My guest today is Donella Cecrle from The Purpose of Recovery.

Purpose of recovery, which is currently located in Orange County, CA. that connect with local, state, and national recovery communities to support long term recovery.

There mission is to TO BRIDGE THE GAP, HIGHLIGHT SERVICES, AND CREATE A NETWORK OF RESOURCES FOR INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES TO HEAL, STABILIZE, AND CREATE GROWTH IN RECOVERY.

THERE IS A RECOVERY RALLY COMING UP ON SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

Periodically I come across people and organizations that strive to identify each person as an individual and see what they can do to help them even though it may not even fit within the realm of there goals.

Thinking outside the box requires unique minds and I think today we are going to meet a representative from an organization that seeks to offer this assistance.

The greatest failure in the treatment industry stems from the poor aftercare that is either provided and in many cases not provided at all. Clinicians fail their clients by not following our main goal of planning for their discharge the moment they walk in the doors.

When discharge plans are done, most create a plan that has nothing to do with what the client actually plans on doing but instead what the program wants them to do. 90 meetings in 90 days, get a sponsor, go to this outpatient program.

This plan created by the clinician and many times without the assistance of the client. They then meet with the client and tell them what they are going to do.

The client then signs it just to get out the door with as little conflict as possible and has no intention on doing many of those things.

Just to be clear, this isn’t everybody across the board. There are great clinicians in the industry and the plan works for some. But what about those that it doesn’t

Many programs will not learn from this because they identify the client as just not following the plan that was set.

I have a hard time putting all the responsibility on the client since it is our job ethically to always look out for the best interest of the client. What does that mean? I have an answer which I will get to.

Please check out there website:

https://thepurposeofrecovery.org/

What disease do you need to have that requires for you to have committed a crime to acquire? Judge Steven Bromberg who is currently a trial judge at Central court in Santa Ana. After that first meeting, we started going to lunch periodically and I realized that Judges are humans too.

He was interested in learning about addiction and I saw someone who actually cared about people. Honorable Judge Steven Bromberg: Changed My View of the Criminal Justice System.

In 2009, I opened a facility in Anaheim that was the most rewarding facility I could imagine.

The passion that drove me stemmed from my experience trying to meander my way through the hurdles of my legal issues.

I decided that I wanted to create a program that offered the same services you would get in a very expensive program at a cost that was more reasonable then $20,000 a month and even more at times.

I had the passion but I had no idea how I was going to do this. One idea that I had, which I was unsure on how well this was going to work was to walk into each courtroom in Orange County and give my card to the bailiff as I requested to meet with the judge.

With all of my years experiencing the courts as something ugly, I remember having this knot in my stomach and nothing was comfortable about doing this.

As I teach for New Creation College, this remined me of behavioral psychology. According to them, behavior is learned. Classical conditioning refers to what happens prior to learning that creates a response through pairing. It was first introduced by Ivan Pavlov and his famous dogs. During my entire life, I paired the court as a place of punishment.

As Pavlov rang the bell causing his dogs to salivate, I would see a Bailiff, a judge or a district attorney that caused my stomach to ache, and my chest would tighten.

After about three months of doing this, I came across a judge, and honestly the first judge who seemed to actually be interested in what we were doing.

I remember sitting down with him for the first time and expecting the typical what you do, how does it work, and thank you, the bailiff will see you out. But, I didn’t get that response.