Northbound Treatment Services

Mike Neatherton is an industry leader with a career spanning more than 30 years. When Mike joined Northbound he immediately began to transform the corporate culture by building on the transformational leadership principles of transparency, authenticity, and collaboration. Mike believes that successful leadership requires not only vision, but the ability to gain the agreement and commitment of all of the other people in the organization. As President and CEO of Northbound, Mike’s passion for treatment is founded upon the belief that all individuals can recover. Mike maintains a solid 12-Step program as the foundation for treatment at Northbound, informing all aspects of treatment, and serving as the core philosophy for the organization. Mike embraces the challenge of providing superior treatment services to the entire family system impacted by drug addiction, alcoholism, and mental illness. He cites his strong spiritual values and the ability to find balance in his personal life as the keys to his professional success. Prior to Northbound, Mike served in various executive positions at the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage California, where he worked for more than 20 years. Mike holds a bachelor’s degree from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a master’s degree from Indiana State University in Terra Haute, Indiana. He is a member of both the American College of Healthcare Executives and the American College of Addiction Treatment Administrators. Mike and his wife, Maria, have 3 daughters, and they reside in Newport Beach, California.

Paul Alexander has been a crucial leader in the development of Northbound, helping to bring to the forefront the center’s strengths. Paul relies on his experience in the leadership of many treatment facilities over the years, especially implementing and running numerous education-based treatment programs. He served as the co-creator and program director of the first treatment program coupling higher education and treatment. With this experience, Paul designed the Sober Academy College Program at Northbound, now the Northbound Academy, which is widely considered the best program of its kind. Paul cites the consistency and spiritual values of Northbound as its strengths, and he sees his contribution as rearticulating these fundamentals. Paul received his Certified Addiction Treatment Specialist training at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, California, and was awarded Outstanding Alumni Service Award in 2002. He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminology, Law and Society, summa cum laude, from the School of Social Ecology at University of California, Irvine. While at UCI, Paul co-authored an honors research thesis: An Evaluation of Addiction Treatment Coupled with Higher Education, which he presented at the 2004 University of California Research Symposium. Paul recently received his Juris Doctorate degree at Loyola Law School of Los Angeles.