Mary Baron, LCSW
An author and motivational speaker, Mary brings cutting edge clinical innovations to ODIN.

Education                                                                                    

ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
Bachelor of Arts – Secondary Education/Communication Arts

HEBREW UNION COLLEGE
Master of Jewish Communal Service

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
Master of Social Work

Licensure & Certification                                                             

- Licensed Clinical Social Worker – LCS19224
- Critical Incident Stress Management/Debriefing

Private Practice______                                                                 

1990 - current
Provide psychotherapy for adults and children, individuals, families and couples.  Specialty – short term and crisis interventions, mood disorders and personal self-improvement.

Claremont, California

Current Positions_____                                                                

2004 – current
Executive Director
Odin & Associates, LCSWs, P.C., Monrovia, CA
Senior officer in professional organization which develops personal improvement programs.

Program Manager – Adult Out Patient Systems of Care
[AB2034, Vocational Services, CASC, Emergency Services, ACT, Drug MediCal, Prop. 36, Dual Diagnosis, Homeless Outreach Services]
Oversee staff of approximately 80 and budgets totaling approximately $6.5 million.  Represent the agency at SPA3 meetings.  Represent the agency in workgroups for Prop. 63.  Develop and coordinate delivery of mental health services for poverty level adults suffering from chronic and persistent mental illnesses.  Direct service responsibilities include assessing for level of care and involuntary hospitalization and individual assessment and therapy.

Program Supervisor – Emergency Services/Crisis Stabilization Services
Responsible for two round-the-clock psychiatric emergency programs.  Create and implement services for those programs.  Supervise the Psychiatric Mobile Response Team (PMRT) serving the agency’s three cities and surrounding areas.  Staff the programs; create policies and procedures for them.  Develop community outreach systems to establish partnerships with law enforcement, emergency rooms, schools, and other community entities.  Create demographic reports and billing systems.  Function as a team member within the Specialty Services Department of the agency.  Direct service responsibilities included assessing for level of care and involuntary hospitalization.

Disaster Coordinator
Represent the agency on the countywide State of California Disaster Coordinator response to the mental health needs post disaster. Meet regularly with other county Disaster Coordinators.

In response to the October 1993 wildfires, wrote the FEMA grant and obtained the funding with which the agency provided mental health services for one year to those in the three cities impacted by that disaster.

Professional Experience                                                              

Therapist
Project Tikvah – Los Angeles and surrounding areas
Facilitate workshops designed to teach students, parents and/or teachers of Jewish Day Schools, Jewish High Schools or supplemental after synagogue programs how to recognize and prevent teenage suicide.  Funded by Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist branches of Judaism.

Director of Program Services
Pine Grove Hospital – Canoga Park
Create, implement, and supervise clinical programs for inpatient and partial hospitalization psychiatric patients.  Supervise social service department, therapeutic activity department, partial hospitalization program and transportation department.  Supervise staff of approximately twenty.  Create policies and procedures.  Create competencies.  Manage budget.  Comply with Joint Commission and Medicare standards.  Create documentation and assessment forms.

Therapist
Families In Touch – South Central Los Angeles [A Los Angeles Child Guidance Clinic/Prototypes Collaborative]
Individual psychotherapy, crisis counseling, chemical dependence and substance abuse counseling, psychosocial assessments, coordination of case management and treatment planning for severely emotionally disturbed children and adolescents living in the Jordan-Locke cluster of South Central Los Angeles.  Job functions included psychotherapy in various schools such as Riley High School, 102^nd Street School, 122^nd Street School, and 116^th Street School as well as home visits to Jordan Downs, Nickerson Gardens and other projects and residential areas.  Worked closely with the Department of Mental Health and the Department of Children’s and Family Services to comply with Minute Orders and other court mandates.

Supervisor, Social Work Department
Las Encinas Hospital – Pasadena
Supervise BSW and MSW staff.  Staff social work department.  Maintain billing and payroll

Core Team Member
MediTech Computer Installation
Customize MediTech computer system designed for medical/surgical facility for use in a psychiatric facility.  Teach MediTech system to hospital staff.

Creator/Coordinator – Dual Diagnosis Program
Create, implement and administer a program for acute psychiatric care for in patients suffering from a dual diagnosis of psychiatric disorder and substance abuse/dependence.  Design and facilitate groups.  Administer chemical dependency evaluations.

Field Instructor
Create, coordinate and implement learning opportunities for social work interns.  Facilitate progress meetings and reports with the University of Southern California School of Social Work, the University of California at Los Angeles School of Social Work, and Hebrew Union College School of Jewish Communal Service field liaisons.

Clinical Social Worker
Individual and group psychotherapy, psychosocial assessments, multidisciplinary treatment planning, discharge planning, program development, curriculum development, integrated treatment summaries.  Worked with adolescents, adults and seniors who suffered from general psychiatric disorders, eating disorders and/or chemical dependencies.

Social Work Intern
Beit T’Shuvah
Case management, group and individual psychotherapy and chemical dependence counseling for male residents of the half way house and with inmates of the Los Angeles County jail.

Social Work Intern
Cedars Sinai Medical Center
Psychosocial assessments, case management and individual and/or group psychotherapy for patients suffering from disorders related to chemical dependency or substance abuse.

Social Work Intern
Freda Mohr Multi-Service Center for Seniors
Intakes, psychosocial assessments, individual and group psychotherapy and case management services for elderly residents of the Fairfax area in Los Angeles.

Professional Presentations                                                        

Interrupted Reality:  Working with Individuals in Psychiatric Crisis.  Law Enforcement Training Track.  Presented at the Cultural Competence & Mental Health Summit X, Ontario, California.

Ritual and Rage:  Managing the Today’s Anger.  Presented at the Caring Ministries Assembly, Association of Brethren Caregivers, La Verne, California.

Grief & Loss.  Presented as a ten-week group under the aegis of Congregation Beit Chaim Chadishim, Los Angeles, California.

Suicide Prevention in the College Student Population.  Presented to the Western Hillel Organization.

How to Council College Students.  Presented to the Los Angeles Hillel Council’s Staff Retreat.

The Psychological Needs of College Students. Presented to the Los Angeles Hillel Council’s Staff Retreat.

Depressed College Students and What to do About Them.  Presented to the Western Hillel Organization.

Volunteer Positions                              ______                          

President – Temple Sinai of Glendale
- Executive Director of a non-profit corporation with an annual budget of
approximately $600,000.
- Responsible for both professional staff and volunteers.
- Recruited staff and wrote contracts for same.