Jason Swain comes to VIRTIS with over 15 years experience treating substance use disorders in multiple settings for varying members of the population. In 1997, Jason pursued his dream of providing social work to Arab population in the Middle East and took various trips to Lebanon, Syria, and Bahrain. Upon returning from his second trip Jason was inspired to apply to The School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley, where he received his Masters in 2001, with an emphasis in community mental health with families, individuals and groups. During his MSW program, Jason studied international Public Health and also was actively engaged at with the Center For Middle Eastern Studies at UC Berkeley. As his work with addicted populations expanded over the years to include those with chronic and persistent mental illness, and homelessness, an expertise in Post traumatic Stress Disorder began to emerge. His internship with the Berkeley Mobil Crisis Unit advanced his clinical expertise and deep interest in trauma and substance abuse, which led to his first postgraduate position with the VA Palo Alto Health Care System. At the VAPA, Jason received training through the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. He developed a modified version of Dialectical Behavior Therapy for the treatment of Substance Use Disorders amongst the veterans, many of whom also suffered from combat-related PTSD.
After working for the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Health Care System for over five years, Jason now works for Kaiser Permanente’s Chemical Dependency Recovery Program in Sacramento, CA. In addition to his clinical work, Jason enjoys writing and developing the standard and clinical exams for licensure as a Subject Matter Expert for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. He has also provided clinical supervision for MFT interns for the Samaritan Counseling Center of Greater Sacramento. Currently, Jason is working in conjunction with a number of volunteers in an effort to serve the psychosocial needs of an increasing number of Iraqi immigrants and refugees to the Greater Sacramento area.

Email:Swain@virtis-ptsd.org