PERSONAL  GROWTH  TEAM

Mario Duran, LCP 1499, MS in Substance Abuse Treatment. 
Licensed Therapist, Personal Growth Clinical Director, Co-Founder

Mario Duran completed his Licensure degree in Psychology at the Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR), where he graduated with honors and went on to become one of the youngest professors in the School of Psychology of the University of Costa Rica. Mario completed a Masters program on Substance Abuse Treatment hosted by the Organization of American States (OAS) where he developed a residential treatment model for adolescents and eventually became part of the teaching staff, focusing on research models and best practices for residential programs.
Mario has a lot of experience, having served as clinical coordinator at Villa San Jose, a drug and alcohol treatment center. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of the Vida y Sociedad Foundation , a non-profit foundation dedicated to providing substance abuse prevention programs to elementary and secondary schools throughout Costa Rica. He has consulted for mental health and educational institutions, NGO’s and international organization and has published several articles and research reports on behavioral health, best practices and addiction. Prior to NSA, Mario was the Clinical Director at Coronado Academy a therapeutic boarding school serving adolescent boys and girls.

Mario invests himself in building healthy relationships with students by interacting with them in our milieu, creating opportunities to model patience, sensitivity and empathy. He also believes in helping adolescents boys become respectful, tolerant and responsible young men by providing mentorship and constant support. Mario uses a strength based approach in therapy and believes in finding opportunities instead of threats when it comes to family dynamics and change. Mario has lived in Costa Rica most of his life and has had the opportunity to also live in the United States and France. He is a proud husband and father, and he enjoys mountain biking, nature, ​and indoor soccer.

Dr. Danny Recio, PhD
Co-Founder, Therapist, Director of Bridge Young Adults

Danny co-founded NSA in 2005 and the Bridge in July 2012. He has been guiding young men to open up their worlds to find more fulfilling paths for over 15 years. Danny is a native of Costa Rica but studied abroad in South Africa where he "came of age" in a way that further fed his passion for humanistic, experiential growth, specifically through exploration, discovery, adventure and cross-cultural experiences.

Danny is trained in Clinical Psychology both in Costa Rica and in the USA, but he chose to step outside of its confines for his doctoral work, which was on Integrated Ecology. He has found that just like nature thrives on diversity, knowledge does too. Some of the most exciting perspectives he uses for his work did not come from Psychology, but from various fields, such as Anthropology, Evolutionary Biology, Education (especially constructivism), Systems Theory, Neuroscience, and of course Ecology. 
He has an astounding well of patience and passion for working with and engaging everyone he meets. ​​In his personal life, he tries to take in all the shades of color life has to offer and to seize the precious opportunity of being alive. Being a kid again when playing with his children, sharing a life’s mission with his wife, spending time in nature, sharing with people from other cultural worlds, and trying to radiate as much passion with the least amount of fear are some of ways in which he feels the most alive.

​Caleb Cortes, MS, LCP. 
Licensed Therapist / Case Manager

Caleb completed his clinical psychology degree and license to practice in 2010. He is currently completing his Masters in Clinical Psychology at Universidad Latina de Costa Rica.

Caleb brings diverse experiences to NSA, from working at the Ministerio de Educacion Publica to working in rehabilitation centers and private practice. He is experienced in group therapy, substance abuse counseling, diagnostics, and implementing didactic trainings and workshops.
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In his free time, Caleb he enjoys spending time with his wife and young children.

​Ignacio Vasquez, MS, LCP.
​Licensed Therapist / Case Manager

Ignacio grew up in a small Costa Rican town called Palmares. He earned his Bachelors degree and Licensure in Psychology in 2015 and he is currently incorporated in the Colegio Profesional de Psicólogos de Costa Rica. In 2017, Ignacio completed a technical certificate in Human Resources in the Universidad de Costa Rica to improve his knowledge of organizational psychology.

He has been part of the NSA team since 2016 -first as an Experiential Education mentor who facilitated cultural activities, Student Council, Aventuras, and served as the Experiential Education/Personal Growth liaison. After learning all the ins and outs of NSA life, Ignacio joined the Personal Growth team full time as a case manager. Ignacio enjoys playing the guitar, exercising, gardening, traveling and spending time with his friends and family.

Julia Lopez, MA (in progress), LCP 7792
​Licensed Therapist / Case Manager

Julia López S. was born and raised in Costa Rica. Professionally, she completed an advanced degree and license in psychology with an emphasis on Clinical Psychology. Her professional experiences also lead her to complete Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) certifications from the Albert Ellis Institute of New York and a professional technical degree in Management of Addictive Behaviors. Julia is currently completing her dissertation for her Master's degree in Clinical Psychology.
 
Since childhood, her greatest passion has always been music and she enjoys playing the guitar in her spare time. She also has a deep love and respect for animals and nature. Some of her hobbies include activities involving art, reading historical novels, watching documentaries, and socializing with family and friends. Her friends and colleagues describe Julia as very analytical, calm, and level-headed.  

Elizabeth Corrales, MSW, LCP.
​Licensed Therapist & Case Manager

Elizabeth grew up in a small town called Monteverde. She had the privilege to study in an environmental school called the Cloud Forest School, surrounded by protected forest and beautiful nature. In 2002, she moved to Santa Barbara, California, for one year and graduated from middle school. By 2017 she had completed both her bachelor and licensure degree in Psychology in Costa Rica. In 2018 she was awarded the Erasmus Mundus Scholarship to earn a Master’s degree in Social Work with Families and Children. The academic program took place in Portugal, Norway and Sweden, where she had the opportunity to work with young people from different parts of the world. In her free time, she enjoys baking, playing the ukulele, traveling, singing and training.

Estrella

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Estrella moved in around 2018 to join our four legged posse, and her cute underbite wins everyone over. She's definitely the feistiest of all of our pups, and she lets us know when any strangers arrive to campus!

When her favorite staff (Diana or Catalina) are not around, we might find her roaming the streets outside the gate, looking for new doggie friends... until it's time for dinner and curling up in her doggie bed. :) ​

Rosita                                                      

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Rosita joined our crew after the pandemic. She is a sweetheart, but also a sleepheart because she ends up sleeping most of the day so she can run around at night and keep campus safe.