Family
Sharon A. Hartman
Sharon A. Hartman, LSW, MBA
Director of Professional Training and Education
Ms. Hartman is responsible for presenting effective training programs to clinical and supervisory staff at Caron. With 25 years of experience in the field of chemical dependency treatment, she has played a key role in developing and implementing residential and outpatient programs, including Caron’s nationally recognized intermediate care program for relapse patients.
In her position, Ms. Hartman oversees Caron’s alignment of its training focus with its patient population needs, best standard of care and evidenced based practices. Ms. Hartman introduced a system of clinical supervision that supports the growth and development of its professional staff. Training topics at Caron address a broad spectrum of areas including co-occurring disorders, motivational interviewing, family counseling and working with adolescents.
Ms. Hartman also developed and oversees an Addiction Counselor School that is designed for new employees as well as a complementary school for entry-level clinical positions.
She began her work with Caron Treatment Centers in 1995 as the Clinical Director of Adult Services. In her tenure at Caron, she established the relapse program and has previously held positions as Director of the Women's Primary Unit and the Men's and Women's Extended Care Programs.
Ms. Hartman has been frequently asked to speak on topic of codependency, women’s issues, relapse, relationships, forgiveness, and spiritual growth in recovery.
Ms. Hartman is a licensed social worker and holds a Masters in Social Work from Marywood University and a Masters in Business Administration from Alvernia College.
Ann W. Smith
Ann W. Smith, MS, LPC, LMFT, Executive Director, Breakthrough at Caron
Ann Smith is the Executive Director of Breakthrough at Caron, a five and a half day residential group therapy program designed to help adults shift destructive life patterns, improve relationships and foster personal growth. For nearly 30 years, her focus has been on addiction, family systems and experiential therapy.
Ann is best known for developing innovative residential treatment programs for adults from painful families. She returned to Caron in January of 2009 with her patented Breakthrough program. A pioneer of codependency treatment, she was instrumental in designing and directing the original five-day program for Adult Children of Alcoholics from 1984 to 1991 at Caron, which reached more than 14,000 people.
Ann is renowned for her clear and entertaining teaching style delivering valuable information on a variety of personal growth topics. For more than 25 years, she has lectured and taught workshops on topics ranging from addiction in the family to dysfunctional relationships.
Ann has a Masters Degree in Rehabilitation Counseling and is licensed as both a Professional Counselor and a Marriage and Family Therapist in Pennsylvania. She is the author of two books titled Grandchildren of Alcoholics: Another Generation of Co-dependency and Overcoming Perfectionism: The Key to a Balanced Recovery.
Harris Stratyner, Ph.D.
Harris Stratyner, Ph.D., CASAC
Vice President, New York Clinical Regional Services
Dr. Stratyner is the Vice President of New York Clinical Regional Services at Caron New York's Recovery Center. He is a renowned addiction and mental health treatment specialist with more than 27 years of experience. In addition to treating patients, he oversees the clinical staff and develops and implements workshops and programs for patients in recovery at Caron New York.
Dr. Stratyner developed the technique "Carefrontation," which combines the latest motivational engagement techniques and an environment of respect and dignity to stress individual responsibility to deal with one's addiction or mental health condition.
Dr. Stratyner currently holds positions as a Clinical Associate Professor at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and as a Vice Chair of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) Board of Directors. He is also a contributing author to the PDR Guide to Pediatric & Adolescent Mental Health (Published in 2009 by Thomson Reuters).
Before joining Caron, Dr. Stratyner held leadership and academic positions at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Weill Medical College of Cornell University. He was listed by the prestigious Castle Connelly almanac as one of the profession's leading specialists.
Christopher Kennedy Lawford
Christopher Kennedy Lawford
Public Advocacy Consultant
Christopher Kennedy Lawford has spent much of his life in Hollywood and Washington, D.C. navigating these two worlds as an actor, writer, lawyer, activist and public speaker. However, before his successes, Lawford battled a drug and alcohol addiction for much of his early life. In recovery for more than 24 years, he shares his experience, strength and hope to make a difference in people's lives. As a result of his drug addiction, Mr. Lawford was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2000. He was successfully treated and is now virus free.
