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Meet The Team
DR. RHONDA G. PATRICK LCSW-S, MPA
Director
Dr. Rhonda G. Patrick, LCSW-S, MPA has been a professional social worker, entrepreneur, researcher, and social service innovator for 30 years. Dr. Patrick began her social work vocation and business career at age 18 working across many types of social service settings, in a variety of positions, with a diverse demography. The last 20 years of her career has been focused in addictions, specifically in the opioid use. Over the course of the last 20 years Dr. Patrick has been a therapist, clinical administrator, chief executive officer and the owner of several addiction focused organizations.
Additionally, Dr. Patrick has been an educator at a tier one university, a mentor to new social workers and addiction counselors, and a quality of life researcher. Her educational path has followed her career path, and culminated in a Ph.D. in 2018. Dr. Patrick is the director of the Addiction Research Collective. Her research has included longitudinal studies measuring the effectiveness of selective prevention programs with indigenous youth on the Ysleta reservation, effectiveness of harm reduction methods mitigating addiction, and the quality of life of persons prescribed medication maintenance for opioid use disorder. Dr. Patrick is currently the founder and director of BHC Training and IAE, educating over 97,000 addiction professional to date.
MELANIE J MCDOWELL
M.Ed
Admissions Coordinator
About IAE
History Philosophy
Institute for Addiction Education in an online career school offering a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor (LCDC) Training Program and addiction seminar training programs. The founder of Institute for Addiction Education is Dr. Rhonda G. Patrick. Dr. Patrick is a leader and innovator in the addiction industry. She has founded several prevention, intervention, treatment and recovery programs in Texas and throughout the United States. In addition to the Institute for Addiction Education, Dr. Patrick operates one of the largest professional development and training companies in Texas, with a focus on the addiction-helping professional. It is through her work in both of these arenas, as well as the changing demography of the workforce, that Dr. Patrick founded Institute for Addiction Education. The philosophy of Institute for Addiction Education is simple: the skills needed to treat addiction are rarely taught in the academic world. And there is movement on neither state nor local college levels to develop an addiction specific training tract within the Psychology or Counseling programs. So, while many students study in accredited institutions, there is limited focused study on addiction. Since addiction-induced illnesses are the 3rd leading causes of death in the United States, trained, licensed, and practicing addiction professionals are in great demand. Institute for Addiction Education seeks to fill that demand with professionals who can effectively address the needs of those struggling with the disease of addiction.
MELANIE MCDOWELL
M.Ed.
Admissions Coordinator
Melanie McDowell is the co-founder of IAE, she brings over 50 year of educational experience to the college. Melanie completed her Bachelors and Master in Education from New Mexico State University in 1980, teaching in K-12 and community college education for much of her career. Her teaching/instructional focus is on vocation education, specifically preparing persons with intellectually and developmentally disabilities for independent living and the workforce. Melanie is a successful and exceptional vocational planner and will be an asset to IAE students as they prepare for a long career as a helping professional.
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