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QUALIFICATIONS

LCSW 100466 in CA, LCSW 21681 in AZ, LICSW 125993 in MA, MSW,
OCD ERP Specialist, PE Specialist, DBT Therapist, 
CBT Certified Therapist 01927, EMDRIA Certified Therapist,  RYT-200

MENTAL HEALTH CLINICIAN, NOCD (October 2022-Present)

  • Assess and provide ERP and PE therapy to Members with OCD, PTSD, BFRBs, Anxiety, and Hoarding disorders, using evidence based treatment for OCD and anxiety, including Exposure and Response Prevention

  • Offer mentorship and shadowing support to training clinicians

  • Participate in consultation and multidisciplinary team meetings

CLINICAL SOCIAL WORKER 3, UCLA BEHAVIORAL HEALTH ASSOCIATES (Nov 2021-Oct 2022)

  • Interviewed individuals, their families and/or significant others to obtain a family, social, employment, medical, substance abuse, and mental health treatment history.

  • Triaged Clients into short or long term treatment

  • Assessed client's functioning in his/her environmental setting.

  • Developed a tentative CCCP designed to resolve or cope with the mental or emotional problem, which may include individual, group, family or marital counseling, case management, and/or referral to another treatment source such as a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a vocational or rehabilitation counselor, or another agency.

  • Planned and conducted the client's therapy program under the guidance of supervisory staff by considering the client's treatment goal and by determining the priorities of the programs to be dealt with and the length and modality of therapy.

  • Provided psychotherapy to individuals, groups, families, and significant others.

  • Provided case management services to secure resources for clients, families, and significant others in order to achieve treatment goals.

  • Worked with families and significant others toward gaining their acceptance of and participation in treatment recommendations.

  • Participated in multi-disciplinary team conferences to discuss and evaluate the nature of the client's problem, to evaluate the client's progress, and to develop a CCCP.

PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL WORKER 1+2 , AMERICAN INDIAN COUNSELING CENTER OF DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL HEALTH (October 2018-November 2021)

  • Interviewed individuals, their families and/or significant others to obtain a family, social, employment, medical, substance abuse, and mental health treatment history.

  • Assessed client's functioning in his/her environmental setting.

  • Developed a tentative CCCP designed to resolve or cope with the mental or emotional problem, which may include individual, group, family or marital counseling, case management, and/or referral to another treatment source such as a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a vocational or rehabilitation counselor, or another agency.

  • Planned and conducted the client's therapy program under the guidance of supervisory staff by considering the client's treatment goal and by determining the priorities of the programs to be dealt with and the length and modality of therapy.

  • Provided psychotherapy to individuals, groups, families, and significant others.

  • Provided case management services to secure resources for clients, families, and significant others in order to achieve treatment goals.

  • Served as a member of a mental health emergency intervention team and/or joint law enforcement/mental health emergency intervention team by evaluating the behavior of persons to determine if they are, as a result of a mental disorder, dangerous to themselves, others, or gravely disabled.

  • LPS-authorized to complete applications for immediate 72-hour detention at a hospital facility.

  • Interviewed persons seeking psychiatric assistance on an emergency basis and utilizes crisis intervention techniques to prevent hospitalization and to aid the person in dealing with the emotional crisis.

  • Assisted clients, families, and significant others by discussing their reactions and attitudes concerning mental health problems and co-occurring substance abuse disorders; explains need for treatment; and encourages all concerned parties to work together cooperatively to resolve the problem and minimize the stresses that impact social functioning.

  • Worked with families and significant others toward gaining their acceptance of and participation in treatment recommendations.

  • Participated in multi-disciplinary team conferences to discuss and evaluate the nature of the client's problem, to evaluate the client's progress, and to develop a CCCP.

  • Participated in research to increase knowledge of mental health problems and to improve therapeutic treatment methods.

Testimonial from Javier Serna, LCSW Supervisor: "It was a pleasure having you as my teammate.  I appreciate all the support that you  provided your clients.  You always went above and beyond to ensure that your clients were able to obtain resources in the community.  You have changed many lives while in your time in FSP and I want you to know that I'm proud of your work at AICC FSP.  Thank you for being a great human being."

