Our core focus

The foundation of Ceano Health® is firmly rooted in our mission: to alleviate human pain and suffering. 

Our dedicated team of professionals, along with decades of experience within the field of behavioral and mental health, share an unwavering commitment to supporting individuals, families, companies, colleagues, and our community in achieving and maintaining health, wellness, and a more fulfilled life. Our unique and broad network of collaborative partners allow us to create sophisticated clinical and strategic solutions for complex human problems.

Key members

In Loving Memory of our intrepid Visionary

Daniel “Danny” Smith, bs, CIp

Ceano Health® was founded in 2022 by Danny and Melissa Smith with the chosen namesake of the “ceanothus,” a genus of plants native to California that are evergreen, drought-resistant, fire-resistant, germinate by wildfire, and whose seeds can remain viable for hundreds of years. The intention behind this name for our founders and team remains as relevant as ever: for our organization to guide others in their own rebirth and bloom out of trauma and suffering, and to plant seeds of recovery that carry on beyond our years. Ceano Health proudly carries forward our mission with the perennial, immeasurable seeds that Danny planted over his 20+ year career in behavioral healthcare.

  • Danny began his career in 2004. Through his first 10 years on the front line of answering calls within the Admissions departments of highly regarded treatment centers in the United States, Danny helped countless individuals, families, businesses, and loved ones who were in crisis find solutions for treatment and recovery. Danny’s experience and skill in answering and facilitating the calls of those in crisis and seeking help led him to be widely recognized and sought after for training the admissions departments and call centers of treatment organizations around the country. Over the years, Danny developed this experience into a formal training model and guide for colleagues in the field of behavioral health that is now offered through our Ceano Health® event trainings.

    In 2013, Danny began the development of Alchemy Consulting, a concierge Intervention, Care Management, and Consulting group. For the next 9 years, Alchemy Consulting grew to a network of providers and collaborative partners facilitating a wide range of supportive recovery services beyond intervention and care management. Danny had the privilege of being trained and mentored by pioneers in the field of intervention, and through his own experiences and traction developed a comprehensive model of intervention called the Ceano Intervention Model®. This model of intervention utilizes elements of both the Johnson (surprise) model as well as the Invitational, with additional procedures and courses of action that Danny created and incorporated to create flexibility and adaptability throughout the intervention experience, to yield safe and successful outcomes for all those involved.

    In 2022, Danny and his wife Melissa fulfilled their long-time dream of joining forces to create an organization that incorporates their decades of experience working alongside one another in the field. Ceano Health® was born from the foundation of Alchemy Consulting, with additional lines of service added and the onboarding of specialists and leaders in the field of behavioral health.

    Today, Ceano Health proudly honors the memory of Danny Smith in all that we do, planting the seeds of recovery that carry on beyond our years.

Melissa Smith, LCSW

Owner & Chief Clinical Officer

Melissa has been working in the field of behavioral healthcare since 2004. She began her career as a mental health technician within a locked psychiatric hospital in Connecticut, supporting all three units of child and adolescent, adult psychiatric, and detoxification and addiction treatment patients. It was this experience that solidified Melissa's passion for providing compassionate, client-centered care in the mental health, addiction, and co-occurring treatment field. 

After relocating from New York to California in 2005, Melissa served various treatment programs over the years in Los Angeles and San Francisco. Melissa’s roles have included Residential Counselor, Case Manager, Primary Therapist, Program Director, Clinical Director, and ultimately Executive Director for primary mental health and dual-diagnosis residential treatment centers. Melissa has also supported the creation and development of intensive outpatient treatment programs in the Los Angeles area that continue to serve clients and families today.

  • In addition to having a passion for building strong clinical programs, Melissa has done extensive work providing direct client care as a facilitator of individual, group and family therapy. These experiences of providing direct client care as well as program development, program leadership, and clinical supervision have culminated to her role within Ceano Health®.

    Melissa brings to Ceano a thorough understanding of the residential and outpatient treatment space, and the importance of comprehensive collaboration with all members of a client’s sphere of influence – from personal relationships to additional clinical and medical providers, we strive to work collaboratively with all individuals and providers involved in our clients’ care.

