Serving the people of San Francisco since 1998

Welcome!

I have been an active supporter of public service since 1997. I am currently employed as a vocational specialist for the Hyde Street Community Services, a full service partnership that serves the behavioral health needs of the Tenderloin community. I am working on my master's degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in marriage and family therapy at the University of San Francisco and am a certified Drug and Alcohol Counselor through the California Certification Board of Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Counselors. In addtion, I am registered addiction specialist through The Breining Institute. I believe dysfunctional emotions can often be a contributing factor to physical illness and that finding a holistic way to cope with these emotions can lead a person to a state of well being.

The Vocational Center

"Joseph provides both individual and group vocational counseling in this highly challenging environment...[He] is a mature individual with unique and valuable life experiences. In addition to his strong capacity for warmth and empathy, he has an intrinsic curiosity and drive that I believe will be assets to him across his clinical career. These characteristics have enabled him to excel in his position as a vocational counselor, successfully demonstrating the qualities that are so important to clinicians in early stages of training. I am confident in his skills and dedication will provide a firm foundation for him to be successful in his work..." T.R., Psy.D., M.B.A. 2011

Responsible Recovery

"I have had the opportunity to collaborate with Mr. Szlamnik as both a student and as my teaching assistant, and he has distinguished himself as a conscientious and responsible individual. As my TA, Joe was responsible for facilitating student interactions as well as conducting Motivational Interviewing reviews individually and with various groups, and did so with great skill. He is an eager, enthusiastic and committed member of our community as evidenced by his success at identifying his student educational needs and nuturing their contributions. Mr. Szlamnik has the qualities of a natural counselor: genuiness, honesty, respect and compassion. His drive to excel in the field of counseling is equally represented by his educational success..." D.S., MA, CADC II 2011

IN THE NEWS

Talk to Teens About Prescription Drug Use, Pharmacy Students Told

 

Written by Laura Nichols of DemocratandChronicle.com on Dec. 13, 2011

College pharmacy students were urged Monday to educate middle and high school teens about prescription drug abuse.

In a news conference at Pittsford Sutherland High School, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., urged St. John Fisher College's Wegmans School of Pharmacy to consider sending students to schools and teen organizations in the Rochester area.

"Educating today's youth about substance abuse and the dangers of misusing prescription drugs is an initiative that the Wegmans School of Pharmacy fully supports," said Scott Swigart, of the pharmacy school, in an emailed statement. "Our faculty spends a lot of time working with current students on this topic through specific coursework. We look forward to being involved in Senator Schumer's new program."

In a 2009 self-survey of students at 18 Monroe County schools, 10.4 percent of students reported they had used a prescription drug and 9.1 percent had used over-the-counter drugs to get high at some point during their lifetimes...

  • Read More