Jon M. Winder is a clinician, author, consultant, and lecturer. He is recognized for his seminars on addiction, children and families, the nature of therapy, and relationships. He is the author of Getting Unstuck: Practical Guidance for Counselors – What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do.  Jon has a practical and sensitive approach to counseling and provides opportunities to learn new ideas and skills in dealing with personal and societal changes.

Mr. Winder is a Licensed Professional Counselor and a Licensed Substance Abuse Treatment Practitioner and has been in private practice as a clinician and consultant in addictions and mental health for over forty years. He is the past Clinical Director of The Madeline Centre, which provides in-home and day treatment services to at-risk-youth. Previously, he was Clinical Coordinator of the Adolescent Drug Treatment Program for Central Virginia Community Services and is past director of the Arise Residential Center, a residential alcohol and drug treatment program.

In 1990, he established a group private practice for outpatient therapy, the Total Life Center, where he served as the director. He was worked as an Emergency Mental Health Consultant for eight years at Lynchburg General Hospital in Lynchburg, Virginia. In 1990’s he founded the Central Virginia AIDS Coalition. He has also served on the Executive Board of the Virginia Association of Drug and Alcohol Programs and has provided clinical supervision for licensure to over 50 individual therapists. He is a certified NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Practitioner.

I first became interested in psychology as a teenager reading psychology books on my own starting in the ninth grade. My next experience was doing crisis counseling at a suicide prevention center while in college. What really reinforced my commitment to psychotherapy, however, was leading group therapy in a federal prison. It was not the therapy, per se, that impressed me, but this was an exceptional prison, where everyone was treated with respect by the warden, his wife, and the guards. I saw hardened criminals become more alive, more open, and kinder…in a prison! I saw the power of acceptance, understanding, empowering, and caring which have become the hallmarks of my approach to counseling and supervision.

This was reinforced when I became a student of Sufism 35 years ago. My studies and meditation have opened me to develop my inner resources and deepen my understanding and appreciation for the Divine in everyday life.

I have had the honor of helping so many people over my lifetime and seen the tremendous value of therapy based on the principles above. My hope is to continue as long as I can to share and explore with others my knowledge combined with their resources to overcome whatever pain, trauma, or tragedy that they have encountered, so that they too can experience the healing power of caring and love in a total atmosphere of trust and acceptance.

He has served as consultant to the Florida Probation and Parole Commission’s Pre-Trial Intervention Program and founded a half-way house for ex-offenders in Gainesville, Florida.

He has been married for 37 years and is a student of Sufism. His pastimes include gardening, meditation, and volunteering for Legacy International, a program for teaching youth leadership, peacemaking, and capacity building around the world. As part of his work with Legacy, he led workshops on the environment in Spain with youth from around the Mediterranean. He currently is working with one of Legacy’s programs, LivingSideBySide®, which promotes diversity training to increase inter-cultural, inter-faith, and inter-racial awareness and tolerance.