Founder and Staff
Pete Nielsen, Founder
Mr. Nielsen is currently working for Willingness To Change as a Substance Abuse Professional and Family Recovery Specialist/Interventionist. Mr. Nielsen provides alcohol and other drug education, counseling, coaching, interventions, Department of Transportation Substance Abuse Professional assessments and workshops/trainings for drug and alcohol professionals. He also teaches at Intercoast Colleges in their alcohol
and drug counseling studies.
Mr. Nielsen holds an Associates degree in human services (counseling) and a Bachelors degree in business management. He is also a Certified Recovery Program Manager and a Certified Addiction Specialist. As well as being a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor-II and Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.
Mr. Nielsen has been on the Board of California Association of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Counselors (CAADAC) since 2007. He also has served on the board of a local chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI) as well as serving on several non-profit boards. He founded Willingness To Change, a 501(c) 3 public nonprofit which, is committed to helping individuals and families improve their quality of life by addressing addiction and its related problems. Mr. Nielsen is a member of California Association of Marriage Family Therapists (CAMF) and Addiction Professionals Network (www.addictionprofessionals.ning.com). Mr. Nielsen has volunteered his time to train inmates in Solano and San Quintin State Prisons to become addiction counselors in prison. He also donates his time to help CAADAC region 5 put on CAADAC written test preparation workshops.
He has worked in residential and outpatient programs as an Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) counselor for 12 years. Over many years he has worked with a diverse clientèle, including adults, criminal justice clients, clients with co-occurring disorders, and adolescents. Additionally, he designed and implemented progressive treatment policies, practices, and philosophies in many different modalities, including, but not limited to, Co-Occurring Disorders Treatment Facility, Detoxification, Intensive Outpatient Counseling, and Day Treatment Center.
Mr. Nielsen also does consulting with AOD programs on such subjects as drug-free work place, CARF accreditation, AOD program design, state certification and licensing, staff development, clinical supervision, program management, leadership, insurance management, marketing, and public relations.
Mr. Nielsen has published numerous articles on subjects such as the family and addiction, intervention, counselor development, industry issues and leadership. He has been published in CAADAC Freedom, Counselor Magazine, California Together, The Therapist, and Addiction Professional Magazine.
He is a well known trainer. He has been doing trainings for CAADAC and has presented at several conferences. He does many specialized trainings for specialized credentials and endorsements such as the Certified Criminal Justice Professional (CCJP), Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS), and Womens’ Treatment Specialist Endorsement. He has a successful IC&RC test preparation, and CAADAC orals program. He has been hailed as a dynamic and creative presenter.
Mr. Nielsen believes the client comes first. He is dedicated to teaching and developing counselors to respectfully and appropriately treat clients with the disease of addiction. He believes that he is not better than any client, just in a different position. He believes in the power of purpose, meaning, and hope to facilitate change in individuals, communities and families Mr. Nielsen is a proponent of addiction treatment mostly because he feels it is pertinent to be a part of the solution, and not a part of the problem. Mr. Nielsen loves his career and enjoys being a part of something that has a positive impact on individuals, the community, and society.
Jeff Cox, Recovery Coach and Family Recovery Specialist
Jeff Cox is a consultant in the fields of non-profit business organization and chemical dependency treatment. He successfully co-founded and later directed The Gates Recovery Foundation, a public benefit 501c3 corporation, starting with one transitional home and a $20,000 annual budget in 1994 to a highly regarded and community oriented nonprofit corporation with 45 employees at nine facilities and an annual budget of $2,000,000 by 2007, while obtaining the highest level of accreditation and certifications for medically managed detoxification, residential treatment, and outpatient programs with a total of 81 beds in Northern California. The Foundation under his direction maintained an average ratio of 20% administration costs to 80% of all income benefiting the various programs.
Mr. Cox is proud to have been selected to participate in the Sacramento Nonprofit Resource Center’s CEO-link program in 2005. This program, limited to 16 participants each year, is an intensive ten-month program designed for the already experienced Executive Director to provide the seasoned nonprofit leader with courses to strengthen and expand their management and leadership skills, facilitated and mentored by experts in the various areas of nonprofit management.