Testimonial from Dr. Andrea Garcia, MD: "It has been a pleasure to work beside you.  I'm in awe of your dedication to clients and community, your allyship, and your willingness to dive into projects giving everything you got.  You'll always be a part of our AICC fam."

 

Testimonial from Danielle Kayne O'Gilvie, LMFT: "You have made an impact on the clients at AICC and have been an integral part of our DBT team... You will be missed." 

THERAPIST, SANTA MONICA CENTER FOR ACCEPTANCE AND CHANGE (Sept 2018-March 2021)

  • Provided DBT skills groups on mindfulness, emotion regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness to Lindau Counseling in West LA under the supervision of Susan Lindau, LCSW (LCS19232). 

  • Provided DBT and trauma-informed therapy individually.

ADULT OUTPATIENT SOCIAL WORK INTERN, HARBOR UCLA (August 2017-May 2018)

  • Conducted intake assessments of mental health statuses, suicide risk, funding plans, and client care coordination with Department of Rehabilitation, Social Security Administration, and Medical

  • Created treatment plans and provide individual psychotherapy to 9 adults ages 25-65 of evidence-based practices: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Prolonged Exposure trauma therapy (PE), Grief Protocol, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT)

  • Participated in multi-disciplinary team meetings with psychiatrists

  • Co-facilitated a DBT group, teaching interpersonal effectiveness, mindfulness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance

  • Assisted researchers in collecting pre and post measures of clients

Testimonial from Supervisor Franklin Bolanos, LCSW: "Alessandra Rizzotti has served competently with various clients and effectively used various therapeutic modalities, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Prolonged Exposure Therapy. She has also co-led a DBT skills group and was responsible for creating a footprint project in which she created multimedia content making therapeutic interventions accessible to clients outside the office. Alessandra demonstrates an ability to be flexible with client needs, a strong ability to case manage, and has a passion for acknowledging intersectional identities as she navigates client support. Her diverse caseload included clients with grief, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and eating disorders. As an intern she was ethically responsible and attuned to their needs, demonstrating a high degree of compassion and insight into her client's struggles."

GRIEF SUPPORT SPECIALIST, OUR HOUSE GRIEF SUPPORT CENTER (August 2016-August 2018)

  • Facilitated 9 grief groups of 90 children ages 5-17 in LAUSD and Charter schools and managed grief support curriculums in which art and writing activities were organized weekly

  • Facilitated 3 grief groups of 6-9 children each at Camp Erin (2017-18)

  • Facilitated grief activities at Camp Erin, a grief camp for children ages 5-8

  • Conducted intake assessments & assisted in research data collection

  • Produced a video utilized for community outreach

LIFELINE COUNSELOR, THE TREVOR PROJECT (November 2015-September 2018)

  • Provided crisis intervention counseling and suicide prevention resources to ages 13-50 on calls to Lifeline 8 hours per month

  • Conducted suicide risk assessments and wrote call reports

COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER, THE TREVOR PROJECT (October 2015-August 2016)

  • Created multimedia Suicide Prevention Month campaign

  • Produced annual report in print and digital format

  • Wrote community outreach newsletters

  • Wrote fundraising gala speeches

  • Wrote HuffPost and Advocate op-eds on LGBTQIA suicide prevention

  • Managed social media accounts

COMMUNITY MANAGER, ASSOCIATE EDITOR, WRITER,  GOOD INC. (October 2011-14)

  • Wrote advertorial pieces about health, climate change, homelessness, food access, and water access advocacy for the United Nations, Johnson & Johnson, Pearson, XQ Schools, Progressive, Whole Foods, Newman's Own, and Global Change.

  • Managed and built relationships among over 900,000 online members of the good.is community, keeping track of membership engagement and recruitment tactics.

