Karen Zazzera DBH, LPC, BRI-II
Dr. Karen Zazzera is the founder of Scottsdale Intervention. She has worked as a professional in the addiction treatment industry since 1995 in residential, inpatient, outpatient, and private practice environments. Her passion for healing addiction began with her own recovery and has grown into a quest to provide those seeking healing from addiction and other behavioral health problems with the best available treatment. For this reason, she continues to learn and educate others about the most current and effective methods, while discouraging people from being allured by the latest “quick fix” on the market.
Grounded firmly in the science of addiction recovery, Karen is a sought after lecturer and author. She holds a Doctor of Behavioral Health degree from Arizona State University, she is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of Arizona, and an internationally Board Registered Interventionist. She is a board member for the Association of Intervention Specialists, and the Vice President for the International Interventionists Credentialing Board. In addition to specialty training in alcohol and drug treatment, she has been trained and certified as a Certified Sex Addiction Therapist, and a Certified Compulsive Gambling Counselor. She truly is an expert at helping people heal from addiction and other behavioral health problems.
Karen’s Mission
In July of 1994 life as I knew it changed. That was the day I “reluctantly” admitted that I needed help. My drug and alcohol use had beaten me and robbed me of meaningful relationships with my family, the ability to fulfill work responsibilities and obligations, positive social interaction, hobbies and interests, material things, and most importantly my dignity and self respect. I was a slave to my addiction.
While my family watched me self-destruct, I felt tremendous guilt and shame about what I knew they saw. But I was unable to do anything about it. I know now that my brain had been “hijacked” by addiction rendering me powerless to help myself. In the end, it was the love and concern of my family that got me into recovery. They did not give up on me, and for that I am forever grateful.
Prior to recovery I did not know that there was a better way to live. When I got into recovery from my addiction I was overwhelmed with hope. I wanted to shout from the rooftop to all my addicted friends, ” You can be free!”
That continues to be my message today. Based on my personal experience with recovery from active addiction and what I have learned by studying and treating addiction for many years, I know that addiction is a brain disease that can be arrested, forever.
Addiction not only destroys the lives of addicts. Family members can be just as devastated by this family systemic disease. My focus is to help addicts and families find peace and dignity – to go on to live healthy, happy, and productive lives.
My expertise extends beyond addiction, to a rich understanding of the underlying issues of poor self esteem, negative self image, resentment, lack of self confidence, feeling disconnected from others, lack of motivation, and the loss of a sense of meaning in one’s life that plague so many people. This understanding allows me to successfully help people who do not have addiction problems, but experience depression, anxiety, history of past trauma, fatigue, and chronic pain.
My message is HOPE! No matter what stage of recovery or “pre-recovery” you or your loved one is in – I want to help you move toward health and freedom.
Professional Credentials
- Board Registered Interventionist II (BRI-II)
- Membership Chairperson, Association of Intervention Specialists – (AIS) Board of Directors
- Full Member of the Association of Intervention Specialists (AIS)
- Vice President of the Board of Directors for the International Interventionists Credentialing Board (IICB)
- Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC)
- Trained and Certified as a Compulsive Gambling Counselor (CCGC)
- Trained and Certified as a Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT)
- Doctor of Behavioral Health Degree (DBH), 2010, Arizona State University
- Master of Counseling Degree (MC), 1999, University of Phoenix
- Bachelor of Science Degree, Health Care Administration, 1988, Idaho State University
Yes! There is hope. You can be free from addiction, forever.
Bill Ryan BRI-I, RAS, CRC
Bill Ryan has been involved in the field of chemical dependence both professionally and personally for over 30 years. Since 1977 when Billy, as his friends call him, began his own personal healing, he has helped carry the message of recovery to countless people around the world through public speaking, seminars, workshops and written publications. .Bill’s personal story appears in a twelve step recovery book with more than seven million copies in circulation in 36 different countries around the world. He is often invited to speak in the US and internationally at conventions in front of audiences ranging from 350 to 7000 people.
Bill spent many years as an executive with an international leading company in the golf industry. His unique combination of personal experience with successful recovery from addiction and his many years as an executive in the corporate environment make him especially well suited to facilitate professional workplace interventions. He resides in Arizona.
Bill’s Message
Through my own personal challenges with substance abuse and in witnessing many close loved ones and friends succumb to the disease of addiction I know first hand that addiction is progressive and incurable; and is more powerful than any human being; it will end one’s life prematurely if appropriate action is not taken. The good news is that this disease is 100% treatable. Recovery is a process often spearheaded by a professional intervention either by a family or a workplace. Addressing it early and aggressively allows for the best possible chance of recovery. I consider it an honor to guide a family or a group of concerned others through the intervention process; walk with the addict through the doors of a treatment facility and into his/her new life: and coach the family and the addict throughout the recovery process.
Addiction is a lifelong disease that tells us we don’t have a disease. This is why the addict will often say “I can do it on my own, it’s your problem not mine, I can handle it, you don’t understand”. This is also what we refer to as the insanity of addiction. When in the grips of addiction the addict’s brain has been hijacked and his thinking and behavior is clearly not rational or sane. Everybody can see it, but the addict. I define insanity as “having a way out and not taking it”. We want to offer “a way out” to as many addicts as we can; No addict need die without having the chance to recover. My personal mission is to continue to reach as many addicts as I can.
At Scottsdale Intervention we believe that early detection, intervention on the addictive system, referral to the most clinically appropriate primary treatment facility, and ongoing 12 step support for addicts and family members is the recipe for disarming the disease of addiction.
Professional Credentials:
- Board Registered Interventionist (BRI-I)
- Full member of the Association of Intervention Specialists (AIS)
- Registered Addictions Specialist (RAS)
- Certified Recovery Coach (CRC)
- Member of the American Counseling Association (ACA)
- Member of the Board of Directors for the Foundation for Recovery
- Board Advisor for the Merritt Center for Individual & Group Empowerment