J. Jason
Wittman, M.P.S.
P.O. Box 6340
North Hollywood, CA 91603
818-980-2929
*LAADC
# LR01700815
*CAADE
#155970-IV
*ICCS
(Internationally Cert. Clinical Supervisor) * MFC Intern #IMF 68241
CAREER
HIGHLIGHTS
-
Experience
as an executive director, therapist, counselor, and life/mentor coach.
-
Worked
extensively with adolescents and adults of many ethnicities.
-
Counseled
in many settings; in clinical settings, on the streets, in jails and prisons
and on the phone.
-
Pioneered
in providing addiction recovery services to both teens and adults.
-
Licensed
Advanced Alcohol Drug Counselor (CCAPP)
-
Certified
Level IV Addictions Counselor (CAADE)
-
Internationally
Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCAPP)
-
Founded
and directed an adult residential addiction recovery agency.
-
Very
familiar with 12 Step Programs.
-
Author
of the autobiographical novel – “The
Street Shrink Chronicles”
-
Coached
and advised business and professional clients.
-
Provided
Online Reputation Marketing services and consultation to local businesses
EDUCATION
-
Cornell
University - B.S.- Business Management
-
Cornell
University - M.P.S. - Counseling Psychology
-
Hypnosis
Training Institute of Los Angeles - Certified Hypnotherapist
-
Grinder-DeLozier Institute, Santa Cruz, CA - Certified Practitioner
of Neuro-Linguistics Programming (NLP)
-
Erickson
College, Vancouver, B.C., Canada - The Art & Science of Coaching
EXPERIENCE
2009
– Present Stage
2 Recovery Counseling & Mentor Coaching Private Practice
-
Known
as “Successful People’s Secret Weapon,” I counsel and coach business and
professional clients, who are recovering from alcoholism and addictions to work
and live at their exquisite best.
-
I
consult with Sober Living and Drug and Alcohol Treatment facilities, writing
the license proposals, designing the elements of a successful program, guiding
the start-up process including hiring of staff and advising on general business
startup concerns.
-
I
coach parents of adolescents and young adults. I am able to put my 35+ years of
experience counseling and coaching teenagers, including raising many foster
teens and an adopted son of my own, to good use by teaching good parenting to
parents who are looking to reconnect with their kids and coaching them through
the process.
-
I
coach creative people in the Entertainment Industries, teaching them
self-confidence and esteem building techniques and advise on career business
matters.
-
I
counsel people in recovery from alcoholism and addictions.
2013-2014 Bridges
Recovery Center Position
– Consultant & Project Developer/manager
Bridges
Recovery Center is a 6 bed, luxury residential drug
and alcohol recovery program. I shepherded the design and development of this
organization from initial concept to a fully functional facility.
-
Rewrote
a rejected licensing proposal
-
Designed
the therapeutic program and staffing requirements
-
Nursed
the application through to acceptance by the State of California
-
Passed
the subsequent on-site inspection with no write-ups and lots of praise from the
State analyst.
-
Adapted
a cloud based clinical note taking and client tracking system
-
Hired
the initial staff
2011
– 2013 Solutions
4 Local Marketing
-
I
provided state of the art Online Reputation Management & Marketing tools
and assistance to local businesses.
-
I
offered Digital Marketing Consulting for Local Businesses making their online
presence the best possible.
-
I
specialized in: Online Reputation Marketing, Mobile SMS Marketing, Customer
Loyalty Programs, & Mobile-friendly Website Design.
2008-2009 Beit
T’Shuvah Residential Rehab
Position: Counselor
-
I
worked for this Jewish, faith-based, residential drug and alcohol program as a counselor,
carrying an active case load of 11 clients.
-
I
was able to use all my experience as a counselor, case manager, social worker,
therapist and a life coach.
-
I
conducted on-going workshops that focused primarily on life skills, and
communication skills, utilizing my skills as an NLP practitioner.
-
I
also facilitated a weekly drum circle for the clients and staff.
1995
- 2008
Los Angeles Youth Supportive Services, Inc. (LAYSS)
Position:
Executive Director
-
I
founded Los Angeles Youth Supportive Services (LAYSS) to meet the continuing
need for direct on-the-streets counseling of at-risk teens and young adults,
14-25.
-
Innovative
programs I developed included:
o
A
client savings plan with the cooperation of a local bank, where over the last
10 years, this account has assisted 40 clients to save more than $90,000.
o
A
life skills learning program so that clients in their first apartment would
have the basic skills for exquisitely dealing with the everyday things of life,
like shopping, cooking, cleaning, bank accounts, credit cards, and calmly
walking through the intricacies of governmental bureaucracies.
o
A
program to train our clients to become production assistants (PAs) in the
entertainment industry, with both book training and actual production work.
o
Developed
a computer training program utilizing both in-person and CD-ROM programs for
instruction.
o
Toll-free
numbers for both our office and cell phones to give clients 24/7 access to our
Counseling On Demand services.
o
Counseled
youth by email and phone, nationwide, that found us via our website.
o
Became
an expert on the CA Medical system so that all our eligible clients have been
able to get expedited enrollment into that system.
-
The
agency used my Counseling On Demand model of providing
services.
o
This
model, involved the professional counseling staff in all aspects of our
services from the initial outreach of new clients to follow on counseling.
o
The
outreach was non-aggressive with the staff hanging out, where potential clients
hang out, and establishing trust and rapport so when there is a need for
counseling, the next conversation becomes therapeutic.
o
Client’s
had 24/7 access to a staff member that they already knew and trusted.
o
With
only one counseling team that I lead, moved an average of 25 adolescents and
young adults a year, from the streets and onto productive lives.
o
More
information about LAYSS is available at http://la-youth.org
1993
- 1995
GLA Social Services, Inc.
