 2021, Annai began to train as a Clinical Supervisor with the Sky Center to help fill the gap for bilingual therapists and supervisors in New Mexico. Outside of work commitments, Annai loves playing soccer and spending time with her dogs and her family.
Carlotta Saiz, LPCC
Clinical Supervisor/ Trainer
Carlotta was born and raised in Santa Fe, NM and is a graduate of Capital High School. She received her Master’s in Counseling from Southwestern College in 2006 and went on to begin her counseling career in community mental health on the west side of Chicago. Her work in Chicago included crisis intervention and stabilization with at-risk youth and their families, and teaching Mental Health First Aid. Carlotta returned to Santa Fe in 2013 where she continued working in community mental health as a therapist and Clinical Supervisor; her work is steeped in family systems and trauma-informed care.
In addition to her role as a Program Director at the Sky Center, Carlotta is in Private Practice where she works with families, couples and individuals. In her spare time, she enjoys Muay Thai boxing, exploring the green thumb she never knew she had in her garden at home, and spending time with friends, family, her dog, Cashew hiking and traveling.
Kevin Kluck, LCSW
Sub Clinical Supervisor/ Trainer
Kevin began his journey with The Sky Center in 2016 as a graduate intern therapist. With his love for the Sky Center, Kevin chose to continue his education there with the post-graduate advanced studies the following year. During this time, Kevin joined the staff to provide Suicide Awareness and Prevention trainings to schools and nonprofits around northern New Mexico. In 2021, Kevin served as an evening supervisor, training graduate interns. He is currently serving as a substitute supervisor and continues to be a trainer in Suicide Prevention and Awareness.
Kevin holds a bachelors and master’s in social work and is a Licensed Clinical Social worker. In his private practice, he specializes working in Family Systems and frequently works with youth and their family providing therapeutic services. In his free time, Kevin loves to explore the streets of Santa Fe and striking up conversations with people who are out and about. Kevin is passionate about The Sky Center and what they have to offer the community.
Spanish Interpreters
Interpreters’ roles at the Sky Center are essential to our free family counseling services.
They interpret for our families to make them feel comfortable expressing themselves in their native language without barriers . Our interpreters want to build bridges and are very passionate working with the Latino community, graduate students and staff.
Lina Chavez de Lara
Maria DeBlassie
