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our staff
Tom Nemat
CEO
Tom Nemat is the CEO at South Coast Counseling. In addition, Tom is a Co-CEO of Beginnings who provides inpatient and outpatient services to individuals and families suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues.
Tom was the founding CEO of a company and helped grow the company from Startup to a 100-employee multi-location, multi-million revenue company from 2015 to 2019. Tom is currently in a Co-CEO role within the company as well as a Shareholder and member of the Board of Directors. Tom is the founder and practicing attorney at the Law Firm of Tom Nemat. Tom advises clients on estate planning, trust administration, probate, and asset protection in his law practice. Tom has been practicing law for over 10 years and has been repeatedly named a Rising Star in Southern California by Super Lawyer Magazine, a highly respected honor that only 2.5% of attorneys under the age of 40 receive.
Before practicing law and pursuing entrepreneurship, Tom earned his J.D. from Loyola Law School in Los Angeles with an emphasis on corporate law. Before law school, Tom graduated from the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. At Berkeley, Tom was involved in several consulting and entrepreneurial activities in conjunction with his business courses, including Technology Entrepreneurship and Strategic Planning/Consulting.
Our Staff
Joe Milligan
CFO
Joe Milligan is the CFO at South Coast Counseling. Joe is also a Co-CEO of Beginnings which provides inpatient and outpatient services to individuals and families suffering from substance abuse and mental health issues.
Allyson Pelletier
Clinical Director, LMFT
Allyson, our Clinical Director, pursued her education at Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, California, where she completed her Undergraduate and Masters degree. Allyson's academic journey led her to earn a degree in Sociology, followed by a Masters in Clinical Psychology. With a solid foundation in her field, she has dedicated herself to this profession for the past seven years.
Allyson's driving force lies in her deep passion for aiding individuals in overcoming personal traumas and guiding them toward healing and recovery, enabling them to discover their true selves. She finds inspiration in a quote by Carl Jung, which profoundly states, "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate." This quote fuels her commitment to empower others in unraveling their unconscious patterns and taking control of their lives.
Katie Scheu
Director of Admissions
Originally from Wisconsin, Katie moved here in February 2020. She has been personally affected by addiction and has made it her mission to help others find a better way to live. Katie has a passion for helping others overcome the disease of addiction and helping others see how much more beautiful life can be without drugs and alcohol.
Lawrence V. Tucker
Medical Director
Rank E3 | United States Marine Corps (ret.)
1986 to 1991
Lawrence Tucker, M.D., is a Diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Medicine, practicing pharmacological management of psychiatric disorders and addiction medicine. Dr. Tucker attended UCLA for his undergraduate degree, where he obtained a B.S. in Physiological Sciences. He then attended UCLA School of Medicine for his Medical Degree and stayed at UCLA for his residency in Psychiatry and Neurology. Dr. Tucker feels most accomplished with his blended family of 5 children and his wife. Dr. Tucker has had extensive experience within the county of Los Angeles department of mental health and jail systems, State mental health systems and the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, as well as in the Federal Veterans Administration Medical Center, where he established the first suboxone clinic within the VA system nationwide. In addition, Dr. Tucker has a private practice in Newport Beach, CA.
His paradigm of treatment is that he, “Treats a person, Not a Diagnosis”. He uses a holistic model and incorporates sobriety, exercise, diet, therapy, supplements, and psychopharmacological therapies. He is a nationally recognized speaker regarding the treatment of dual diagnoses.
