About Dr. Jo

I work with professionals navigating the gap between outward success and private struggle—especially when alcohol or substance use has become part of how they manage stress, pressure, or transition.

EXPERIENCE

I bring decades of experience in substance use treatment, mental health, and recovery work, including leadership roles in clinical programming, family services, and intensive treatment settings.

In addition to my clinical background, I have held executive and senior leadership positions responsible for program development, team oversight, and high-stakes decision-making. I understand the level of pressure that comes with being the person others rely on—the responsibility, the visibility, and the expectation to continue performing regardless of what is happening personally.

My work spans psychiatric, non-profit, and private practice environments, giving me a practical understanding of how substance use develops, persists, and changes over time—particularly in high-functioning individuals who are managing significant professional demands.

This perspective allows me to approach the work with both clinical depth and real-world relevance.

PERSPECTIVE

I approach this work from both professional expertise and long-term personal recovery.

I have lived the full range of adult life sober—career growth, leadership roles, stress, celebrations, loss, transitions, relationships, and the everyday realities that don’t pause just because you’ve chosen to change your relationship with alcohol.

That experience matters.

It means I understand not just how substance use is treated, but what it actually takes to build a life that works without relying on alcohol or other maladaptive coping strategies.

Over time, I’ve learned that recovery is not a fixed model. What works at one stage of life may not work at another. The demands, pressures, and context change—and the approach has to evolve with them.

This is why I don’t use a one-size-fits-all framework, either across individuals or within them. The work is responsive to your life, your environment, and the reality of what you’re navigating now.

The result is a process that is not only clinically grounded, but lived, tested, and adaptable.

PHILOSOPHY OF CARE

I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all recovery.

Lasting change is not driven by willpower alone—it is shaped by patterns, environment, and the science of how habits are formed and maintained over time.

Substance use, especially for high-functioning individuals, often develops as an effective solution to real problems: managing stress, creating relief, signaling transition, or sustaining performance. It works—until it doesn’t.

That’s why insight alone is not enough.

Sustainable change requires understanding the role these patterns play and systematically replacing them with alternatives that are just as effective, but no longer carry the same cost.

This work is grounded in the science of habit formation and behavioral change. We focus on identifying the cues, routines, and reinforcements that maintain substance use—and then intentionally redesigning those patterns in a way that fits your life, your environment, and your level of responsibility.

Because your life is not static, this process is not static either.

What works in one season of life may not work in another. Effective treatment adapts as your demands, stressors, and roles evolve—allowing for change that is not only meaningful, but durable.

The goal is not short-term control.
It is building a life where reliance on alcohol or substances is no longer necessary.

HOW I WORK

Therapy is collaborative, direct, and grounded in real-world application.

We focus on:
• understanding patterns, not just symptoms
• building practical strategies, not just awareness
• creating long-term change, not short-term motivation