About Bridge Counseling Services
Bridge Counseling Associates is a 501(c) 3 nonprofit organization that has been in operation since 1971.
Who We Are
Bridge Counseling Associates, founded in 1971, is the oldest non profit providing individual and family counseling in Southern Nevada. We work with individuals, families, courts and various community service programs to help individuals remain independent and families stay together.
Our leadership team consists of individuals highly experienced in the non profit arena, specifically in behavioral health services.
Bridge's highly trained professionals include licensed marriage and family therapists, clinical professional counselors and licensed substance abuse counselors who can address co-occurring mental health and addiction needs.
We are a certified training program for several universities for students earning their Master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, as well as Clinical Professional Counseling.
David Robeck, President/CEO
David Robeck is President/CEO of Bridge Counseling in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since October 2014, David Robeck has led Nevada’s oldest behavioral health agency. By changing its focus from primarily substance abuse counseling to mental health and co-occurring treatment, Robeck succeeded in making Bridge one of the nation’s first (and Nevada’s only) urban Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHC).
He expanded his clinical staff from 11 to 50 dual-licensed clinicians and added an on-site psychiatrist and psychiatric nurse practitioner. Bridge has now become the largest behavioral health nonprofit in the state with two Southern Nevada campuses (both CCBHC designated) and offering statewide treatment via HIPAA compliant Telehealth.
Robeck is passionate about providing exceptional behavioral health treatment to individuals, families, and children. He was re-elected Co-Chair of the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Agency (SAPTA) Advisory Board and under his leadership, Bridge received the Angel Award as Nonprofit Company of the Year.
He is a lifelong resident of Southern Nevada, excluding four years when he served as a Peace Corps Volunteer and development banker in post-Soviet Russia. Robeck has been a single father for over 20 years, having adopted and raised four special needs sons. He is the author of “Will Work For... The Untold Stories of Homelessness,” (click to purchase) a nonfiction book about poverty and homelessness. Robeck was a commercial banker for 25 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and an MBA from UNLV.
Merlelynn Harris, M.S., MFT, Clinical Director Emeritus
Propelled by a competitive spirit and a strong motivation to help the underserved, Merlelynn Harris has served as Bridge Counseling’s clinical director since 2015. In her current role as clinical director emeritus, she is an integral part of the leadership team and focuses on direct supervision and clinical leadership development.
Harris, who played basketball for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas Lady Rebels basketball team, earned a bachelor of science degree in psychology (pre-med) and master of science in counseling (marriage and family therapy) at UNLV. She was a member of the Canadian national basketball team from 1985 until 1996, when she competed in her last Olympics. She also played professionally in Europe and in the WNBA.
Harris is former president of the Nevada Association of Marriage and Family Therapy and has served on that board since 2009. She is also a clinical fellow and approved supervisor for the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors.
She teaches clinicians throughout the Southern Nevada community and credits her experience on the basketball court for her perspective on team building and leadership development. She is proud of the multidisciplinary team of professionals she leads at Bridge.
“I have a huge passion for the underserved population, but we set a standard for not only the underserved but for everybody in the state of Nevada,” says Harris.
Dan Ficalora, M.A., Clinical Director
Dan Ficalora is a native of southern Nevada and a graduate of Green Valley High School. After completing his undergraduate education at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and graduate studies at Boston College, he returned to Las Vegas to begin his clinical practice. Ficalora is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor (LCPC) and Licensed Clinical Alcohol & Drug Counselor (LCADC) in Nevada, as well as a state approved supervisor for alcohol and drug counseling interns. In his clinical work, he utilizes cognitive behavioral, psychodynamic, and EMDR modalities in the treatment of issues specific to adolescent & adult men, mood & anxiety disorders, complex trauma, co-occurring disorders, and long-term recovery from substance use.
Ficalora joined Bridge in 2015 as a staff therapist and has worked in a variety of roles, supervising the U.S. Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Probation programs and later leading the intensive outpatient program (IOP). In 2019, he helped establish a second Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) at the newest Bridge location and was subsequently promoted to clinical program manager, before advancing to assistant clinical director in early 2021. In December 2021, he was promoted to clinical director.
He has served on the executive board for the Nevada Counseling Association since 2019, and in 2021, received a gubernatorial appointment for a four-year term as a member of the Nevada Commission on Behavioral Health. He has been married to his wife Melissa since 2017 and they welcomed their daughter Marley Jane in 2020.