As Program Director of Integrated Services, Lewaniak is responsible for the integration of Addiction Services across all programs and levels of care to most effectively treat the co-occurring diagnosis of substance use disorder. Leveraging her extensive clinical and operational background, she oversees the delivery of evidence-based, cutting edge substance use disorder treatment at ERC Pathlight's Chicagoland treatment centers and provides clinical supervision to the multidisciplinary treatment team. Lewaniak also collaborates closely with ERC’s senior clinical leadership across all 25 facilities nationwide to ensure holistic integration of addiction treatment, and provides substance substance use disorder education, training and development for mental health professionals, educators and community resources.
“The addition of Linda Lewaniak to our team underscores ERC’s commitment for effective treatment of comorbid substance substance use disorder alongside serious behavioral health concerns,” explains Susan McClanahan, PhD, CEDS, Founder and President of ERC Pathlight, Chief Development Officer of Eating Recovery Center and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern University. “She brings unmatched expertise in evidence-based, integrated substance use disorder treatment, as well as the operations background to create synergies within our larger treatment approach.”
Prior to joining ERC Pathlight, Lewaniak spent 15 years serving in director-level clinical and operations capacities at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital (AMITA Health), an independent psychiatric facility serving upwards of 280 outpatient visits per day. Most recently as Director of Outpatient Programs, she was responsible for program development and oversight of operations and patient care for nine specialized programs, including chemical dependency treatment. Additionally, Lewaniak spent over 10 years as Clinical Director for the Center for Addiction Medicine at Alexian Brothers, managing all aspects of Partial Hospital (PHP), Intensive Outpatient (IOP), Inpatient Detox and DUI programs. In this role, she developed and implemented a first-of-its-kind chemical dependency service line for overseas hospitals in collaboration with an international mental health and substance use disorder foundation.
In addition to her significant clinical contributions to Alexian Brothers, Lewaniak has built a trusted private therapy practice treating Chicagoland adults, adolescents and children suffering from addiction, anxiety, depression, dual diagnosis and family issues. She also served as an adjunct faculty member at Argosy University’s School of Professional Psychology from 2006 to 2010, teaching in the Undergraduate Psychology Program.
