Carson Pitts
Director of Admissions and Outreach
Carson grew up in Charlotte, NC and graduated from Hampden-Sydney College. He has spent many of his summers living and working on the NC Coast. He is also an alumnus of Momentum. Carson’s favorite part of working at Momentum is talking with families, hearing their stories and sharing his experience. He is passionate about helping young men start a healthy fulfilling life. Outside of work Carson loves to play golf and go fishing.
Caitlin Rainwater, LCMHC, LPC, LCAS-A
Clinical Director
Caitlin is a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor with a passion for helping people embrace their authentic self and live life passionately and intentionally. After attending graduate school in Georgia, Caitlin chose Atlanta as her new home where she spent the next 8 years working in a variety of settings treating adolescents and adults with both mental health and substance use disorders. Caitlin found her way back home to NC where she lives with her husband and two children, Navy and Indy. She enjoys creativity, the beach, and almost anything outdoors. She believes that success is helping another human being move closer towards reaching their full potential in life, and hopes each day to make a positive impact on someone’s life.
Jayson Ainsworth, MSW, LCAS
Primary Therapist
Jayson is a native of Wilmington and a has been working in the substance use disorder treatment community since 2016. After graduating from Catawba with a degree in Sociology, Jayson worked at a state-funded addiction treatment program and pursued his CADC, gaining valuable insight into treatment of prolonged and chronic substance misuse. After completing his CADC, Jayson decided to return to school at UNCW and complete the clinical social work master’s program. Influenced by holistic and person-centered treatment approaches, Jayson set his sights on helping his clients expand their connection and contact with others. After graduation, Jayson again felt compelled to serve the population he was passionate about and with whom he identified most closely. While not in the office, you can usually find Jayson spending time with family, surfing, or trying to get lost in the woods.
Jack Gillespie, MSW, CADC
Primary Therapist
Jack, born and raised in New York, and graduated from Elon University in 2015. He moved to New York City after graduation for a brief time before realizing the fast-paced lifestyle did not suit him and relocated to Wilmington in 2017. He has been a part of the Momentum family for over 5 years and is happiest when engaging with clients in an experiential setting. Jack is passionate about helping young adults in recovery find meaning and purpose in their lives. Jack enjoys an active lifestyle spending most of his time surfing, climbing, and biking.
Jared Murray, MBA
Business Development Specialist
Jared Murray is a native of Huntsville, AL. Jared assisted in helping start the Collegiate Recovery Community as one of the first students in that program at The University of Alabama in 2012. After receiving his bachelor’s The University of Alabama in 2014 in Public Relations, he also went on to earn his master’s degree from the Executive MBA program at The University of Alabama. He has devoted his life and career to helping others find the same hope that he has found through his own personal journey in recovery. Jared has served in admissions and business development roles in the treatment field for the past 6 years. His passion is being able to work with young adults and their families and enjoys sharing his own experience. His other hobbies include time with family and their dogs, fly fishing, enjoying the outdoors, and seeing live music.
Kevin Reich
Case Manager
In the suburbs of New York where Kevin was raised, he always struggled to find his place. Struggling with addiction and alcoholism, Kevin moved to the mountains of Arizona at 19. There Kevin fell in love with both the outdoors and his new dog Jasmine, however, he also found that simply changing states and altitudes was unable to solve his problems with drugs and alcohol. After many failed attempts to get sober on his own, Kevin moved to Wilmington and admitted to Momentum Recovery as a client. In our program and in Wilmington as a whole, he found friends and community. This, along with therapy and a little bit of soul searching, was how Kevin began to stay sober, one moment at a time. It is this idea, that community is the answer, that Kevin hopes to share with our clients as a case manager. In his free time, Kevin will do just about anything to stay out of the house. He participates in any rec sports league he can find, chasing long-lost dreams of being a professional athlete, enjoys surfing and tries his best to stay out of people’s waves on the water, and loves going out to eat. He also spends as much time as possible with his perfect dog Jasmine and his ok cat Cloud.
Gabrielle Neal-Barney, MMS, PA-C, CAQ-Psych
Medical Director
Gabrielle is NCCPA board-certified Physician Assistant with a certificate of additional qualifications in psychiatry. She attended undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and graduated Suma Cum Laude from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke with a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry. Gabi, as she is known to friends and family, then obtained her Masters of Medical Science from Methodist University in 2007. She has specialized in psychiatry and addiction medicine for the last decade.
Gabi is a dedicated and passionate psychiatric PA with experience with both inpatient and outpatient settings providing care to a wide variety of mental and behavioral health diagnoses. She has special areas of interest that include substance use disorders, trauma, PTSD, eating disorders, personality disorders, depression, anxiety, and thought disorders.
Gabi has found that maintaining compassion and empathy are keys to connecting and aid in healing. She fully believes that every interaction with a client is an opportunity to make a difference. She strongly believes in balancing and implementing a holistic approach to psychiatric health that includes therapy, exercise, mindfulness practices, meditation, interpersonal relationship work, nutrition, sleep hygiene, and medication management. In her free time, Gabi enjoys spending time with family and friends, being outdoors, and traveling.
Heidi Zeppelin, MSW, LCSW, LCAS
Clinical Supervisor
Heidi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with a passion for trauma treatment. She is originally from New York where she attended Adelphi University and obtained her degrees in Social Work. After graduating, Heidi remained in New York working with adolescents and children in group homes and foster care who were also struggling with substance abuse, trauma, and involved in the juvenile justice system. In 2015, she moved to North Carolina to continue working with young adults and families affected by addiction and has truly enjoyed this rewarding experience. In her free time, (and because self-care is so important), Heidi enjoys exercising, going to the beach, and spending time with her fiancé and their dogs, Buddy & Aussie.
Mary grew up on the coast of South Carolina, attending the University of South Carolina as an undergraduate. She later attended Louisiana State University to complete her master’s degree in social work. Most recently, Mary worked in the mountains of western North Carolina in a variety of substance use and mental health settings. Mary finds value in helping others discover the passion and purpose that drives them, utilizing this discovery process as a compass to guide her client’s therapeutic work. As a former collegiate athlete and personal trainer, movement is a very important part of Mary’s daily life. When she is not at the office, you can likely find Mary going for a run, hanging out on the beach, lifting weights at the gym, or taking her hound dog out for a stroll. Prioritizing these things helps bring balance to her life, and Mary strives to help her clients explore a variety of experiences to allow them to find balance in their own life and recovery.
Nicole Burley
Primary Therapist
Jake Bauer
Resource Manager
Jake was born and raised here in North Carolina. Winston-Salem being his hometown. He struggled with addiction while in college and dropped school altogether. He had several failed attempts at sobriety. After some trauma therapy paired with substance abuse counseling, Jake was able to find a purpose in his life which he had struggled with in the past. After Jake’s most recent rehab he came here to Momentum as a client. Jake was, by far, the staff’s favorite client. While in Momentum he was able to develop important life skills that have helped him thrive here in Wilmington. As a client he found much joy in helping others, especially others in recovery. Upon his graduation, he decided it would best suit him to stick around Momentum as a staff member. Jake is going back to school in hopes of earning a B.A. in Mathematics. He also enjoys playing hockey and golf. He swears up and down that hockey is the greatest sport in the world.