For the past five years he has worked with a number of partners in private industry, the non-profit sector, state and federal governments and patient advocacy groups to effect change and raise awareness about pressing public health issues. Presently Mr. Lawford is working with the United Nations, the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, and the World Health Organization in efforts to raise awareness globally about addiction and hepatitis.
Mr. Lawford has extensive experience in the non-profit sector working with a variety of organizations including: Caron Treatment Centers, California Hepatitis Alliance, The Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, Special Olympics, The Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, and was recently appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to the California Public Health Advisory Committee. Mr. Lawford spends much of his time speaking globally in support of these issues. His political resume includes executive staff positions with The Democratic National Committee, The Community Action for Legal Services Agency and in the Washington office of Senator Edward M. Kennedy. He has also held staff positions on numerous national, state and local political campaigns.
Mr. Lawford spent twenty years in the film and television business as an actor, lawyer, executive, and producer. His acting credits include roles with Anthony Hopkins in Slipstream and The World's Fastest Indian, The Sixth Day and Terminator 3 with Arnold Schwarzenegger, 13 Days with Kevin Costner, Russia House with Sean Connery and Ben Kingsley and Oliver Stone's The Doors. Additionally, Lawford spent three years on All My Children, and produced weekly segments for Extra and CNN focusing on political and social awareness within the entertainment community.
As an author, Mr. Lawford has published three critically acclaimed books. In his 2005 New York Times Bestselling memoir, Symptoms of Withdrawal, Lawford illuminates his extraordinary life offering a cohesive message of survival, hope, and inspiration. The book received praise from critics and writers alike:
"Christopher Lawford owns the most elusive of the qualities a young writer needs - he is in possession of a naturally good style...Three cheers."
-- Norman Mailer
"... has poignant legitimacy."
-- Janet Maslin, The New York Times
...a moving tale of self-discovery and redemption...a writer of talent and grace.
-- Publishers Weekly
In 2009, Lawford followed with, The New York Times Bestseller Moments of Clarity: Voices From the Front Lines of Addiction and Recovery and Healing Hepatitis C.
Mr. Lawford holds a Bachelor of Arts from Tufts University, a Juris Doctorate from Boston College Law School and a Masters Certification in Clinical Psychology from Cambridge City Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, affiliated with Harvard Medical School, where he gained an academic appointment as a Lecturer on Psychiatry at HMS.
Mr. Lawford has four children, David, Savannah, Matthew, and Taylor and currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Paul Leslie Hokemeyer
Paul Leslie Hokemeyer, JD, PhD, LMFT
Caron New York staff member
Dr. Paul Hokemeyer is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist based at Caron Treatment Center’s New York City Office. In addition to holding a PhD in Psychology, Dr. Hokemeyer holds a doctorate in the law. As a family therapist, Dr. Hokemeyer takes a relational approach to the treatment of addictive disorders. This approach places the client in a contextual framework that includes the person's family, friends, intimate relationships, professional relationships, the built environment and the social and cultural milieu in which they live.
A nationally-recognized expert on family dynamics and addictions, Dr. Hokemeyer is on the panel of experts for The Dr. Oz Show where he writes a bi-monthly blog. He also regularly contributes to CNN Headline News, Good Morning America, The Today Show, truTV and Oprah Radio. He authors a bi-weekly column for Telluride Inside Out titled "Shrink Wrap" and is a national spokesperson for the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists.
For three seasons, Dr. Hokemeyer hosted a television show on Plum TV: "Biography of a Hamptons House." Through this program, he explored the emotional connection we have to our homes and the ways we are impacted by the natural and built world around us. Dr. Hokemeyer currently hosts and produces a series of author interviews for Open Road Integrated Media dealing with the intersection of Eastern philosophies and psychology.
Dr. Hokemeyer serves on the Board of Directors of the New York Division of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and Aevidum, a student run suicide prevention program.
