Team Showcase

Stephen Boyarsky – Brother Stevie B. helps clients develop a healthy relationship with God through spiritual counseling and extensive knowledge of God’s word. Brother Stevie B. is the Ministry Leader of the Recovery Bible Study of Ft. Lauderdale. (recoverybiblestudy.org) Stevie believes he is blessed to be the Ministry Leader of Celebrate Recovery, in Dania, Fl.

Doctor Valdivia is an experimented Psychiatrist with more than 35 years of experience. He completed 4 years of Residency in General Psychiatry and Subspecialty in Geriatric Psychiatry ( July 1980- June 1984 ) at the University of Miami. Degree of Licensure in Medicine and Surgery with Grade of Excellence at University of Salamanca, Spain  ( March 1980 ) and he completed a Fellowship in General Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Medical Center ( July 1983-October 1985 ).

John Charos grew up in Queens, New York John struggled with drug addiction for many years. Now with over 20 years in the South Florida recovery community, John has devoted a large part of his life helping young men overcome the same addictions he struggled with for so long. John keeps recovery and his relationship with God first in his life and is eager to help patients reach a happy and joyous recovery.

Mark is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor, Certified Addiction Professional and Qualified Supervisor. Mark has over 20 years of counseling experience working with diverse populations including at risk youth, juvenile delinquents, and over the past several years, he has worked exclusively in adult substance abuse treatment. He has worked as a Primary Therapist, and Clinical Director at various treatment centers.

Mark employs an empathic and motivational approach to working with clients. Mark utilizes personal knowledge from being in recovery himself to connect with clients. Mark likes to develop understanding and connection with what each client is struggling with as they progress in treatment.

Mark is well versed in cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational enhancement, but also uses a variety of other interventions to keep clients engaged and active in their own treatment. Mark is particularly gifted at recognizing the barriers and challenges or early recovery and his mission is to aid all clients to negotiate the physical, emotional, and psychological hardships that present as each client is working through these challenges.

Mark is also a proponent of aiding clients to develop better help seeking skills with the knowledge that being vulnerable, asking for, and receiving help in positive ways starts in treatment, but needs to expand during and after treatment so that clients can begin to thrive again and live rich and full lives.

As Director of Operations for JC’s Recovery Center Jackie brings over 20 years’ experience working in the Healthcare field. Along with her experience in operations, leadership, and management, Jackie is emotionally invested in helping others. She enjoys seeing the transformation in the clients during their time with us and sharing her own personal recovery experience with them. Her ability to manage multiple functions of our program ensures that our clients receive the best possible care during their treatment with us. Her upbeat personality helps to instill a positive outlook for our clients and their recovery, showing them that through a change of heart and habits, recovery is possible.

Patty Charos is our Intake Coordinator and handles all our Human Resource responsibilities. During the intake process Patty establishes a relationship with the new client and explains our Christian and Spiritual approach with God and how our IOP Program works. Patty works with clients and their families for guidance with financial and insurance verification.

Stephen Jackson, CAP, BHT, CRRA has been in the recovery community in South Florida for the past seven years. He has worked as a behavior health technician and in housing management for the past six years. He has a passion for helping others. He demonstrations this passion on a daily basis by helping the newcomer who is just getting started in recovery process. He makes himself completely available 24 hours a day for his staff and takes pride in his working relationships.

Allison Konovalova is dedicated to helping others struggling with addiction and mental illness. She provides crisis counseling, individual counseling, couples counseling, family, and group therapy. Allison focuses on treating substance abuse and mental health issues in the context of family systems theory; as well as using cognitive behavioral, narrative, reality, structural, and eclectic therapy approaches. She holds a Master’s Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and is a member of the AAMFT.

With 13 years in recovery, Jordan Wiener has been working in the field of substance abuse and mental health for over 8 years. Jordan has his Masters Degree from FIU obtained in 2010, and is recognized by the State of Florida as a Certified Addiction Professional. Jordan is a proud father to his 7 year old son Michael, and gets joy and great reward from helping the alcoholic/addict in need. Having gotten clean and sober 10/07/2006 from a near life ending “last run”, Jordan knows all too well the importance of building a strong recovery foundation and support network and maintaining strong relapse prevention skills while keeping his faith a top priority 1 day at a time.

Dori comes to us with over 30 years of experience in the Behavioral Health Field. Dori has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology which she received from Malone University. In addition, Dori a Master of Science Degree in Varying Exceptionalities from Nova Southeastern University. Dori has worked with diverse populations including children and adults with autism as well as various learning and behavioral disorders. Dori has worked in the substance abuse field for the past 15 years where she has worked with dually-diagnosed adults in various settings including a faith-based homeless shelter and traditional treatment centers

Dori has a strong background in applied behavioral analysis as well as Motivational Enhancement Therapy. Dori also is highly skilled at teaching clients coping skills including anger management and self-calming skills. Dori utilizes a variety of techniques to engage clients and help them increase their motivation for long-term recovery

Mark works in business development at JC’s Recovery Center. His responsibilities include working with other centers to find each patient the care that will best meet their needs on an individual basis. He also acts as an advocate for current patients, and helps them with questions and concerns during their stay at our center.

Tony works as an admissions coordinator at JC’s Recovery Center. He works with people who are currently struggling with drug and alcohol addiction and provides information on beginning the process of detox and treatment. He also acts as an advocate for current patients, and helps answer questions and address concerns during their stay with us.

Brandon Hammer started working at JC’s Recovery a few years ago as a Housing Manager where he developed and sharpened the skills needed to help people struggling with addiction. Now, as an Office and Case Manager in our Treatment Center, Brandon specializes in building rapport with the clients and providing peer mentorship. Brandon is passionate about assisting clients and their families based on a spiritual approach to help guide them through the recovery process. Being an active member of both the AA and CR community. He believes, through the 12 steps and a personal relationship with God, each client can learn to use their greatest struggles and turn them into their greatest strengths. His ability to organize and multitask while applying his experience and compassion to every situation, proves to be effective when establishing relationships and making a positive difference while encouraging those that are struggling in the shadows to step out into the light.

Katherine Townsend is a Social worker and recovery advocate. Katherine started her journey in recovery April 21, 2011. This led her to pursue a passion to help others and serve her community. Katherine Graduated Magna Cum Lade from Florida Atlantic University in 2015. She then went on to pursue a Graduate degree and was accepted into the advance standing program at FAU where she Obtained her Masters of Social Work in 2019. During this time, Katherine as held many different roles in the substance abuse field. Working as a case manager and admissions coordinator for the first 4 years of her career, later transitioning to group therapist and then a primary therapist in the last 3 years. Katherine is determined to extinguish the epidemic of substance use disorder that is plaguing our country. She has now shifted her focus to use her personal and professional experience to reach those suffering on a larger scale. As the community outreach specialist Katherine is dedicated to connecting JC’s Recovery to churches, organizations, counseling centers and businesses nationwide. Her goal to spread the message of healing that happens at JC’s Recovery on National Level. In addition to community outreach, Katherine also manages JC’S social media and alumni outreach. Outside of JC’S Recovery, Katherine owns a life coaching company, is a mother, fitness enthusiast and lover of all things chocolate.