Erik Gunderson, MD

Dr. Gunderson is the Director and Founder of the Center for Wellness and Change.

He also is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences and Department of Medicine at the University of Virginia (UVA) School of Medicine. After completing medical school, internal medicine residency, and chief residency at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, he entered an Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Addiction Medicine.  He is a national Lead Mentor through the Providers Clinical Support System for Medication Assisted Treatment of opioid use disorders (https://pcssnow.org). He is a Distinguished Fellow in the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM), and member in the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) and Association for Medical Eduction and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA).

Dr. Gunderson's clinical and research interests have focused on treatment of opioid use disorders, the interface between pain and substance use, integrating alcohol and other substance use disorder screening and intervention in primary care, medical education, and human behavioral psychopharmacology. Between 2003-2008, he was Medical Director of Columbia University's Buprenorphine Program, an outpatient program that specialized in the treatment of opioid use disorders.  Also during this time, he was Medical Director of Columbia's Substance Use Research Center, a human behavioral pharmacology research laboratory. In 2008, he moved to Virginia and became Director of UVA's Clinical Pharmacological Research Unit in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurobehavioral Sciences. From 2008 to 2014 he was Adjunct Associate Research Scientist in the Division on Substance Abuse, Department of Psychiatry, of Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has received federal funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to study the effectiveness of buprenorphine treatment of opioid dependence in primary care, as well U. S. Department of Health and Human Services funding from the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to develop substance use curricula for physicians.

Lisa Christianson, MD

Originally from Northern Virginia, Dr. Lisa Christianson moved to Central Virginia to attend James Madison University in 1991. She went on to earn her medical degree from the University of Virginia (UVA), where she also completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2003. After a brief period in private Ob/Gyn practice, she returned to UVA to pursue a Master’s in Public Health, followed by a residency in Preventive Medicine at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

For the next 18 years, Dr. Christianson cared for students at the UVA Student Health Center, focusing on person-centered gynecology and preventive care. She worked closely with patients managing a wide range of concerns, including contraception, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), eating disorders, chronic pelvic and vulvar pain, female sexual dysfunction, and transgender care. In addition, she also spent several years teaching medical students how to take patient histories and build meaningful connections through effective communication.

After completing a fellowship in Addiction Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, VA, Dr. Christianson joined the Center for Wellness and Change (CWC) in September of 2025. She remains committed to person-centered and holistic care. At CWC, she treats individuals with a wide range of addictions, including substance use disorders like opioids and alcohol, as well as food and gambling addictions. She is also passionate about mental health and works with clients to address mood challenges, support their overall well-being, and connect them with the resources they need to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Dr. Christianson’s favorite part of being a physician is getting to know her patients. She is here to listen to your story, understand your perspectives, and help you reach your goals.

James Clark, MA, CSAC

Jim has served clients in a broad range of treatment settings for mental health and substance use recovery for over 25 years. 

His approach honors and values each individual recovery process. The phrase “less Judgement, more Curiosity” resonates in his engagements with clients. Counseling support sessions reflect upon those goals, and build on the strengths of the person and their natural ability to be in recovery of their true self: the innate and whole nature of the person underlying the damage caused by dependence or misuse of medications and substances. The negative effects of stigma often prevent or hamper people from seeking the help they need. 

A welcoming, and judgement free environment is provided throughout the staff at CWC.  Jim shares those values in his work at the Center. In offering understanding for the underlying dynamics of dependence he employs skill sets based on state-of-the-art practices.Jim has studied the ongoing effects of trauma, and negative life experiences. He offers skills to engage and assist recovery from that legacy. He continues to participate in academic trainings and course work.  He uses experiential trainings to bring the very latest best practices to clients. Among these Evidence -Based modalities are Relapse Prevention exercises, Motivational interviewing, and Wellness Recovery Action Plan (WRAP). Jim has been active in his personal long-term recovery since 1985 and brings understanding and compassion to patients who seek to regain a sense of their innate strengths and capacity for living a fulfilling life, free of the negative effects of substance use. Recovery has often been described as a journey that leads a person back to their authentic self, better able to live a life that is satisfying and rewarding, free of the effects of what has delayed or stalled the journey towards a happy destiny.  

