POST traumatic stress disorder. By definition… happens after the event. You really don’t experience PTSD until the crisis or trauma stabilizes.
If you continuously experience trauma you are in an active crisis cycle. Over and over.
It’s acute stress. It’s tragic. It’s a crisis.
But it’s not POST traumatic stress disorder. Because it is NOT POST anything… it’s an active threat.
You are on high alert because you should be on high alert.
Once things calm down… that’s when life gets real weird.
WARNING -HIGH ALERT
That’s when the triggers start and behaviors become problematic. No one judges a soldier who is jumpy and on high alert in theater.
In an active war zone. It’s once you return and you are “safe”. That’s when shit kicks in.
Now consider this …
Collectively, at a macro-level, PTSD from the pandemic will not kick in until the pandemic “ends”.
At some point in time, there will be a generally accepted “end”.
And that’s when PANDEMIC PTSD will explode on the scene….
We are NOT prepared.
ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES
Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn, CEO at Wellness Partners Group CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville
David is constantly curious and believes that everything connects.
When we’re fully aware of what, where, and how things connect, we can understand the effects and modify the mechanisms in between for a greater good.
As Chief Innovation Officer at Face It TOGETHER, it has been David’s job to design better methods and experiences that can drive solutions for addiction.
Through that lens and with a host of personal and professional experiences, David believes we will solve addiction when we don’t solve for addiction.
He is dedicated to doing work that advances towards that vision. Along the way, vastly more people will realize connections to their purpose, improving the greater good for themselves and others.
David earned a joint JD/MA and BS from the University of South Dakota.
Bush Foundation Leadership
In 2015, he won the Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship.
During the two years of the Fellowship, he studied the art and science of happiness. He traveled to the happiness places on earth, like Iceland and Denmark, to see and experience these cultures first hand.
Recovery Capital Index®
David is the inventor of the Recovery Capital Index® (RCI), a quantified, multi-dimensional survey that measures addiction wellbeing.
The instrument was validated in 2018, subjected to peer review, and findings published in the May 2018 South Dakota Medical Journal.
It’s been a minute since I did some ranting. Some deep thoughts. Hold on tight. I need to do some Facebook rant!
Another death this weekend. Another DEATH OF DESPAIR…
Someone I knew. A couple more last week that I didn’t know really well. But I knew the family.
When you work up close with people, as I do, it gets very personal.
REALITY CHECK:
This society has nothing even close to a solution for the overdose crisis. Including me.
I got nothing. NO ONE has an answer. Period.
I have vast clinical experience across nearly every conceivable clinical venue.
And I helped create, as CEO, arguably one of the premier Recovery Community Organizations in the country, FAVOR Greenville.
All of this happened in the non-profit and publicly funded space.
DEEP IN DIGITAL HEALTH
Now I am deep in a digital health start up. Attempting to scale a transformational solution.
Working within a corporate environment.
Definitely a different pathway. No one can say I’m not casting a wide net 🙂
It’s very early yet with our telehealth/digitally enhanced coaching model. Very early.
OVERDOSE STUFF
So much “overdose stuff” happens beyond our scope.
We don’t solve for overdoses.
We aren’t in the community.
We don’t claim to be all things to all people.
GREAT THINGS
We do great things.
In a very specific way.
We stay in our lane and we are damn good at managing that lane.
All of this makes me wonder, where is the coherent and comprehensive plan of attack.
Who is supposed to lead this?
WHERE???
Where will the ultimate solution come from?
The answers appear to be NO ONE AND NOWHERE.
Throw it against the wall and see if it sticks seems to be the strategic plan.
Each model of response has it’s unique advantages. And each model has really good providers among their ranks.
We have fragmented system with silos of good work. People are trying hard. Doing great work. But, there is no comprehensive solutions being offered.
It’s like an incomplete recipe. With people screaming for more and more of their preferred ingredients.
Throw some more salt in there…
throw some more pepper in there.
some more sugar…
OVERDOSE EPIDEMIC
Same for the overdose epidemic:
THROW SOME MORE MEDICATION AT THE PROBLEM. HARM REDUCTION IS THE SOLUTION.
