Life is a road with obstacles that must be overcome with the help of others. Some people make bad decisions and fall into vices like alcohol or drug abuse or are victims of psychological or physical abuse. This is when professional help is most useful.
Amanda Marino is a survivor of childhood trauma who leads a small team of talented professionals to aid clients in their journey of healing with Next Level Recovery Associates Inc. Before this, she was also in the entertainment industry acting as a model and dancing hip-hop from age 4 to 22.
By turning the difficult experiences in her life into something miraculous, Amanda has been able to help many people. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in alternative medicine, and is a certified intervention professional (CIP) and life and recovery coach.
“I have turned my terrible traumatic experiences in life into thriving and helping others. I have dedicated my personal and professional life to helping others overcome their struggles, find peace, happiness, self-esteem, achieve goals and truly prosper. I continue to learn, grow, and take action by sharing my struggles to help eliminate stigma and offer hope to others.” Amanda says.
Amanda and her partner Blake Cohen run Next Level Recovery Associates Inc, which offers substance use disorder interventions, recovery, family and life coaching, case management services, public speaking and mental health education, companionship and transportation services for sobriety, and much more!
“Our goal with the organization is to help the entire family system reach the next level in their lives while offering support, accountability, guidance, and expertise. We have a great team that can help us address the diverse individual needs of our unique clients. In our organization, we help fill the many gaps often left by traditional treatment models or therapeutic interventions.” Amanda shares.
Amanda has worked for a decade in the mental health industry, beginning her education, certifications, mentoring, and training before starting Next Level Recovery Associates with Blake Cohen Associates.
“I Have Sub-contracted with several companies that offer similar services, learning the right way to do things. Blake and I wanted to add our own ideas and expertise to the space. To help others thrive in life. To show others that there is hope, a way out, and to walk the path with the individual who is suffering and his family. I love being in the trenches, helping families who are desperate and have nowhere else to go. I love being able to help others find hope, make their dreams come true, and heal the relationship with themselves and others in their lives. We pride ourselves on our professionalism, communication, skill sets that complement each other and going above and beyond to ensure the right plan for our clients.” Amanda explains.
Amanda and Blake started their company in early 2020, becoming a corporation in March of that year. Because of COVID-19, they had to constantly evolve while establishing their policies and procedures.
“The way we were trained and the way we conducted business needed to continually adapt to what was happening in the community, the country, and the world. We were already using tools such as zoom, before and we really started relying on them more. It was beneficial for us to make a national brand in social media, with everyone constantly online.” Amanda says.
So COVID-19 did not stop Amanda and Next Level Recovery Associates Inc. They continued to work with families in person following the proper protocols. Staying safe is very important for them because they don’t only work with the individual but with the individual’s family.
This, along with the fact that there is no other company that offers services of intervention, case management and coaching at the same time, is what makes Next Level Recovery Associates Inc stand out from their competition.
“We offer fresh, innovative, and creative approaches in a field that needs it. In our area and nationally, we have truly filled a need. We take customer service and communication very seriously. We try to take what worked, leave the rest and add our own education and experience. We want our team to be of the highest quality, well trained, CPR/first aid required. We really take everything we do to the next level.” Amanda states.
For 2021, Amanda and Next Level Recovery Associates Inc.’s projects include growing their brand, providing new services, implementing protocols and putting in place state-of-the-art systems to take the company to the global level.
“We want to grow our team of companions and coaches, train them and become more managers as owners. We will continue to be involved in our cases, only in different capacities. Our brand, reputation, and professionalism are the center of our growth plan. We want to be on TV, in the press, and be more visible in a creative way so we can help more people.” Amanda shares.
Last but not least, Amanda and Blake also have a podcast called The Overcoming Adversity Podcast. Find out more about Next Level Recovery and follow Amanda’s journey here.
