Her Story
About Ruthann
Ruthann Arida is a dedicated humanitarian, mental health professional, and recovery advocate whose career has been shaped by both professional expertise and personal experience. With more than a decade of service in community health and behavioral health settings, she has devoted her work to supporting individuals facing mental health challenges, substance use disorders, and co-occurring conditions. As a credentialed New York State Chemical Dependency and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC) since 2019 and a Mental Health Counselor with Beacon Center, Ruthann combines clinical knowledge with deep compassion, helping clients navigate recovery while addressing the broader social and emotional factors that impact their well-being. Her own journey in recovery has fueled her commitment to ensuring that individuals and families can access the services and support they need.
Throughout her career, Ruthann has worked across a variety of community-based and healthcare settings, including crisis intervention, respite and hospital diversion programs, addiction treatment services, and patient care. Her experience serving individuals with co-occurring mental illness and substance use disorders (MICA) highlighted critical gaps in local behavioral health services, inspiring her to become a strong advocate for integrated care. She emphasizes the connection between mental, physical, and spiritual health, believing that sustainable recovery requires addressing the whole person. In addition to providing counseling and treatment planning, she is a certified NARCAN administrator who delivers training and life-saving education to clinicians and community members, while also participating in overdose awareness and prevention initiatives throughout her region.
Beyond her clinical work, Ruthann is deeply committed to education, mentorship, and community leadership. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Human Services program at SUNY Niagara, where she helps align academic curriculum with real-world workforce needs, advocating for stronger training in case management, treatment planning, and community-based care. Currently pursuing a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling at the State University of New York at Fredonia, with an anticipated graduation in 2027, she plans to continue her academic journey through doctoral studies in behavioral health. Guided by mentors such as Dr. Mark Bonacci and inspired by her role as a mother of four sons, Ruthann remains passionate about advancing behavioral health services, supporting future professionals, and creating stronger pathways to recovery and wellness within her community.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Ruthann
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I've received is to do what feels right, follow your heart, and take care of yourself. Taking care of your own self-care is really important. I think that was really important advice for me in this field.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I would definitely say do many in-services and stay up to date with your life-saving techniques and your certifications. I think it's so important to see the bigger picture. You may feel like you're not doing enough, but know that you will be a part of something much larger. Even the small things that you don't think make a difference in someone's life - it turns out that you could be the one to change, to be a part of that change.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
One of the biggest challenges in my field right now is the high turnover rate in community health. Clinicians and people are overworked with very high caseloads, which makes it literally sometimes impossible to find clinicians to work with these people. The question is: how can we ensure that both the clinician and the client are practicing self-care? How can we make this the most beneficial? That's why I'm interested in pursuing a doctorate in behavioral health, which works on not only the clinical aspect but managerial and administrative work as well, because you need both in a community health role to make things roll smoothly.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
The most important values to me are advocacy, community health, and integration of whole-person wellness. As somebody in recovery myself, I realize the impact that not being able to find services has on people who are struggling, so it's really important to me to advocate not only for my clients but for people within my city. I'm passionate about bridging academia with community needs and integrating mental health, spiritual health, and physical health together - all of those have to be integrated. I also value being a mom first - I have four sons who keep me very busy, and I'm definitely a mom first. Self-care is essential, both for myself and for the people I work with.
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