Get help to those most in need!
Throw some parity in there. We need to enforce parity and private insurance should pay for treatment. We need more treatment beds.
RECOVERY SUPPORT
How about some recovery support:
We need recovery coaches and peer support. More peer support.
WE NEED DIGITAL HEALTH. More apps. More telehealth.
WE NEED More family support.
ON AND ON AND ON
And make no mistake, good things happen.
I fully realize there are isolated pockets of quality care. I would like to think my organizations falls into the quality care bucket.
But, at a systemic level, our society doesn’t even come close to slowing the overdose train down. Nothing remotely comprehensive or congruent.
There is no plan to end the overdose epidemic. And that is a very depressing proposition.
A VERY LONG TIME
I’ve been doing this a long time.
There are people who have been doing this work for a couple years who act as if they have it figured out.
I devoted my life to this for 20 plus years.
After awhile, it gets depressing. And all you can focus on is your individual area of focus.
TOO BIG
The system as a whole becomes “too big” to comprehend. Too big to change.
I imagine that people just settle into their “space” and do their part. Do all they can and let the rest go.
I just haven’t been able to do that.
I think people who have the work figured out either do something really big and substantially transformational, (however, this is very rare and I really haven’t seen many people get this right)
OR…
You do something small but exceptional for the small number you serve (I have done this before and I have recently seen others do this–It’s noble work).
I am currently trying to go big….
But man, the nature of substance use disorders are hard to reconcile.
QUESTION EVERYTHING
The death and destruction makes you question everything. 93,000 (at least) dead from drug overdose in 2020.
Hundreds of thousands more due to suicide and chronic alcohol misuse.
DEATHS OF DESPAIR… everywhere you look.
Then you really get in touch with it… it gets personal.
How in the world did this happen?
ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES
Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn, CEO at Wellness Partners Group CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville
Peer support is an evolving discipline. It’s a relatively new discipline. Standards are still being defined.
Like any other profession: there is great variability in terms of quality.
Completion of a training doesn’t equal effectiveness as a coach. We need time, supervision, and structure to hone our craft. It takes time to get good at coaching.
💥💥💥 “If you hone something, for example a skill, technique, idea, or product, you carefully develop it over a long period of time so that it is exactly right for your purpose”.
Our goals are:
✅ help advance the evolution of peer support. Specifically, develop assertive engagement specialists. Refine that specialty. ✅ enhance the experience with technology ✅ redefine “family recovery coaching” ✅ establish ourselves as the nation’s premier provider of peer support services.
ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES
Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn, CEO at Wellness Partners Group CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville
Sally Spencer-Thomas is a clinical psychologist, inspirational international speaker, and an impact entrepreneur.
Dr. Spencer-Thomas was moved to work in suicide prevention after her younger brother, a Denver entrepreneur, died of suicide after a difficult battle with bipolar condition.
Known nationally and internationally as an innovator in social change, Spencer-Thomas has helped start up multiple large-scale, gap-filling efforts in mental health including the award-winning campaign Man Therapy and the nation’s first initiative for suicide prevention in the workplace, Working Minds.
In 2016 she was an invited speaker at the White House where she presented on men’s mental health.
In her recent TEDx Talk she shares her goal to elevate the conversation to make mental health promotion and suicide prevention a health and safety priority in our schools, workplaces and communities.
Facebook and other social media does mess my with mood…. Stuff like the Recovery Rapper. 💥💥💥
Not on a “social” level. But on a professional level.
I busted my ass… grad school, every certification you can think of, HOURS AND HOURS of supervision and continuing education…
Basically devote my life to learning more…
Buy Me Some Followers?
But it turns out I didn’t need to do all that. I could have just found a treatment center to buy me followers, and pay for ads and I could have been the most influential person on Facebook…
Does professional expertise matter at all anymore?
In this age of “come one come all recovery coaching”….. does professional expertise and experience mean anything?
Another question…
Serious question. In terms of the business model….
DOES THAT RECOVERY RAPPER SHIT WORK?
Does that shit “acquire” patients?
Maybe people are so full of fear that any self-proclaimed expert is sufficient… it’s all so very depressing.
When addiction came for my family….