Mark Farrington, CNS, NP

Mark is a psychiatric clinical nurse practitioner with deep knowledge and experience in mental health care spanning over 35 years. Over the last five years, his focus has been on psychedelic mental health care. In this, he combines his prior skills in this powerful new modality.

Mark believes we have an internal source of wisdom that can be accessed and nurtured through psychotherapy, psychedelic medicine, and other practices that connect mind, body, and spirit, such as meditation, yoga, and qigong.

Mark holds the following certifications in Psychedelic medicine:

- Psychedelic Therapies and Research at the California Institute of Integral Studies

- Polaris Insight Center’s Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy Training Program.

- MDMA therapy by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)

Before joining CWC, Mark spent 10 years working with veterans at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Richmond, VA. Prior to that, he founded and managed The Wellness Recovery Center here in Charlottesville. This marked the culmination of his 20 years at Region Ten Community Services. He has extensive experience helping people struggling with depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, trauma, and chronic pain. Recently, he has expanded his work to include end-of-life care.

He has completed training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and is currently enrolled in a year-long professional training program in Compassionate Inquiry, a somatic-based trauma therapy developed from Gabor Mate's work. He has done training as a death doula through The Center for Conscious Living and Dying in Asheville, NC. His psychotherapeutic approach with clients is rooted in compassion, curiosity, and respect. 

Mark holds an M.S. in psychiatric nursing from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Nursing from Eastern Mennonite University.

At the Center for Wellness and Change (CWC), Mark provides Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy and individual therapy. Mark is married to Claudia Sencer, who also offers Ketamine-Assisted Psychotherapy at CWC. They have three children and three grandchildren, and they share a passion for exploring the limits of interpersonal growth, intimacy, vulnerability, and healing. 

Claudia Sencer, NP-CNM, MS

Claudia has focused her work on psychedelic medicine since 2020. She came to psychedelic therapy through the very powerful, though not typical, path of being a nurse-midwife. In attending births, Claudia developed deep skills guiding women to work through the challenges of the intensity of labor and the inevitable emotional blocks that are encountered in the process of birth. Holding space, acknowledging challenges, creating trust, and maintaining safety are some of her hard-won skills. Overall, she brings more than 40 years of clinical experience.

Claudia's therapeutic approach is trauma-informed, culturally sensitive, welcoming, and respectful to all. She is a practitioner of Compassionate Inquiry. This is a newly developed therapeutic approach, created by Gabor Maté. It has been refined into a method by Sat Durham Kaur, N.D., and is an elegantly effective tool for understanding how trauma manifests in our daily lives. It provides clients with effective means of fuller self-understanding and offers possibilities for deep trauma healing. As trauma is the root of much of our personal suffering, this is a remarkably useful therapeutic tool. 

With a deep commitment to creating a safe and accepting presence, Claudia believes in our inherent ability to find healing within. With a supportive and caring intention, she helps guide her clients to explore their inner world through the expanded consciousness experienced with ketamine therapy. Together, these understandings are explored and integrated upon the return to normal consciousness. Claudia holds a strong belief that healing comes from within, when the environment is safe, the time is right, and the intention is clear. 

Claudia Holds Certificates in:

- Psychedelic Therapies and Research from The California Institute of Integral Studies

- Ketamine Therapy from Rainfall Medicine

- MDMA from MAPS: Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies

She holds Degrees from:

-Georgetown University, M.S. Nurse Midwifery

-New York University, B.S. Nursing

-Hamilton College, B.A. Film and Photography

Claudia shares the KAP practice with Mark Farrington, her co-worker and husband. Together, they have three children, three grandchildren, and an abundance of love, learning, and belief in our deep healing potential.