My Experience in Addiction Treatment

I never thought I'd grow up to one day own an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Center. I remember wanting to be an NFL head coach after being inspired by Kansas City Chiefs head coach, Dick Vermeil. His passion for the game, his ability to deeply connect with the players, and his authenticity were attractive to me as pre-teen looking to find my way in the world. Little did I know that my life would take a dramatic turn during my highschool years. Drugs and alcohol played a major role in shifting in my attitude and behavior during those formative years of life. I'll save you the drunkalogue, and just say that my first moment of clarity happened when I went to rehab at 17. I put together extended lengths of sobriety since then, but finally got sober for good in 2012.

I received my bachelors degree in nursing from San Diego State University. I loved the human body, and knew I wanted to help people. I liked the freedom that came with nursing, the ability to do it anywhere, the knowledge, and legislation which expanded the scope of practice for nurses and advanced practice nurses everywhere. I got a job in the ICU out of school, and figured I would eventually go into nursing anesthesia, working in the controlled chaos of the operating room. I've always been an extreme kind of guy. My dream was coming to fruition, I got accepted into nursing anesthesia school; however, something internally told me that this was not the time to go.

I trusted my gut, and not too long after began experiencing a strange numbing/tingling sensation in my body. I couldn't figure it out, it was constant, and never really went away. Multiple Sclerosis is funny like that. I finally had an MRI and got a diagnosis. My life changed, the long 12 hour shifts, working nights, and constantly being on my feet were not for me. I stepped away from bedside nursing in the ICU. What was I going to do now?

I had been working with my long time friend Roman Braly, who's been in addiction treatment for years at all the levels of care. We pursued the idea of continued support for clients even after completing Outpatient. Thus, Sober Life Coach was born, our first business together. I believe this venture was successful because of who we are. Our ability to deeply relate to, and connect with young people have been major assets in creating profound trust, and influencing young people's attitudes and ways of being. We look like them, talk like them, have similar interests, and are living amazing sober life's. Because of our effectiveness in working with young people our business rapidly expanded, we became the 'go to' guys for many families in San Diego County.

We were now beginning to make referrals to detox/residential/IOP's because many of the clients now wanting to work with us were not stabilized or able to stay clean. There are ethical, quality treatment centers out there; however, I was introduced to many of the unethical poor quality facilities that I'd seen around various anonymous fellowships for years. My eyes were opened to some of the darks sides of the industry.

Clients I had referred to IOP's were being paid to relapse. Others who had been fully abstinent from opiates were then placed on suboxone, and I started to really dive into why this behavior was happening. I've since talked with many veterans in the field who know this tale all too well. I couldn't believe what I was witnessing, many of these treatment center owners were people I knew from 12-step fellowships. This had to be stopped. It was at this point Roman and I grabbed some tacos, looked each other in the eyes and said 'it's up to us to make the difference'. It's up to us to create something cool, fun, hip. Somewhere clients will want to go and will actually get well, chasing their goals, dreams, and visions. BAM! Sober Life Recovery Solutions was created, a new innovative IOP in Downtown, San Diego.

This was quite the undertaking. Everything from financing, leasing the office space, finding the best clinicians, attracting clients, and dealing with the unfavorable players in the space. Every single 'no' has just brought us closer to the next 'yes'. Since owning a treatment center, I've been approached by 'marketers' demanding that I pay upwards of $4,000 for a client to come to my program. We've also had a client be paid to leave our program and head to another program in Orange County. We've begun to develop an awesome relationship with our local District Attorney's office. It's time to clean up and be the example of what quality, ethical treatment can look like. I've found this statement to be true and preach this in my organization, "what we create on the micro-level ends up being a direct reflection of was we see on the macro-level."

In summary, beer commercials have been promoting an 'attractive' lifestyle through drinking alcohol for years. They do a great job of influencing people everywhere. They paint a picture of what life could look like with alcohol. My question to those reading this article is Who's doing that for sobriety? Who are the 'cool' influencers that young people can look up to and hope to emulate? Our vision is to transform the culture of addiction through inspiring effective treatment, and 'be' that cool influence for young people. It's why we created our Sober Life podcast almost 2 years ago, having had dozens of clinicians, authors, poets, musicians, professional skateboarders, public speakers, and elected officials. I personally would like to see a world where people, especially young people everywhere have a reason they can feel confident about when they tell their 'friends' "NO" to the idea of drinking and using drugs. This new generation must be given that opportunity. I believe Sober Life is the platform to carry the message to the masses.

"When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping 
you to achieve it.” -Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist