I have been working in the field of addictions since 1984. When I began, in Pennsylvania, there were mental health people who knew nothing about addictions and recovering people working as addictions counselors who had no training in mental health. My work has been to bridge that gap, explaining addictions to mental health people and collaborating with addictions counselors.
My first referral source was an addictions treatment program that was so impressed with my ability to get my addict clients into treatment that they referred both their patients and their staff to me for follow-up psychotherapy and addictions counseling.
When I moved to Colorado in 1987, my first job was running a DUI program and counseling individuals, couples and families for the Arvada/Longmont Counseling Center in Arvada and Longmont. My next job was coordinating addiction services for Centennial Peaks Hospital, running addictions and experiential “ropes-type” groups, and facilitating a Terry Kellogg video series on addiction and codependency.
In 1998, after several other jobs using my addictions and mental health knowledge, I decided to work full-time in my private practice, which I had started part-time in 1988. One part of that work is what I refer to as primary prevention, which “seeks to prevent the onset of specific diseases via risk reduction.” In my case, this means educating parents so they can raise kids who will be resistant to addictions. I do this through parent coaching.
When clients seek my services for their addictive and/or mental health issues and they have kids, I can help in all those areas. When they seek my help for parenting and their mental health and/or addictions issues impact their ability to parent, I can help in all those areas.
If you would like my help, feel free to contact me at 303-875-7294 or Stephanie@nullREALparenting.com.
