History

Our long-term residential recovery program carries on the program and renowned legacy of Ron McKiernan and his family’s work in the field of substance abuse treatment. The program was originally founded by Ron McKiernan in 1988 as Certified Counseling Services, where clients from all around the United States utilized his highly regarded case management and transitional housing program. In this program, Ron worked with a variety of clients including those seeking an alternative to incarceration. This group represents one of the more challenging populations with alcohol and other drug problems, yet Ron McKiernan maintained a reputation of high standards of care and positive outcomes. Ron’s influence and collaboration with the legal justice system throughout the years was remarkable and has since paved the way for the today’s normalization of treatment as an alternative to incarceration. Year in and year out for over 30 years Ron displayed leadership and remarkable skills in providing high quality care to those with alcohol and other drug problems, as well their family and other concerned persons. Ron was named the 2010 Counselor of the Year by the Kentucky Board of Certification of Alcohol and Drug Counselors in recognition of his dedication, commitment, and excellence in the delivery of alcohol and other drug counseling services.

Ron McKiernan passed away from cancer in 2012 and the program was passed on to and managed by his daughter, Laura Gaeta and clinically directed by his son, Pat McKiernan. Laura began working with the program in 1990 when she joined her father’s business, Certified Counseling Services, to assist in the development of communication materials for his company. Over the past 30 years Laura assisted Ron in all day-to-day management of his business and the case management of his clients. Laura carried the torch as the manager of the program after Ron’s passing providing care to many individuals and their families. Laura assumed primary responsibility for the program’s continuation and survival in a courageous manner preserving the long tradition of exceptional treatment for some of the most challenging client populations.

Pat McKiernan has long been a pioneer in the substance addiction treatment community in Louisville, KY. Pat has been a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor since 1986 working in variety of treatment settings as well as teaching students at University of Louisville and Spalding University Graduate Programs. Pat has played a major role in the development of curriculum and research used in their alcohol and drug counselor specialization programs. Pat worked in the guidance and support of his father’s program since its origins. Pat and Ron worked together in the early years of the program providing interventions and guidance to families experiencing addiction crisis and guiding them and their loved ones toward appropriate treatment alternatives. Pat has always been on the forefront of providing clinical guidance and the latest research on substance addiction treatment to Ron and the Certified Counseling Services program. After the Ron’s passing in 2012 Pat assumed the role as a primary counselor and clinical supervisor at Certified Counseling Services. Since 2012, Pat has provided clinical support to the program and has facilitated trauma-focused group therapy to the men residing in the program.

David Tarullo was a client in the Certified Counseling Services Recovery Program from 2005 to 2007. It was through his experience in the program where a profound change of heart came about that led him toward the field addiction treatment. David worked under Ron for alcohol and drug counseling supervision for several years upon completion of the program that led him toward higher education and other specialized training in the field. David went on to complete both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Social Work with a specialization in alcohol and drug counseling. David has participated and completed a vast array of other diverse trainings in differing treatment modalities and techniques. David began partnering with Certified Counseling Services’ Recovery Program in 2014 when he was the Programs Manager at St. Vincent de Paul men’s shelter and provided emergency housing beds for clients on a motivational track in the program. David also worked directly in the program during that time facilitating unique science of addiction psychoeducation classes, experiential therapy groups, and program consultation. David founded his counseling business, The Revolution in Counseling, in 2019 and started discussions with Laura and Pat about the purchase of the continuing care facilities and taking over the operations of the residential recovery program. With the mission of carrying on the legacy of the program and to bring in more varying innovative therapeutic methods, The Revolution in Counseling completed the acquisition of the program in December of 2019.