    Melissa obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Fairfield University in Connecticut and Master of Social Work (MSW) with a primary focus in mental health and substance use disorders from the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW).

Colin Maher, ma, laDC

Interventionist & Care Manager

Colin has been working in the field of addiction and mental health since 2011. His initial exposure was in the form of volunteering at an Outpatient facility in his hometown of Roanoke, Virginia. It was from this experience that Colin learned of his passion for wanting to help others find their purpose in life and recover.

Upon completion of graduate school in Minnesota, Colin relocated to California and worked for several well-known treatment facilities in Orange County. Colin’s roles have included Primary Counselor and Case Manager, Clinical Director, and Director of Clinical Outreach. Not only does he have considerable experience providing direct client care, but Colin also has extensive experience in program development, clinical leadership, and experiential modalities. 

  • Colin is most proud of the work he has done in providing direct client care and brings to Ceano a strong desire to work collaboratively with “outside the box” thinking. Combining experience working within a structured treatment setting as well as helping clients outside treatment walls in more experiential ways, Colin believes that each client deserves the absolute best care and utilizes Ceano®’s myriad of resources to provide this care.

    “Walking along beside someone that is rediscovering their passions and purpose, finding recovery, and healing from their past is why I do this work. I don’t know of anything that is more rewarding.”

    Colin obtained his Bachelor of Science in Geology from Radford University in Virginia and Master of Addiction Counseling from the Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies in Minnesota. Colin is a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC).

Eli Machen, MA, MSW

Trauma Specialist
Trauma & Intimacy Experiential Workshop Facilitator
Ceano Health Team Wellness Advisor

Eli brings over 46 years of counseling experience to bear with each of his intensives, like a skilled surgeon. Every individual, couple, or group comes with specific needs that require a specific approach tailored to their desired outcome. Eli has the skill to offer that level of rapid therapeutic experience in each intensive he offers. Eli travels nationally and internationally working with clients who are in crisis or in need of rapid intensive intervention in cooperation with the client's referring treatment professional.

Eli utilizes Experiential Therapy in the Intensive work he provides.



  • Experiential therapy is often referred to as action therapy or metaphor therapy. It draws from many disciplines and is eclectic, depending on how the client or situation presents. Often referred to as “show me” therapy rather than “talk” therapy, Eli includes some of those disciplines such as Gestalt, Psychodrama, Motivational Interviewing, Role playing, Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Brain Spotting, hypnotherapy (when indicated), Narrative Therapy and Inner Child Work, as well as others.

    In Process Experiential Psychotherapy, Eli demonstrates this deeply empathic, emotion-focused approach to treatment. In process experiential psychotherapy, Eli works to guide client's affective and cognitive processing of experience using appropriate active interventions that facilitate the resolution of painful emotions.

    This type of therapy is distinguished by its emphasis on action and movement. Movement is important because when a person is bodily engaged, they have access to psychological elements they wouldn’t have access to otherwise. Action can also be a precursor to change—by acting in a new way, a person can think in new ways. This provides an immersive, hands-on form of therapy that uses expressive tools and modalities helping clients explore difficult situations, process emotions, and see things from a different perspective.

    In addition to being a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and providing therapy since 1976, Eli is a Certified Hypnotherapist, EMDR level 2, Brain Spotting Level 2, Certified Experiential Supervisor, and Certified Intensive Trauma Specialist.

Kate Knight, BS

Administrative Manager

Kate has supported executives and clients in an administrative capacity for over 20 years in industries including legal, service, technology, and healthcare. She believes in honest communication and efficiency to facilitate a positive, professional environment. 

A Santa Monica native, Kate has actively volunteered with the Santa Monica Malibu School District for over a decade, implementing parent education and community building events. With a focus on fundraising, she’s worked to ensure equity in education, including serving the community for two years as President of the Parent Teacher Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Kate's passion for supporting families and community is a value match for Ceano Health®, as she utilizes her personal and professional experiences to serve our clients, families, and colleagues with the utmost care and proficiency.

Kate holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.

Ceano®™ [see-AH-no]: 

Derived from ceanothus, a genus of plants native to California that are evergreen, drought-resistant, fire-resistant, germinate by wildfire, and whose seeds can remain viable for hundreds of years.