Once Mahar is licensed by the state Board of Nursing as a Psychiatrist Nurse Practitioner, she will be able to prescribe controlled substances for psychiatric purposes as part of the substance abuse and mental health services delivered at Mayo. Mahar works directly with Richard "Chip" Wallingford III, M.D., a board-certified staff psychiatrist, to provide psychiatric medication management and supportive therapy for adults over the age of 18.

Mahar earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Husson College in 1995, and has worked since then as a community health nurse, nurse educator, nurse therapist and nursing supervisor. She added a Master of Science in Psychiatric Nursing from Husson in 2004, and has been licensed as an Advanced Practice Registered Nurse and a Clinical Nurse Specialist. She is board certified in Adult Psychiatric and Mental Health.

Other recent changes to the Counseling Program's staff include the addition of two new counselors: Karen Staffeld, LCSW, and Heidi Aunins, LCPC.

Staffeld is a licensed clinical social worker who has relocated to Mayo from Bronx, N.Y. She has over 20 years of counseling experience. Staffeld earned her Master of Social Work degree from the Hunter College School of Social Work in New York City, and has a B.A. from Skidmore College.

Aunins is a licensed clinical professional counselor who has worked as a mental health clinician in Maine since 1997. She has B.A. and Masters of Education degrees from St. Mary's University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and received her Masters of Counseling from the University of Maine.

Mayo's Counseling Program is directed by John Spieker. Other staff include Allen Drucker, a clinical professional counselor; Joel Makowski, a clinical social worker; Renee Tash, alcohol and drug counselor; and secretaries Tammi Boyce and Becca Noonan.

Besides providing substance abuse and mental health services on the Mayo Regional Hospital campus in Dover-Foxcroft, Counseling Program staff have regularly scheduled outreach to patients at Dexter Internal Medicine, Guilford Medical Associates and Milo Family Practice medical offices.

Patients seeking Counseling Program appointments may call the program office at 564-4276.