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A learning community for recovery
How many professional conferences did you attend in the past year? If the answer is more than one, you’ll likely relate to this quote that spurred a new organization, a first-ever event and a new chapter for many in our industry:
“I can’t believe that after all these meetings, workshops and conference sessions, the most valuable time for me was still during the coffee breaks, when I met with people I wanted to meet with and talked about the issues I wanted to talk about.”
When the Treatment Professionals in Alumni Services (TPAS) steering committee planned the first-ever meeting for treatment center alumni and recovery professionals, we were determined to create a new type of experience for attendees. While most “sit and listen” conferences offer a great deal of new and provocative information, committee members agreed that it is often a challenge to implement what we learn at conferences back on the job. We wondered what we could do to make a TPAS gathering a different type of experience.
TPAS history
In 2007, Lorie Obernauer was asked to start an alumni program at CeDAR (Center for Dependency, Addiction, and Rehabilitation, Aurora, Colo.). Obernauer had started her own recovery program in the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and was not familiar with treatment center alumni programs. With a background in higher education and business, she assumed she could learn about treatment center alumni programs through an online database or professional organization. But she was not able to find these resources.
Left with no other option, Obernauer used personal networking with treatment center professionals across the country to learn about alumni programming. In the process, she discovered that many professionals felt isolated as they ran their programs on their own or in small departments; they were eager to connect with peers in the field to share ideas.
When the idea for TPAS was born in 2010, several alumni professionals stepped up to work with Obernauer on a TPAS steering committee. The intent was to create a national organization. Currently, approximately 150 treatment facilities and other recovery-oriented organizations across the country are involved with TPAS.
The TPAS Collaborative
In 2012, after holding successful TPAS meetings during regional and national conferences, the steering committee determined that it was time to create a “stand-alone” TPAS event. When we started to plan this event, we turned in part to what we had learned in our 12-Step programs. First, community is a vital source for practical information about “how to do what needs to be done.” Second, community is the glue that supports us as we try out new ideas and behaviors. And just as in 12-Step rooms, we believed that all participants could be both teachers and learners.
With this is mind, we named our gathering the “TPAS Collaborative,” and our goals were to create:
· A network and collaborative community of professionals who support long-term recovery through alumni services and other support service programs.
· A community where participants could support peers when implementing new ideas on the job.
· A future for alumni services that would be distinctively different from what currently exists in the addiction treatment industry.
Instead of planning the usual conference agenda, we intended to create a process that would engage participants and facilitate experiences that were immediately replicable for their alumni constituents as well as for the organizations they serve. From conversations with alumni and recovery professionals across the country, we knew that successful alumni and recovery activities were already in place. We wanted to find a meaningful way to share these successes and to help attendees figure out what they could apply in their own settings.
The Collaborative process
Two steering committee members, Obernauer and Leonard Bade, were designated as co-facilitators for the Collaborative. Miriam Meima, program director at A New Path in Carbondale, Colo., also helped to facilitate. Bade’s experience working in community building, leadership development and organizational culture change led to the use of two innovative processes that would produce a dynamic experience for the participants.
The first process, “Creating a Community of Collaboration, Accountability and Service,” is based on the work of Peter Block. It included a series of six small-group conversations that were held throughout the three-day gathering. Each conversation began with a question designed to demand powerful engagement from participants. Instead of traditional conversations and/or presentations that ask people to study, analyze and explain certain information, these questions encouraged participants to become curious about possibilities for the future.
Within the framework of this process, the power of transformation rested in changing the usual narrative, and finding new, powerful ways of communicating. Well-formed questions gave rise to intense discussions in which everyone had an opportunity to have a voice and take responsibility for the richness of interactions and outcomes.
The second simultaneous process that shaped the agenda was grounded in “Open Space Technology.” This strategy has been used in thousands of organizations to help groups engage with complex issues in simple, innovative and productive ways. Our plan was to have attendees identify their specific issues and questions about alumni and recovery support services, self-select into discussion groups, and work with others also concerned with that issue.
Within this Open Space framework, the inaugural TPAS Collaborative actually started before participants left their offices. Each person was asked to come to the meeting with some issues, questions or solutions related to their work as an alumni services and/or recovery support services professional. Once at the Collaborative, the agenda for the weekend was created. No formal presentation was required. Guidelines for facilitation and note-taking were provided.
