Sunflower Wellness Retreat

Maria Ortiz-Towner is a Licensed Clinical Marriage and Family Therapist as well as a Licensed Clinical Addiction Counselor. She has been in the addiction field doing inpatient and outpatient treatment since 1999. She has worked with adolescents, adult and families during this time. Maria started out early in her career as an Intensive Supervision Officer for adults in Johnson, Wyandotte and Sedgwick Counties. While doing this she realized that the majority of her clients were engaging in criminal activity in order to support their ever growing alcohol and drug habits. It was at that point that she decided to work on her Masters degree in Marriage and Family therapy. Shortly after graduation she went to work at Hutchinson Maximum Correctional Facility to do therapy with Sexual Offenders. Once again alcohol and drug addiction played a major role in these offenders acting out behaviors. As a result she tested out for her licensed clinical addiction counselor license and began to work in the addiction field. Maria went to work originally in an outpatient substance abuse program as the director of adolescent services. From there she opened up her own private private practice where she worked with individuals and families that suffered from both addiction and other mental health issues. After moving back to the Kansas City area Maria has worked at two different adult outpatient substance abuse treatment programs. While in these positions she has developed the treatment programs both in English and in Spanish. While here at Sunflower Wellness Retreat as the Lead Counselor she is reviewing and adding to an already excellent treatment program adding value to each and every session so as to insure that the clients are receiving the latest and best treatment information and therapy.

Tara N. Haddon received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Kansas State University. During this time, she specialized and participated in behavioral neuroscience research examining the effects of amphetamine on c-fos levels in the brain’s reward pathway and locomotor sensitivity as well as the effects enrichment during childhood and adulthood has on amphetamine induced hyperactivity. After graduating with her undergraduate degree, Ms. Haddon continued her education, attaining her Master’s Degree in Social Work at Washburn University. She is currently licensed with the BSRB as a Licensed Specialist Clinical Social Worker and a Licensed Addiction Counselor. She began working in Community Mental Health specializing in Personality Disorders, Anxiety Disorders, Mood Disorders, Substance Abuse Disorders, and Crisis Intervention. Ms. Haddon also has extensive experience in the corrections setting working with adult and juvenile sex offenders as well as independent private practice experience working with an array of clients with various issues. She has worked with adults, adolescents, children, couples, families, and clients with Severe and Persistent Mental Illness. When working with clients, Ms. Haddon takes into consideration each of her client’s specific wants and needs, incorporating a therapeutic approach that best fits the client. She is experienced at utilizing the approaches of: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Solution-Focused Brief Therapy, Reality Therapy, Family-Systems Therapy, and Person-Centered Therapy.