Mita Johnson, Ed.D, NCC, LPC, LMFT, LAC, MAC, SAP, ACS, LMFT-S, BCTHP
Trusted Addiction & Ethics Expert
Dr Mita M. Johnson, EdD, is a counselor educator, licensed professional counselor, licensed marriage and family therapist, licensed addiction counselor, clinical supervisor, consultant, and national addiction-workforce leader. Her work integrates addiction counseling, psychopharmacology, co-occurring mental health conditions, professional ethics, clinical supervision, telebehavioral health, trauma-responsive care, and culturally responsive treatment. She currently serves as Core Faculty in Walden University’s School of Counseling and as Treasurer of NAADAC, the Association for Addiction Professionals.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, is also Executive Director of Elk Meadow Enduring Connections in Colorado, where her work includes assessment, treatment, supervision, consultation, resource navigation, and support for people experiencing substance-use concerns, complex trauma, chronic pain, grief, and co-occurring mental health conditions. Her clinical perspective emphasizes that addiction is not a moral failure or a simple matter of willpower. Sustainable recovery requires attention to biology, learning, stress, relationships, environment, culture, physical health, access to care, and the function a substance or behavior serves.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, is known for translating complex pharmacology, regulatory, and ethics material into practical information for counselors and other behavioral health professionals. Her teaching helps non-prescribing clinicians understand how substances and psychiatric medications may affect mood, cognition, sleep, behavior, withdrawal risk, treatment engagement, and daily functioning while maintaining clear professional boundaries around diagnosis, prescribing, and medical advice.
Professional Background
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, earned a BA in biology, a master’s degree in clinical or professional counseling, additional graduate education in marriage and family therapy, and a doctorate in counselor education and supervision. Her current Walden University faculty profile identifies her as Core Faculty in the MS in Clinical Mental Health Counseling program and documents her teaching and training in addiction pharmacology, treatment, group process, counseling foundations, ethics, and clinical supervision.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, has built a career spanning clinical practice, university education, regulatory consultation, credentialing, supervision, curriculum development, and national professional leadership. Her verified credentials include Licensed Professional Counselor, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Licensed Addiction Counselor, Master Addiction Counselor, Substance Abuse Professional, National Certified Counselor, Approved Clinical Supervisor, marriage and family therapy supervisor, and a Level II board-certified telehealth credential. She is also EMDR-trained.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, currently serves as Treasurer of NAADAC and has previously served as the organization’s President, Immediate Past President, and Ethics Chair. Her current NAADAC professional profile documents continued service on ethics, personnel, and other committees. Through this work, she contributes to professional standards, workforce development, credentialing, ethical practice, equitable access to care, and efforts to reduce the stigma surrounding substance-use disorders and the professionals who treat them.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, also provides U.S. Department of Transportation Substance Abuse Professional education. NAADAC currently lists her as a trainer for live SAP qualification and requalification programs. This work requires careful attention to federal drug-and-alcohol testing regulations, role clarity, documentation, public safety, and the difference between a regulated SAP evaluation and ordinary psychotherapy.
Mita M. Johnson, EdD, continues clinical and supervisory work through Elk Meadow Enduring Connections and telebehavioral health platforms. Her practice includes support for military members and veterans, adults with chronic pain, people experiencing trauma and grief, and clients with substance-use or co-occurring disorders. Her work combines assessment, resource coordination, treatment, and consultation rather than assuming that a single service or modality can address every barrier to recovery.
Her publication record includes professional articles on ethics, cultural humility, case conceptualization, lived experience in the addiction workforce, peer recovery support, and a book chapter on maintenance and relapse prevention. She also completed a major revision of NAADAC’s pharmacology desk-reference module, reflecting her longstanding commitment to making addiction science understandable and clinically useful.
Areas of Expertise
Addiction Counseling and Recovery-Oriented Care. Mita M. Johnson, EdD, helps clinicians understand substance-use disorders through a biopsychosocial and recovery-oriented framework. Assessment should examine patterns of use, withdrawal risk, consequences, co-occurring symptoms, medical concerns, environmental stress, relationships, previous treatment, and recovery capital. The National Institute on Drug Abuse’s addiction-science resource provides an authoritative foundation, while the Clinical Events Articles and Resources library helps therapists connect addiction knowledge with practical clinical decision-making.
Psychopharmacology and Addiction Pharmacology. Her teaching explains how alcohol, opioids, stimulants, cannabis, sedatives, and other substances affect the brain and body, as well as how psychiatric medications may interact with client symptoms and treatment. Non-prescribing clinicians benefit from recognizing possible side effects, withdrawal, misuse, medication-adherence concerns, and situations requiring medical collaboration. Clinical Events’ Beyond the Script: Understanding Psych Meds in Therapy program reflects this practical, scope-conscious approach.
Co-Occurring Mental Health Conditions. Dr. Johnson emphasizes that substance use frequently overlaps with depression, anxiety, trauma, chronic pain, sleep disruption, grief, relationship difficulties, and behavioral addictions. Treating one concern while ignoring the others can leave major drivers of distress unchanged. Integrated care may involve psychotherapy, medication management, peer support, medical treatment, housing assistance, family services, and a level of care that matches clinical risk.
Clinical Ethics and Cultural Responsiveness. Her ethics education addresses confidentiality, competence, documentation, boundaries, mandated treatment, justice-system involvement, impairment, telehealth, and communication with families or other providers. She encourages structured decision-making that incorporates ethics codes, law, consultation, cultural context, client welfare, and foreseeable consequences. Clinical Events’ guide to therapy ethics, boundaries, confidentiality, and competence offers related support for clinicians.
Clinical Supervision and Workforce Development. Dr. Johnson supports developing and experienced clinicians through supervision, consultation, mentoring, and professional education. Her approach emphasizes assessment, case conceptualization, documentation, countertransference, cultural humility, scope of practice, and professional identity. She also advocates for stronger recruitment, retention, compensation, and support within the addiction workforce.
Telebehavioral Health. Her board-certified telehealth background informs work with clients who face rural access barriers, transportation problems, mobility limitations, or other obstacles to in-person services. Virtual care also creates responsibilities involving privacy, informed consent, client location, emergency planning, cross-jurisdiction practice, technology failure, and digital security. Clinical Events’ Telehealth Ethics: Ensuring Client Privacy provides complementary risk-management guidance.
Trauma, Chronic Pain, and Military Populations. Dr. Johnson’s clinical work includes complex trauma, grief, chronic pain, military members, veterans, and co-occurring substance use. These concerns may interact through sleep disturbance, hypervigilance, isolation, functional loss, medication exposure, and difficulty trusting care systems. Treatment must remain individualized and may require coordination across behavioral health, medical, recovery, and community services.
Regulatory Leadership and Professional Education. Her work with licensing, credentialing, curriculum review, and professional associations gives her a systems-level perspective on how standards affect workforce competence and public protection. She helps clinicians understand that continuing education is most useful when it strengthens actual judgment, skill, and accountability rather than merely satisfying an administrative requirement.
Authored Publications
- Maintenance and Relapse Prevention
- Addiction Professionals With and Without Lived Experiences: Common Ethical Questions
- Contemplating Boundary Crossings: The Need for Ethical Maturity
- Cultural Humility and Sensitivity
- Baseball: Covering All Bases in Case Conceptualization
- Peers: A Vital Support in the Treatment Continuum