West Hollywood, California
Position:
Director, Youth Supportive Services (YSS)
-
YSS
worked with high risk youth, 12 to 24 years old. Services were provided both
conventionally, by social workers working from an office setting and by a
mobile counseling team that counseled street youth in their own environment.
-
I
designed, wrote and received the funding, implemented, and directed this mobile
team that in its first year successfully moved forty-eight youths off the
streets.
-
I
increased the client population from 5 to 80 clients in less than a year. In
addition to my director duties, I carried a full caseload.
-
I
was responsible for providing clinical and administrative direction to the
social work and secretarial staff.
-
I
was the primary author for three funding proposals. I coordinated with other
agencies and the community, as well as, with the HRSA (our federal funding
source) staff.
-
I represented the agency, nationally, at
meetings of associations to which it belonged.
1982
- 1993
The Center for Successful Living
Hollywood, California
Position: Private Practice
-
I
specialized in generative counseling. My approach to counseling included
Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Hypnotherapy, and 12-step counseling.
-
I assisted clients in recovery programs, in
their learning to deal with all the "getting-on-living" issues
(self-confidence, stress, anxiety, co-dependency, relationships, etc.) that
arise after the initial compulsive behaviors were no longer an issue.
-
I
consulted with business executives, advising and coaching them through the
psychological and emotional aspects of their business transactions,
interpersonal and personnel relations and delicate negotiations.
-
I
presented workshops that taught the techniques of NLP to business,
professional, and sales people and also taught a workshop on relationships
called, "Prerequisites for Successful Relationships".
1980
-1982
Arizona Center for Hypnotherapy
Phoenix, Arizona
Position: Hypnotherapist in private practice
-
The
Center was widely advertised, so I had a wide variety of clients, both
adolescent and adult, whose presenting problems covered a wide spectrum,
including self-confidence, stress, anxiety, sexual identity conflicts, and
unwanted habits.
-
I
taught self-hypnosis classes and created and marketed, nationally, a series of
self-hypnosis tapes.
1978
- 1979
West Phoenix Neighborhood Services
National Conference of Christians and Jews, Inc.
Phoenix, Arizona
Position:
Field Coordinator
-
I
supervised the part of this LEAA funded, anti-crime project that provided an
"on-the-street" counseling component to the youths in the target
area, a primarily Mexican/American community.
-
Our
mission was to reach the normally unreachable street kids in their environment
and provide whatever assistance was necessary, be it job or vocational
guidance, crisis counseling, client advocacy, or psychotherapy, to get them to
feel better about themselves and to develop those life-coping skills necessary
for them to stop acting out in self-destructive ways.
-
As
a working supervisor, I carried a caseload and supervised two paraprofessional
counselors. I originally taught them the skills needed to be roving street
counselors.
1978
- 1982
Youth Supportive Services of Phoenix
United Parents & Friends Support Group, Inc.
Phoenix, Arizona
Position:
Founder, Coordinator, Therapist
-
This
project was a voluntary effort by concerned mental health professionals to
provide for the well-being of gay and lesbian youths in the Phoenix
metropolitan area.
-
I worked on-the-streets with young male street
hustlers. Besides general counseling, I assisted them to move into regular,
legitimate-type jobs and, if necessary, into living situations with surrogate
parents.
-
I
coordinated a job referral service and a surrogate parent referral service and
facilitated a youth group for gay and lesbian teenagers.
1975
- 1978
Private, Social Work Practice
Tucson, Arizona
Position:
Therapist
-
I
had a private practice that specialized in working with problem and delinquent
teenagers, adults and adolescents with sexual identity problems, and drug and
alcohol dependent people.
-
I was approved by the Pima County Juvenile
Probation Department to counsel their clients under the Arizona Family
Counseling Act.
1974
- 1975
Give Us A Chance, Inc.
Ithaca, New York
Position:
Founder, Advisor, Therapist
-
This
youth managed, community agency ran the following activities for adolescents:
·
Our
Place - a recreational center for 150 adolescents, provided counseling and
therapy in a non-restrictive environment that was an extension of the
"street" atmosphere.
·
Willing
Workers Maintenance Co., a service business, provided jobs for adolescents and
indirectly prepared them for greater responsibility in future employment.
·
These
innovative programs, which I conceived and implemented, received national
recognition when they were chosen by the National Institute of Drug Abuse as
one of eleven model programs in their National Search for Alterative to Drug
Abuse.
1971
- 1974
Alpha House, Inc.
Ithaca, New York
Position:
Founder, Executive Director, Therapist
-
Feelings-oriented
reality therapy was used to assist the clients in their recovery from
alcoholism and drug addiction at this residential and out-patient, social
model, Therapeutic Community.
-
I
designed the therapy programs and recruited, trained, coordinated, and
evaluated the staff.
-
I
personally led therapy groups, provided individual counseling and coordinated
treatment.
-
As
Executive Director, I fund raised, wrote grant proposals, coordinated with the
community and other agencies, and supervised the administrative and financial
activities.
1968
-1971
Lawrence Wittman & Co.
Copiague, New York
Position:
Facilities Manager
-
I
planned and coordinated all daily production activities, reorganized the work
flow and equipment usage to maximize the efficiency of production, and
supervised the maintenance personnel of this custom molding fiberglass plastics
manufacturer.
1964
- 1968
United States Air Force
Position:
Fuels Management Officer
-
I
commanded a unit of 250 enlisted personnel and was responsible for the
receiving, storage, and distribution of all the petroleum products and the
manufacturing, storage and delivery of liquid oxygen and nitrogen on an Air
Force base. I served both at bases in the United States and in Viet Nam.