Here is a little about me as I join the team at Life Recovery Consulting.
In 2013, earned my Bachelor of Science in Social Work from the University of Kansas. Currently, I am a graduate student in the social work program at Park, because of the clinical focus on behavioral health with a sub-concentration in military social work. I began my career in 1993, teaching independent living skills to individuals with various developmental disabilities, especially autism, in a variety of settings.
In 2010, I began working as an advocate & youth specialist with an agency that was sub-contracted by Vocational Rehabilitation to provide services as an employment specialist in MO. In that position, I was helping individuals who were referred with a disability or who completed a program for substance use disorders to obtain and maintain competitive employment.
Agency services I provided in KS included: providing case management and crisis intervention services; teaching interns NASW code of ethics and the SSA ticket-to-work program; performing community-based job assessments and train new job coaches. I worked with individuals who were from re-entry programs, on probation and struggling to maintain sobriety.
I found the more I worked with veterans and their families, the more I understood the importance of ACES and observed the correlation between PTSD, trauma and higher rates of struggles with addiction. The area of substance use disorders seemed to exhibit great need, and I wanted to help in supporting the entire family in the recovery process. As I complete my Master’s degree, I am also completing my National Certification for Addiction Counselor Level II. I will offer case management, and individual sessions with holistic modalities at a reduced sliding scale and weekly free groups will be offered to the community related to addictions. In addition to a 12-step model, I will offer meetings following the SMART model of recovery which is endorsed by SAMHSA to individuals and families.