Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

Ramsen Kasha, MBA, MS, CADC, LCPC, has been in the field of addiction treatment and mental health for over 15 years and with the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation since 2005. During his tenure, Ramsen has worked as a counselor in the structured recovery housing, supervised the intake department, and served as the clinical director. In 2013, he assumed his current role as executive director. Ramsen is a licensed clinical professional counselor and a certified alcohol and drug abuse counselor in the state of Illinois. He holds dual undergraduate degrees in psychology and sociology and has a master in human services counseling with professional graduate certificates in addictions counseling and employee assistance counseling from National Louis University. He also obtained an MBA in Healthcare administration from the University of Phoenix. Ramsen has presented at conferences and in the media on a wide variety of topics, including: Motivational Interviewing; Differences Between the Coaching Model and Counseling; The Growth of Opioid Use in America; and Trends in Drug Use and Addictions Treatment.

Robert Carty, LCSW, CADC, CCJP, for more than 35 years, has served in the addictions treatment profession in various roles - counselor, supervisor, trainer, author, mentor, board member and administrator. This included more than a decade of coordinating an accredited training program in Chicago to prepare individuals to become addictions counselors. During this time, he co-wrote a book with William White and others entitled The Training Life. From 1998 to 2003, he worked as a Deputy Director of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities, designing and implementing programs to help parolees from the Illinois Department of Corrections sustain drug-free and crime-free lives in their communities across the state. Later, Bob developed Partnerships in Clinical Training and Consultation (PCTC), providing consulting services to recovery-based programs spanning the country from New England to Alaska. The key focus of this technical assistance was on Recovery Management principles, such as peer-based, recovery support and recovery-oriented systems of care. In 2011, the Illinois Certification Board named him the "Professional of the Year" for his service to this field. Following his PCTC years, he was the Program Coordinator of Harborview Recovery Center, a hospital-based treatment program. In August, 2015, he was extremely pleased to join the team at the Chicago facility of Hazelden Betty Ford as its Director of Clinical Services. Throughout his career, Bob has sought to help clients to initiate sustainable recovery and to help clinicians to provide high-quality services.