“It is widely believed that nonprofit organizations don’t generally deal with commodities, but I believe that statement to be misinformed. We, in the nonprofit sector, offer the commodities of dedication and hard work – but no less important is the commodity of integrity, which we must always maintain in principle and in practice. It is essential that we absolutely avoid any perception, real or implied, of shoddy business practices. We must remain totally transparent to the public at all times. Ours is an implicit agreement with our communities based on trust and our stewardship of the public’s voluntary goodwill. If we can show results – if we can demonstrate that their contributions result in real change – then our communities will always support us and we will always have the tools we need to get the job done.” – Jeff Cox
Gaye Wilson, Hypnotherapist and Substance Abuse Couselor
* Registered Nurse since 1972
* Masters Degree in Parent-Child Nursing since 1978
* Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist
(CCHT) since 1997
* Reiki Master Healer
since 1997
* Presenter: ACHE International Hypnotherapy Conference in Glendale, CA
Gaye has been a registered nurse since 1972; earning her master’s degree in nursing in 1978. In her healing practice she has combined her experience as a parent-child clinical nurse specialist with intensive training in diet and nutrition, hypnotherapy and the martial arts to create a unique and powerful approach to health and well-being. It all began when…
In 1987 Gaye took a 60-hour intensive training with Covert Bailey and became certified by him to teach the Fit or Fat System of fitness and nutrition education. She has extensive experience in group programs as well as individual counseling and incorporates the good science she learned from this creative teacher into her hypnotherapy weight control program to this day.
Gaye began her training in the martial arts in 1988; she earned her first degree Black Belt in Tang Soo Do Karate in 1991 and her 2nd degree in 1995 (thank you Masters Waller and Luna!). She started her own school for adults and children and taught from 1994-1999; her children, Rachel and Ben, were her co-instructors for part of that time. Personal discipline, improved concentration, and physical fitness were just a few of the many benefits Gaye experienced and promoted through her own training and that of her students.
After completing 250 hours of lecture, demonstration and experiential course work at the Hypnotherapy Training Institute (Santa Rosa, CA) under the expert tutelage of beloved instructors Marleen Mulder, Randal Churchill, and Ormond McGill, Gaye earned the title of “hypnotherapist”; after 50 more hours of training and education she was awarded the title of “clinical hypnotherapist”. She began practicing hypnotherapy upon graduation and has been in private practice ever since (September 1996).
The following year (1997) Gaye was attuned to the three levels of Reiki healing by her dear friend and Reiki mentor, Lynda Marinics. Gaye immediately incorporated the wonderful and powerful principles of this beautiful modality into her hypnotherapy practice and continues to do so to this day.
That same year (1997) Gaye was introduced to an energetic psychology process called EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), developed by a most gifted healer/teacher, Gary Craig. This process, too, Gaye immediately felt to be a most advantageous adjunct to her hypnotherapy practice and began utilizing it right away. Soon after, along with a group of other practitioners of the process, some changes were made in the execution of the technique (some tapping points were changed/eliminated), thus Gaye was reluctant to call her technique “EFT” per se. She also combined this new version of EFT with the work of Dr. Larry Nims–Be Set Free Fast–to become what she now calls her two-phased process of Emotional Balancing.
Most recently, in 2007, a kind and wise clinical psychologist, Dr. Dennis Marikis, introduced Gaye to sound/light neurotherapy. This cutting-edge therapy has become the latest edition to Gaye’s eclectic practice of complementary/alternative healing modalities. She sees far-reaching potential for this powerful technology in healing the minds of those who suffer from addiction, depression, anxiety, and ADD/ADHD, among other challenging conditions.
Gaye’s hypnotherapy/healing program, grounded in loving kindness and compassion, is a reflection of her personal philosophy and that of her many gifted teachers. She sees her practice as an opportunity to bring all of her endeavors — all of the things that she loves about helping people to help themselves– together into one unique program.
Since 1998, Gaye has been a lecturer and workshop leader at the American Council of Hypnotist Examiners (ACHE) International Hypnotherapy Conference in Glendale, CA, and has lectured periodically at other hypnotherapy conferences and conventions.
Gaye resides in El Dorado and practices in Placerville, California.
Jennifer Duzan, Substance Abuse Counselor and Family Recovery Specialist
Ms. Duzan is a California Certified Addiction Specialist. Ms. Duzan specializes in working with women with trauma by breaking barriers that stand in the way of a heathy and happy drug and alcohol free life. She has worked with a multitude of differnt types of clients with specialized needs such as clients that have CPS, probation, and parole clients.
Ms. Duzan believes in initiating and facilitating change and instilling hope in her clients. Ms. Duzan is dedicated to helping clients build self-esteem, increase logical decision making, family reunification and become a active member of their community.
