Our Team
Patrick Balsley
Patrick is the Founder of Sana Counseling. He is a North Carolina Addiction Specialist Professional Practice Board Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and has been working with families affected by substance use for over a decade.
He currently serves on the Behavioral Health Committee at Atrium Health Foundation and on the Advisory Board of For Students, a non-profit organization that helps schools facilitate essential conversations around mental health. He is on the Board of Directors of both, Emerald School of Excellence, the Carolina’s first Recovery High School, and Pivot Point WNC, a non-profit in Asheville, NC, that offers therapeutic wilderness experiences for at-risk youth.
In 2022, Patrick saw a need in the Charlotte community for a high-end recovery residence for men. Soon thereafter in early 2023, Sana House was born. Sana House is a recovery residence and community for men 18 and up that provides mentoring and 24/7 individualized recovery support with the purpose of bringing recovery to life through community. It has a maximum capacity of only 5 men. All medical and clinical services are delivered by some of the most well-respected practitioners in the region and this intimate group is supported by several incredible partners in the Charlotte community. Learn more about Sana House and their community partners here.
Boyce Smith
Boyce Smith is a dynamic and passionate clinician, trainer, educator, and leader with over a decade of experience working with individuals and families seeking help for substance use, mental health and intellectual and developmental challenges.
Boyce is a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor Associate, Certified Clinical Supervisor, Nationally Certified Counselor, Masters Addiction Counselor, Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor and Internationally Certified Clinical Supervisor.
He has served in both supervisor and director roles over the course of his career and believes we all deserve to be heard and feel validated in safe non-judgmental space. He loves to empower his clients to draw upon their natural strengths and skills and to develop a plan of action so that growth, recovery, and life fulfillment can occur.
Boyce’s areas of expertise include substance use, trauma, mood/anxiety concerns, grief/loss, relationship issues, gender and sexual identity, non-monogamous and polyamorous couples, LGBTQI+ individuals, men’s issues, anger management, ADHD/ADD, and depression. He also offers counselor continuing education training and clinical supervision for counselors seeking substance use state licensure and/or certification (CADC, LCAS, CCS).
Boyce currently lives in Concord, NC and enjoys spending time with family, friends and his two dogs.
Dr. Dyrk Halstead
Dr. Dyrk Halstead (‘Doc’) has been a practicing Emergency Medicine physician for the past 35 years, directing several Emergency departments in the middle TN area before graciously joining the Sana team as a Wellness Coach in late 2022.
In 2021, ‘Doc’ expanded his expertise and completed a year and a half understudy with Dr. Gabor Mate in Compassionate Inquiry, a healing approach developed by Mate to address mental health challenges. While Halstead has focused on trauma-informed modalities, he utilizes his considerable experience with attachment theory, Jungian and Myers-Briggs Personality theory and the neurophysiologic basis of behavior to help clients on their journey to overall wellness.
Dr. Halstead aims to bring together his extensive medical background and knowledge of trauma-informed approaches to forge a unique and personalized experience for his clients-joining them wherever they are on their journey.
In his spare time, Doc enjoys tending his orchids and working with exotic and rare woods.
Brandon Robinson
Brandon Robinson has been working in the Addiction Recovery field for over 20 years. He is originally from Detroit, MI and has been living in NC since 2003.
Brandon is a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist, Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, and Certified Clinical Supervisor.
Brandon joined the Sana team in late 2022 in order to conduct highly structured clinical interventions for families seeking help for their loved ones.
Brandon is passionate about working with clients with substance use and co-occurring disorders and has worked in supervisor and director roles throughout his extensive career. Most notably, between 2012 and 2019, Brandon was the Clinical Director for Wake County Drug Treatment Court, where Brandon helped integrate policies on harm reduction approaches into the criminal justice system.
Overall, Brandon is a reasonable and laid-back person, other than his delusional belief that each year he feels the Detroit Tigers baseball team will make it to the World Series.
Peta Thompson
Peta Thompson RYT 200 (she/her/) is an Australian-Canadian Registered Yoga Teacher based out of British Columbia, Canada. She is certified in Meditation, Pranayama (Breath Work), Yin Yoga, SUP Yoga and has completed various Trauma-Informed Practitioner programs including the Compassionate Inquiry Program for professionals, developed by Dr. Gabor Mate.
Peta offers her services as a Yoga Teacher and Wellness Coach with expertise on the nervous system, addiction, emotional triggers and dysfunctional patterns.
When Peta was 17 years old, she joined the Australian Army, followed by a decade working as a Professional Skydiving Instructor doing over 4,000 jumps. During this time she lived her life in a state of hyperarousal and worked through some of her own alcohol dependency and depressive states, eventually leading her to find the Yogic path.
Peta offers 1:1 Wellness Coaching sessions, group coaching sessions and workshops, private and public yoga, meditation and breathwork classes with a focus on getting into the body and opening to the discomfort that holds the key to our own healing.