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