Getting to Know the People Behind Your Care One Team Member at a Time
Staff Highlight
Dr. Vladislava Culina, MD
Medical Director | Psychiatry & Addiction Medicine
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What's your name and your role at Beachcomber Recovery?▼
I am Dr. Vladislava Culina, a Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Addiction Medicine specialist. My role as a Medical Director is overseeing all medical aspects of substance use and mental health treatment with an emphasis on delivering high-quality, evidence-based care, developing policies, supervising medical staff (Nurse Practitioners, nurses), providing guidance on care delivery and proper documentation, and handling complex patient cases.
How long have you worked with Beachcomber?▼
I have been a Medical Director at the Beachcomber Recovery since 2018 when I started this journey as an attending psychiatrist and medical director at Fort Lauderdale HIOP/IOP program, to eventually become a medical director at Residential program and lastly participated in the development and leadership of HIOP at Boynton Beach location.
What’s your favorite pastime outside of work?▼
Despite a busy schedule of a medical professional, I try to maintain my hobbies and interests whenever time allows. I love cooking traditional food from my country of origin (former Yugoslavia), gardening, painting (oil on canvas), walking, traveling and spending time with my family.
What do you love most about working at Beachcomber Recovery?▼
Working at the Beachcomber has been a long-lasting and fulfilling experience. It has been promoting a sense of belonging to a great community of professionals who share the same goal of providing high standard, supportive and empathic care, while reinforcing accountability and development of personal growth.
What’s one thing you wish more people knew about recovery or supporting loved ones in recovery?▼
The number of our alumni is proof that a journey of recovery and supporting loved ones in recovery is a valuable and life-changing process which our team at Beachcomber provides. The Beachcomber has been serving those in need of help with substance use and mental health for fifty years, which reflects its incomparable values.
Tell us about the moment you arrived; what brought you here, and what were your first impressions of the place and the people who welcomed you.
I started work at the Beachcomber by working with Jim the first year it was open-1976 and doing Saturday morning group with him. Jim and Ann, and Ann’s 3 sons, greeted me warmly and were welcoming. In the second year, I started full time. I was always impressed with Jim’s concern with helping people get sober and to help them to stay sober.
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What is one memory from your time at Beachcomber that you’ll carry with you forever?▼
Whether it was a conversation, a breakthrough, a quiet moment by the beach, or something that made you laugh; we’d love to hear what stays with you.
My memories of the Beachcomber were always the feelings of unity amongst the staff and the feeling of concern for the clients. That attitude was consistent throughout the years I worked here.
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Who or what at Beachcomber made the biggest impact on your journey?▼
This could be a staff member, a fellow client, a program, a daily ritual, or simply the environment itself. What touched you most deeply?
Jim Bryan made the biggest impact on me, and his attitude and dedication carried me through all the years I worked in the addiction business.
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How has your life changed since your time at Beachcomber?▼
We celebrate every milestone, big and small. Share a piece of your story; where you were, where you are now, and what that means to you.
It gave me the foundation for my attitudes of being a part of the solution to recovery and not to be a part of the obstacle to recovery.
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What would you say to someone who is considering coming to Beachcomber for the first time?▼
If you could speak directly to someone standing at the same crossroads you once stood at, what would you want them to know?