Gathering outcomes
The outcomes from the weekend discussions were astounding. A high level of engagement and interest was sustained throughout breaks, during meals and even after the “official work days” ended. Attendees reported that new, meaningful connections and relationships contributed to both personal and professional growth. They reported that they received a wealth of new information and practical resources to apply back “on the job.” Follow-up contacts indicate that many participants already have initiated new projects based upon what that they learned at the Collaborative.
Fourteen topics/areas of interest were discussed among small groups over the course of the weekend event, and notes for each session were recorded. While an impressive amount of information was shared, the most distinguishing aspect of each discussion was the extent of members’ involvement and their intention to help and support one another through their questions and comments.
Following is a list of the topics that were discussed at the TPAS Collaborative. For more details, please visit the TPAS website; a list of these topics along with the contact information for the person who facilitated each discussion will be posted soon:
• Social Media as a Recovery Support Tool: Guidelines for best practices within the constraint of HIPAA compliance; existing recovery-oriented websites that are already HIPAA-compliant.
• Supporting Clients’ Health … and Our Own: Self-care; boundaries at work; collaboration with colleagues to reduce stress and increase productivity.
• Volunteers Create a Culture of Peer Support: Activities that promote camaraderie among volunteers; creating volunteer alumni chapters for peer support.
• Building Local Recovery Support Communities: Types of recovery activities that are available in our local communities; how do we connect our alumni and encourage participation.
• Reframing Relapse Within the Context of Obamacare: A discussion of how new healthcare legislation will affect benefits, billing, staffing, need for outpatient services and more.
• A Recovery Curriculum for Treatment Organizations: Recovery classes designed to help patients plan strategies for successful recovery.
• Professionalism in Alumni Programs: A discussion to identify questions that should be asked regarding standards, credentials and accountability as alumni programs are developed.
• Making the Case for “Business”: A discussion on how alumni and recovery support services programs become a “line item” in treatment organizations’ budgets, not an afterthought.
• Building Alumni Programs from the Ground Up: Creating databases, recordkeeping, standards and requirements for follow-up; the essential “things to consider” when starting an alumni program.
• Professional and Peer Recovery Coaches: The similarities and differences in the roles and strategies for engagement of professional recovery coaches and peer coaches.
• Workshops and Reunions: Strategies for planning, scheduling, choosing locations, sending invitations and more.
• Options for Extended Recovery Support: Life skills programming coupled with support can help to create a new “sober identity.”
• Family Alumni Programs: Ongoing support for family members can include education and support groups, plus ongoing monitoring with volunteer involvement.
• Reaching Clients Remotely with High Tech: Many new programs are available that can offer counseling as well as follow-up support.
In addition to the abundance of ideas shared around these interest areas, more than 25 TPAS members who attended the Collaborative committed to serve on a TPAS committee. Five TPAS committees were created for the purpose of fulfilling the TPAS vision, as an organization that will educate and engage professionals who provide alumni and other recovery support services that will fortify long-term recovery for our clients and families.
Planning is already under way for another TPAS Collaborative in April/May 2013 (more information will be available soon on our website). Our goal is to encourage more participation in other geographic areasand to continue to build our collaborations and resources. TPAS steering committee members also are considering another type of gathering that would broaden the base of participants to include CEOs, volunteers and clinical staff in discussions about recovery support services.
The steering committee was impressed by the sense of community and connectedness that was created at this first TPAS Collaborative. This type of gathering created an alternative to the typical conference and organizational cultures of which we are accustomed, even beyond the wildest dreams of those planning the event. The result was a strong sense of camaraderie as everyone came to understand that they shared many experiences, difficulties and successes.
As we know from the wisdom of our 12-Step programs, it is this community bond that nurtures our growth. Using these principles, TPAS will continue to co-create this new chapter in alumni services and a new perspective in the addiction field.
TPAS Steering Committee
Here is a list of those who served on the TPAS Steering Committee at the time of the TPAS Collaborative. There were several other original members in 2010 plus new members that have come on board since the Collaborative.
Lorie Obernauer, coordinator of alumni recovery support services, CeDAR, Aurora, Colo.
Leonard Bade, founder, Integrated Recovery Solutions, Fort Worth, Texas
Marvin Ventrell, director of community and alumni relations, Harmony Foundation, Estes Park, Colo.
Frankie Grundler, executive director and co-founder, A New Path, Carbondale, Colo.
Miriam Meima, program director, A New Path, Carbondale, Colo.
Kim Murphy, alumni coordinator, Creative Care Malibu, Malibu, Calif.
Sherri Layton, outpatient services administrator, La Hacienda Treatment Center, Hunt, Texas