  • Created "Push for Good" series, GOOD's guide to crowdfunding creative progress, helping over 100 crowdfunding projects off the ground through promotion on good.is, raising around $2,000,000 total. (More at good.is/indiegogo or kickstarter.com/good).

  • Curated twelve posts of homepage content per day, with soft themes ranging from design to education.

  • Worked with developers on creating helpful backend and frontend features both for staff and members, including a CRM system, spam tracker, and homepage featuring mechanism.

  • While Managing Editor was absent for four months, I edited three to five long form pieces of community content members per day.

  • Created a prototype CRM system for managing relationships between my team and members of our website.

  • Panelist at Discover Me, ONA LA, Hub LA, and Opodz re: social enterprises, user-generated content, crowdfunding, GOOD's Google Hangouts on How to Make Cities More Playful, and Neighborday.

EDUCATION

Certifications

PE, ERP Specialist through NOCD

EMDRIA Certified, 2022

DBT DMH Certified through LACRO and PDBTI partnership, 2021

CBT Certified through The Academy of Cognitive Therapy, 2018

 

California State University, Northridge, Masters of Social Work (May 2018)

  • DMH Stipend Recipient

  • Clinton Global Initiative University Fellow for creation of Chronic Illness startup idea chronicsupport.org and funding recipient of $1,900 on chronic illness patient-caregiver communication research

  • President of CSUN Social Work Society: fundraised $15,000 for professional development and community advocacy student opportunities

  • Organizing for Action Fellow, collaborated with a team to organize an Affordable Care Act Town Hall for Steve Knight

  • Certifications: CBT, CPR, First AID, SafeTALK suicide prevention, Motivational Interviewing, Child Abuse Reporting, J William Worden, PhD Tasks of Grief

  • Trained in: EMDR (Institute of Creative Mindfulness 2020), DBT, ACT, PE

Breathe 4 Change, Yoga RYT-200 Certification (July 2018)

  • Registered with Yoga Alliance

  • Trained in Asana and Hatha yoga

  • Trained in Mindfulness

  • Trained in culturally competent, social justice oriented yoga for underserved populations

University of California, Los Angeles Extension Program, Certificate in Early Child Development (August 2017)

  • Education in early childhood brain development, art expression techniques, and childhood learning

 

University of Southern California, B.A. in Film Production and Minor in Social Work: Children and Families (May 2007)

  • Honors as Renaissance Scholar

  • Golden Key Honor Scholar

WRITING/FUNDRAISING WORK SAMPLES

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THE TREVOR PROJECT

Role: Communications Manager

As a Communications Manager at The Trevor Project, I wrote monthly newsletters, social media posts, articles for The Advocate and Huffington Post, created scripts for videos and TrevorLIVE speeches with celebrities including Kira Kosarin, Victoria Justice, Lisa Vanderpump, Amy Adams, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, and helped fundraise over 1 million dollars for the organization through various fundraising campaigns. During National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month, our Communications team collaborated with Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and actress Kira Kosarin's family to create a campaign with the goal to help save young LGBTQ lives. A billboard was erected in Times Square with photos from our fans uploaded to our partner Johnson & Johnson's Share a Photo app, PSAs featured Kira Kosarin, articles were written for The Advocate, and shareable infographics and media banners were designed and shared across our social media channels. See more at www.thetrevorproject.org/save-lgbtq-lives or click on the images in the slide above.

Testimonial from The Trevor Project's Vice President of Advancement Jack McCurley and Interim Executive Director Steve Mendelsohn: "Alessandra is a seasoned professional with a sharp eye for smart communications and marketing. Her passionate commitment to helping communities in need shines through her engaging personality. Alessandra is a leader and a team player who always goes above and beyond to exceed expectations and achieve excellence. Alessandra established herself as a key gatekeeper for Trevor’s messaging. She quickly learned our branding and messaging guidelines, and has been able to develop a wide variety of communications that meet the organization’s many goals. She was instrumental in the creation and implementation of a unique and well-produced digital and print FY15 annual report. Alessandra has also produced monthly newsletters, a variety of speeches, most of Trevor’s social media messages, and more. She is able to juggle many projects and is amazingly quick in her turnaround time. Alessandra has been an extreme help to the organization and has been able to keep Trevor in the forefront by writing impactful social media campaigns, donation letters, and op-eds for various media outlets such as The Advocate."

