I spent 3 days last week in Santa Barbara at the Addiction Treatment Centers & Professionals Consortium of California listening to treatment centers from all over the country talk about what they are doing. This conference was pretty interesting; it's always nice to keep a finger on the pulse of what people are doing across the country. A good chunk of providers were there, about 60 from around the country.
I was really impressed with a few people there (and of course I presented and thought I did well, talking about Sober Living By The Sea) and I thought I'd talk about the others doing good work around the country.
Hero House, with homes in Atlanta and San Juan Capistrano, CA, has a specific focus on college students, providing them a safe environment following treatment (like the TEACH program) complete with educational support. Randy Haveson, the founder and executive director, has a great passion for helping students recover and I'm looking forward to doing some work with him.
Jane Eigner Mintz of Real Life Interventions, from the Cleveland area, rolled out her new model of intervention, the Field Model. This is based more on a clinical aspect rather than the Johnson or Systemic model. I'm really looking forward to seeing what this looks like. She also is developing a school for interventionists, which will be helpful in providing families with qualified professionals.
And of course, Jaywalker Lodge was impressive, bringing two of their therapists out from Carbondale, CO. They talked about the men's relapse prevention program, as well as their longer-term outpatient/sober living option. They have a wonderful small town feel and treat the client who is looking to hit the "reset" button and get a fresh start.
There are others out there also doing good work- these three stood out to me. We'll see what pops out in the next year or so.
Here's a video on opioids and the brain from HBO's "Addiction" special:
In other news, if you haven't checked out my favorite sports columnist, Bill Simmons, today is a good day. Here's a link to his ESPN website.
And for something hilarious click here.
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Hi,
ReplyDeleteI am just starting out in this field. I have 2 classes left and 880 hours of intership I need to do to complete my LADC. I live in MN and it sounds like you know what your talking about. I work in the field already, but am wanting to further my career opportunities. I live in MN (sober capital of the world! JK) and I want to spread the experiences that I have learned with others. I want to spread sobriety to people who really need it and want it. Not that people in MN don't need it, but there are many places who don't have the opportunities that we have here in MN. I want to bring these opportunities somewhere else. Do you have any thoughts or ideas as to where I would even begin doing this? You seem like you would be a good contact and you have much more experience than me. I manage sober houses in the twin cities and I work in a treatment center as well. What caught my attention about your blog was that you were impressed with Jaywalker Lodge, and we do a lot of business with them. We have sober homes out there too. Anyway, and ideas or info you could give me would be great. thanks! Have a beautiful day! Tara