Thank God I did not need to Google “help with addiction” or jump on Facebook to get direction.
Avoid The Underbelly
I can lean on people I’ve known for some time.
And I maintain a very slim list of quality programs. And, we have the right insurance (now) and high recovery capital.
We have a fighting chance to avoid the underbelly of this industry.
But unfortunately that is not the case for so many people.
ABOUT RICH JONES MA, MBA, LCAS, SAP EVP & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, HERITAGE CARES
Executive Vice President (EVP) at Heritage Health Solutions, Inc. Chief Strategy Officer Co-Founder at Youturn, CEO at Wellness Partners Group CEO/President at Jones Solutions Group Former CEO at FAVOR Greenville
I want to thank everyone who gave me a shout out yesterday on the FAVOR Greenville transition.
I am 100% certain that FAVOR, and all it’s chapters/projects, will thrive. I am proud of the leadership team there. They won’t miss a beat.
The staff are second to none.
This organization will thrive.
8 Years
It’s very hard to move on from 8 years of work. 8 years of relationships.
So many memories and many struggles overcome. So many wins. A few losses.
We entered into each other’s lives.
We forged a bond built on the shared experience of recovery. And the shared experience of family recovery.
You supported me through some of the worst days of my life.
I love you all. Thank you.
There will never, ever be another time like this for me. Once in a lifetime. What a unique and powerful experience.
That said !!!
The Great News
I am NOT moving from the Carolinas. My new job is remote so I’m still in the area…. unfortunately, you will still have me lurking about. 😎
I also remain firmly entrenched in this field.
So you will still be subject to my rants and opinions. At a louder volume and with a wider focus… bring back the car rant? 😎
Going National
Also, I’m getting involved on a national level so I hope to spend more time with my homies.
Back in the great commonwealth of Pennsylvania… and elsewhere around the country. I hope to reacquaint myself with old friends in the “clinical world” …More to come
In early recovery, one of the hardest things for me (personally) was “making new friends”. Or “building my network”.
I always used drugs and alcohol to smooth my interactions and initiate relationships. All the sudden I’m trying to make conversation without the benefit being high.
Without the benefit of all the other people around me being high. It’s pretty damn easy to “bond” when everyone is loaded.
My self-recrimination would run rampant during early recovery.
Inside My Head
The script in my head at that time went something like this:
“Damn Rich, that was a stupid thing to say”….
“Damn Rich, that dude thinks you’re a freak”…
“Damn Rich, can you complete a sentence that does not include a slogan”….
“Damn Rich, your head is too large for your body”…
“Damn Rich, your face is all lopsided and crooked”…
“Damn Rich, can you speak in complete sentences or are you attempting to invent some new language based on grunts and clicking noises”…
“Damn Rich, you just sat in your car and ate 24 pop tarts in the parking lot of this meeting because you were too nervous to come in the building early and talk to people (true story)…”
Run Forrest Run!
I would just stand there looking like Forrest Gump when Jenny broke up with him. Then I would have the thought:
“Damn Rich, you should run back to your old pack of clowns and get high…”.
NO…NO… You should NOT do that.
Requirements
Stick it out. Making friends requires showing up on a regular basis.
It requires trust in other human beings.
It requires tolerance of uncomfortable silence when you don’t know what to say… and you just stand there. Feeling like an idiot.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Side Note: I know…. Some of you never had a problem with this type of stuff. You felt like everyone loved you right off the jump. You talked incessantly and were never at a loss for words. You felt like everyone loved everything you said.
That’s called “narcissistic personality disorder”. You should just enjoy yourself and remember that the world exists for your pleasure and benefit.
You probably now work for a treatment center in South Florida and we should all “Call You Now For Help”. #AmericanPsycho
WARNING ⚠
In all seriousness…. Be cautious. There are some real shit-balls out there.
I mean, straight up balls of shit with 2 legs and 2 arms and fitted hats and a “CALL NOW FOR HELP” phone number on display.
Many of those people, are to be avoided.
Do they really have what you want? You have what they want, money!
The Good News – The New You!
There are plenty of good people. Stick with them. And stick it out when you get uncomfortable.
