About the Founders

Where Collaboration Begins:
Dr. Charles Marshall and Dr. Shlomit Gross first began to work together in 1985 at the Adolescent Recovery Center, a residential treatment facility in Marin General Hospital. They assessed adolescents with psychological and behavioral problems and chemical abuse and dependency issues, and treated troubled teens with chemical abuse and dependency issues. Dr. Gross supervised and ran the family therapy program and Dr. Marshall served the program in many capacities. Together they also led multi-family group therapy.

Identifying the Need:
In private practice, Drs. Marshall and Gross found that they were working with teens returning from residential therapeutic programs who were struggling to reintegrate themselves and their newly learned attitudes and behaviors into their communities and families. These teens were experiencing isolation and difficulties which sometimes threatened their abilities to establish new, positive behaviors. They were struggling to find new ways to relate to old environments and friends. Their families were also trying to cope with new challenges.

Finding the Solution:
Drs. Gross and Marshall decided to design a program which would bridge the transition from residential treatment centers to these teens’ homes and communities, and called this innovative program Back on Track.

Back on Track helps to preserve the wonderful work accomplished during the teens’ therapeutic residential experiences by offering an outpatient aftercare program that provides the structure and support needed to make lasting changes in the teens’ behavior and, at the same time, restore the family.

In addition to being Co-Directors of Back on Track, Dr. Marshall and Dr. Gross each have private practices in the Bay Area. They have over 50 combined years of experience treating adolescents and their families.

Dr. Shlomit Gross

Dr. Gross earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California Graduate School of Marital and Family Therapy (now Agrosy University’s College of Psychology and Behavioral Science). She subsequently served on their faculty.

Dr. Gross began her clinical experience in 1973 in the army as a counselor for soldiers and their families. Her 32 years of experience with adolescents and their families includes work at:

• The Institute for the Art of Living, San Francisco, California, a day treatment program for adolescents and their families;
• Marshall Hale Memorial Hospital, San Francisco, California, an inpatient program for chemically dependent adolescents.
• The Adolescent Recovery Center, of Marin General Hospital, Greenbrae, California, an inpatient program for chemically dependent teens. Dr. Gross supervised and ran the family program, where she met and worked with Dr. Charles Marshall.

She is licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist. She has maintained a private practice since 1983, seeing individuals, couples, families and children.

Dr. Charles Marshall

Dr. Charles Marshall’s clinical experiences began after graduating from Boston College in 1974. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA.

His professional experience working with adolescents and families includes:

• The OMI Family Center in San Francisco, CA
• The Adolescent Recovery Center at Marin General Hospital in Greenbrae, CA. While there, Dr Marshall held several positions, including Program Director, Clinical Director, and Family Therapy Coordinator.
• Sobriety High School (now Phoenix Academy) in San Rafael, CA where he was the Clinical Supervisor.

In addition, Dr. Marshall has consulted with Kaiser South San Francisco in the development of their Adolescent Drug and Alcohol Treatment program and is a visiting lecturer at the University of California San Francisco in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the Psychotherapy with Adolescents seminar. He is a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked in private practice with individuals, couples, families and children since 1990.