My Services

I provide the following services:

 Substance Abuse Counseling

Those who know, love, or live with substance abuse and /or addiction also live with behaviors that often leave companions, parents or friends frustrated, fearful, angry and too often ill.  Drug users can be extremely secretive about their drug use. Unless it is alcohol and the person has consumed enough to exhibit obvious signs, it can be difficult to determine whether your child, spouse or friend is using certain other drugs. Drug users are often distrustful about what they are doing to obtain and maintain their drug supply.  Again, unless alcohol is the drug of choice, which can be legally purchased and leaves a paper trail, it is difficult to know if a person is acquiring certain other drugs. The underpinnings of these behaviors erode trust and destroy relationships.

The social, emotional, biological and psychological implications of chronic use of mind and mood altering drugs are irrevocable damage to the body and subsequent death.  More importantly, substance abuse and addiction affect the entire family.  It can be said that when an alcoholic or other type of drug addict goes down he/she takes others down with them.   We must consider that alcoholism and addiction to other drugs are commonly discussed as a familial disease that involves the entire family.  Spouses become enablers or codependents.  Children of addicts often develop emotional and psychological difficulties for which many seek help.  Timely intervention is not just necessary but paramount to problem solving and solution for the substance abuser, addict and family.

Knowing when to look, where to look, what to look for and how to look require skills that can be passed on to family members who seek help. Most important is what to do when substance abuse is identified in your family. The mind and mood altering aspects of drugs and drug use related behaviors are two of the most important reasons to seek assistance in your search for answers about your child, companion or friend. (Click here to see my complete Biography.)

I am confident that the Cognitive Therapy approach to certain aspects of substance abuse and addiction is effective in producing evidenced based results. The way we think can be faulty and distorted because experiences that shape our thinking contribute to what we hold to be truths and convictions and thus aid in forming certain realities about ourselves, others and our surroundings. For example, an adult male had recently become 21 years old. He was pulled over by a police officer who asked him if he had been drinking. “Yes,” he answered courteously, then added that he was old enough to drink.  The obvious distortion in thinking in this example is that the legal age to drink does not legally qualify or equip one to drink and drive. There is no age requirement for drinking and driving in America. The officer on the other hand has a sworn duty to protect the public safety and if there was reasonable cause is completely justified.  Learn more about my approach to substance abuse counseling and treatment.  Click here to contact me.

Educational and Special Need Advocacy

No matter which public, private, charter or parochial school your child attends child advocacy is occurring.  In the classroom, after school programs, athletic programs, school clubs and associations and extra-curricular activities programs child advocacy is occurring.  Whether your child is following a regular educational track, accelerated track, intellectually gifted track or intellectually impaired track, child advocacy is occurring in some form.  Students advocate for themselves and other students when problems arise in the classroom. Teachers advocate for students who sign up for extra-curricular activities or are assigned to special educational programs.  Any person who speaks on behalf of another person, argue in defense of another person, or plead in another person’s behalf is an advocate.  However, professional advocates bring special skills to the job of advocacy.

I specialize in Educational Child Advocacy, which always involve the school. I interact with students, school teachers, school principals, superintendents, local school board members and members of the state board of education.  I do not represent students in a court of law or legal hearing but I collaborate with legal counsel on student’s behalf. If necessary, I am equipped to recommend an appropriate attorney.  An effective child advocate does not need to be a lawyer or practice before a bar.

My degrees and career experiences are in fields that provide a better than working knowledge about schools, school children, school policy and regulation, school curricular, organizational hierarchy, and school law. In my opinion, degrees in education or school administration are not required but necessary for mastery.  According to Weinfeld and Davis, “An advocate often is someone who has studied education at the undergraduate and/or graduate level. If he does not have a degree in education, he has taken courses and reviewed the current professional literature to further his knowledge of this field. She also may have developed her skills as a working professional in the field of education, often as a classroom teacher, gifted educator, or special educator.”

Since advocacy work requires many face to face meetings, an effective advocate must be skillful in articulating a child’s needs. The essential aim of child advocacy is to facilitate meeting the child’s needs and educational goals in the best manner for the child. When a school or school system is not providing the necessary educational materials, educational experiences, educational support, and other services: equipment, access to and from educational facilities in the form of ramps, elevators, lifts to include transportation if appropriate, the advocate can be an expert facilitator to insure that all parties have the child’s educational needs and goals in mind.  Child advocacy is an attempt to have all parties in agreement with the expected outcome for the benefit of the child.  In an ideal situation this is mostly true but most advocates will agree, all parties do not always agree on outcome or how to best meet the child’s needs and achieve necessary educational goals.  Educational Advocacy revolves around a core principle; every child has potential and helping each child reach his/her full potential is the law.

Additional services:

•  Substance Abuse Education
•  Drug Counseling
•  Public Speaking

To acquire any of the services mentioned above, click here to contact me by message, or call 703-989-2335 9:00 am – 9:00 pm EST.