Raymond S. Estefania, MS, LMHC, CAP, ICADC

Mr. Ray Estefania is the owner/Executive Director of Family Recovery Specialists, PA a treatment program and consulting practice for addiction and mental health issues. He is the former Director of South Miami Hospital's Adolescent Addiction Treatment Program. He has been working in the field of addiction treatment for nearly 20 years and was formerly the Adolescent Program Supervisor at Suburban Hospital's Addiction Treatment Center in Bethesda, Maryland. He has worked extensively with adolescents, adults and the family members who have been affected by the disease of alcohol and drug addiction.

Mr. Estefania earned his undergraduate degree in Psychology from the University of Florida and his graduate degree in Mental Health Counseling from Nova Southeastern University. He is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and a Certified Addiction Professional in the state of Florida. In addition, he has received extensive training and supervision in Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) at the University of Miami's Center for Treatment Research on Adolescent Drug Abuse (CTRADA).

Over the span of his career, Mr. Estefania has also been very involved in the prevention of substance abuse in children. He has organized and implemented numerous substance abuse prevention programs in both public and private schools in the Washington D.C. and South Florida regions. He has acted as a consultant to numerous independent schools to address the issue of student alcohol and substance abuse. He has coached thousands of parents on ways to prevent and respond to substance abuse in children. Mr. Estefania is also in private practice in the South Miami area providing psychotherapy and parent effectiveness training as well as intervention and placement services to adults, adolescents and families.

He is a member in good standing of the American Counseling Association (ACA), the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) and the National Association of Therapeutic Schools and Programs (NATSAP). Recently, he was selected to be a member of the City of South Miami's Drug Free Coalition. In addition, he has now been selected to serve on the Board of Directors of Informed Families, The Florida Family Partnership. Mr. Estefania is a frequent speaker to schools, parent groups and community organizations and has been a guest on both radio and television programs on various topics including substance abuse prevention, parenting, addiction and recovery.