OUR HOUSE GRIEF SUPPORT CENTER

Role: Grief Specialist and Videographer/Editor

This video was produced to encourage youth to consider joining in-house groups at Our House Grief Support Center.  It was utilized in various communications strategies.

Testimonial from Children's Clinical Director Lauren Schneider"Grief is a universal experience that all clients face at some point in their lives, yet it is not often something students are trained in upon graduating. Alessandra now has an in-depth understanding of J William Worden's Tasks of Mourning, and has used this training as a clinical intern at Harbor UCLA, where she used a grief protocol with a client whose son had died of cancer. Alessandra's impact was most noticed with students ages 5-7 at an elementary school, as they had written a letter of accolades to her upon leaving the school. Alessandra Rizzotti was also able to bring her video skills to Our House by creating a recruitment video that helped in engaging clients who were in pre-contemplative stages about joining Our House. Her macro and micro work has the potential to enhance how clients engage in clinical social work."

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GOOD

Role: Associate Editor, Community Manager, and Writer

As an Associate Editor at GOOD, I collaborated with social impact changemakers and designers to produce articles as well as infographics, some of which you can click on above.  Partnerships included the United Nations, Whole Foods, Pearson, Progressive, Starbucks, Walgreens, and more. This led to a promotion as a Community Manager, a role in which I managed a community of 900,000 online members and helped over 50 crowdfunding projects raise over 1 million dollars through publicizing their work on the column I created entitled "Push for Good." Click on each image to read more.

Testimonial from GOOD CFO Lou Pizante: "It was a great pleasure to work with Alessandra at GOOD. I found her to be an exceptionally hard-working individual with honest, intelligent and convivial spirit. What impressed me is not only her intense dedication to building the GOOD community, but her strong interest in both GOOD's overall business and community management more generally."

Testimonial from GOOD Account Director Chelsea Spann: "Alessandra has a terrific work-ethic. She is extremely passionate about whatever she takes on and executes her work while maintaining a understanding of the big picture. She is always seeking opportunities for other teams whether it's seeing a potential customer, or a behavioral pattern from community members that can help navigate tech. Alessandra is key in knowing and understanding the GOOD audience, and amplifying the GOOD voice. Most of all, she is cheerful and encourages those around her to participate in the GOOD culture."

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826 LA

Role: Workshop Facilitator and Chapbook Editor

Using my training in child development at UCLA, I created a workshop on how to create narrative from art and art from narrative. These are samples of what the children created.  Writing was collected and edited into a chapbook that children could share with their families.

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FUNDRAISING, RESEARCH, and CONSULTATION 

COLLABORATIONS

Role: Fundraiser and Researcher

Recently, I wrote newsletter copy for California Clinical Society for Social Work's Newsletter column I created entitled "The Clinician's Toolbox" as well as CBT California's newsletter on DBT.  As President of CSUN Social Work Society (2017-18), my team created professional development, advocacy, and self-care opportunities for our students. We fundraised $15,000 for Lobby Days so that our students could fight for bills in Sacramento, one of which passed in California (SB 10), which eliminates the power of bail money as a condition of release from prison. We also donated $3000 for our Trauma Conference, featuring lead speakers Lauren van Dernoot Lipsky (Trauma Stewardship Institute) and Joy DeGruy (Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome). As researcher and fundraiser for Chronic Support, I helped raise $1900 through the Clinton Global Initiative (2017) and CSUN to help fundraise research on how chronically ill individuals and caregivers manage chronic illness with the goal to eventually form support networks for both parties both on and offline. See the capstone project by clicking the abstract above or clicking here. Other organizations I have helped fundraise for with my family and friends include The National MS Society's research initiatives ($20,000), The Trevor Project ($1605), and Our House Grief Support Center ($2000).

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?"      

Martin Luther King Jr.

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