Case Manager · Certified Recovery Specialist · BASW Candidate
Steady, on purpose.
I work at the intersection of behavioral health, faith, and lived experience — training to become a licensed clinical social worker while practicing the same principle I bring to every client: stabilize before you accelerate.
About
Why this work, and why me.
I came to social work the way a lot of the best clinicians do — from the inside of the system, not just the outside of a textbook. I'm a Black, gay, Christian man; a person in long-term recovery from substance use disorder; the adult child of a family shaped by addiction and poverty; a returning adult learner and first-generation college completer. I hold a Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) credential and work full-time as a Case Manager at a faith-based treatment facility, while completing my BASW at Millersville University on the path toward an MSW, LCSW licensure, and — eventually — private clinical practice in Atlanta.
None of those identities sit in isolation, and I don't practice as if they do. The people I serve are often navigating the same intersections I have: trauma, addiction, faith communities that weren't always safe, and systems that respond to fragments of a person instead of the whole. I bring both a clinician's training and a survivor's fluency to that work — and I take the responsibility of holding both seriously.
Approach
How I think about the work.
Every case, every relationship, and every stage of my own training follows the same sequence. Systems tend to fail people by responding to fragments — a diagnosis, a relapse, a crisis — instead of the whole person underneath. I try to build in the opposite order.
Safety
Establish physical and emotional safety before anything else is possible.
Trust
Build a relationship sturdy enough to hold honesty.
Disclosure
Create room for the real story, at the person's own pace.
Root Cause Work
Address what's underneath — not just what's presenting.
Governing principle
Stabilize before accelerating. It's the same instruction I give clients in early recovery, the same discipline I apply to my own academic pace, and the same caution I'd want any clinician to hold: growth that skips stabilization doesn't hold.
Writing
Notes from the work, in progress.
I'm currently writing a longer manuscript about survival, faith, recovery, and identity — it isn't finished, so I won't be sharing details until it's ready. In the meantime, this is where I'll publish shorter reflections as they're written.
On being a Wounded Healer
Coming soonStabilize before you accelerate
Coming soonFaith, community, and the parts I had to hold alone
Coming soonWant to know when something new is posted? Reach out and I'll let you know directly — there's no mailing list yet.
Research
Academic work.
Selected papers and projects from my BASW coursework at Millersville University — work that connects social work theory to practice with the populations I'm training to serve.
Career Thesis: The Wounded Healer in Practice
Coming soonPositionality Statement
Coming soonApplying the Phenomenological Lifeworld to Case Management
Coming soonJourney
Where I am, and where I'm headed.
Experience & Credential
Case Manager & Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS)
Providing case management and peer recovery support in a faith-based residential treatment setting, working directly with clients navigating substance use disorder, trauma, and reentry into stable life.
In progress · Fall 2026
BASW, Millersville University
Completing my Bachelor of Social Work on an accelerated online track.
Next
MSW & Supervised Licensure Hours
Advancing toward a Master of Social Work and the supervised hours required for clinical licensure.
Goal
LCSW & Private Practice
Launching a private clinical practice grounded in trauma-informed, faith-integrated care.
Contact
Let's talk.
I'm currently accepting clients for Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) support through my PA Certification Board credential, and I'm open to professional connections, speaking opportunities, and conversations about the work. This site does not offer clinical therapy or crisis services.