Who We Are

About Us

TCAF’s philosophy is that impaired mental healthcare providers are a unique population and as such, clearly-developed, unique protocols for education, evaluation, rehabilitation, and monitoring will best serve this population and ensure long term success in “recovery.”  We are an organization of Psychologists who are well-equipped to provide assistance to our colleagues.

The co-founder of TCAF, Dr. Brian Wind, serves as the TCAF Director of Services.  Dr. Wind has extensive experience in the areas of addiction/recovery, professional impairment, and professional monitoring.  Dr. Wind has several TCAF Associate Directors strategically placed in each of the three grand divisions of the state of Tennessee – East, Middle, and West.

TCAF has also gathered a pool of invaluable resources from all over the country to provide education, evaluation, and treatment services to those referred to our organization, and each of these organizations has a focus on addressing the specific needs of impaired professionals.

Executive Director

Our History

Board of Directors

Our Leadership

Executive Director

Brian Wind

Brian Wind

Executive Director

Brian M. Wind, PhD, SPE

Born and raised in Richmond, VA, Dr. Brian Wind earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Virginia, and a Master’s degree in clinical psychology at Middle Tennessee State University. He obtained a PhD in clinical psychology from Palo Alto University in Palo Alto, California. He completed post-doctoral training in the fields of Sleep Disorders and Behavioral Medicine, and for many years served as the Director of Clinical Sleep Medicine at a large interdisciplinary sleep disorders practice with multiple locations around Nashville, TN. Dr. Wind holds a board certification in Behavioral Sleep Medicine from the American Board of Sleep Medicine, and is a contracted speaker in the neuroscience/insomnia division of Merck and Company Pharmaceuticals.
Since the beginning of his career, Dr. Wind has also specialized in the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of addiction. In 2014, he launched NOVOS Behavioral Health Solutions, LLC, a clinical consulting company with an emphasis on the treatment of addiction, as well as the three “pillars of health” – sleep, nutrition, and exercise. In this position, Dr. Wind served as a clinical consultant with multiple healthcare facilities, and developed innovative healthcare related software applications. Dr. Wind has served as co-chair of the American Psychological Association’s Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance, with an emphasis on furthering the national movement of professional wellness. He holds the position of Executive Director of the Tennessee Colleague Assistance Foundation, Tennessee’s state-contracted peer support program for mental healthcare providers, in addition to serving as an adjunct faculty member in Vanderbilt University’s Department of Psychology. Since 2015, Dr. Wind has been with JourneyPure, a company specializing in the treatment of addiction and co-occurring mental health disorders, where he serves in the role of Chief Clinical Officer. He continues to serve in that role with Regard Recovery, JourneyPure’s new parent company. Dr. Wind currently lives outside of Nashville, TN with his son, and spends his free time enjoying music, golf, reading, and travelling.

Our Expert Team

Board of Directors

John Averitt, Ph.D.

Clinical Psychologist,
Private Practice,
Cookeville, TN

Steven Bruehl, Ph.D.

Clinical Psychology Faculty,
Vanderbilt University
Nashville, TN

George Davis, JD, Ph.D.

Director of Quality Assurance
Attorney and Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice,
Nashville, TN

Michael Floyd, Ed.D.

Professor, Department of Family Medicine
East Tennessee State University
Johnson City, TN

Murphy Thomas, Ph.D.

Board Chair, TCAF
Clinical Psychologist,
Private Practice,
Murfreesboro, TN

Brian M. Wind, Ph.D.

Executive Director, TCAF
Chief Clinical Officer, JourneyPure
Brentwood, TN

How We Began

Our History

Throughout TCAF’s process of developing our charter, mission statement, by-laws, policies/procedures, and monitoring protocols, we relied heavily on the support and guidance of some of the most highly respected psychologists and legal counsel in the state of Tennessee. The Tennessee Psychological Association (TPA) played an integral role in helping to guide our foundation’s development. Many of our members were involved with the development and operation of the TPA’s Colleague Assistance Committee (CAC), which provided assistance to impaired psychologists and licensed psychological examiners for almost 20 years.

The TCAF was designed to replace the CAC, which did not have a formal relationship with the Tennessee Board of Examiners (BOE) in Psychology. A monograph by the Advisory Committee on Colleague Assistance* (ACCA) of the American Psychological Association (APA) asserts that the most effective colleague assistance programs result from collaboration between state psychology associations and licensing boards. In keeping with this idea, the TCAF was developed in conjunction with TPA to have a formal relationship with the Tennessee BOE.

The TCAF’s program is modeled after proven, successful colleague assistance programs, and is ran by highly competent providers with experience in the field of professional impairment. Additionally, the TCAF utilizes monitoring tools that have heretofore been excluded from other similar organizations. The TCAF has consulted with some of the top experts in the country in multiple areas (e.g., boundary violations in professional psychology practice) to assist with developing concise, tailored protocols for monitoring mental healthcare professionals struggling with specific issues.