We asked Becky Flood, CEO and Executive Director for New Directions for Women, to give us a general reflection on her experience and employment in the treatment field. We asked her to give us honest reflection about why she works so hard and continues to pursue a sober world. She kindly obliged and we have transcribed her response for educational and empowerment purposes.

Read and enjoy this one-on-one conversation with Becky Flood.

Question: Can you give us general reflection on the treatment field?

The treatment field is only about 65, 70 years old. So as a profession, it’s a new profession. So there’s gonna be an evolution. It’s not like the medical profession or the legal profession that’s been around since the beginning of man. So we need to be change agents, we need to always strive for excellence.

Only in the last five years have we [treatment field professionals and representatives] gone from believing that this [alcohol and drug addiction] was a medical model disease to now looking at it as a chronic illness. The medical model looks at it being very finite. The medical field treats this disease with 30 days’ worth of treatment, and you’re good to go, go to meetings, and life is good.

A chronic disease model, which is now what we are wedded to, says that you have to monitor that person over a lifetime. It’s like having diabetes; it’s like having heart disease; in that once you have it, you always have it. It means that there’s a larger acceptance to the fact that people may relapse at some point throughout their life. Relapses, then, is not necessarily seen as a treatment failure or a failure in their recovery process, but a journey of their recovery process.

Leaders need to realize that as this is a new profession and as a disease that’s relatively new, identified as relatively new, it’s been around since we’ve been crushing grapes with our feet. The treatment of it is relatively new, and so we have to always be willing to be involved in research and understand that new treatment regiments and best practices will evolve over time.

I think it’s important to realize that true recovery from this disease is threefold. It’s physical, it’s emotional and spiritual. Any treatment service that does not encompass the spiritual, the emotional and the physiological is doing a disservice to the people who are being treated.

You know, I refer to addiction as the hole in the soul of America. Until that hole gets filled… I always say that we don’t have to worry about being destroyed from outside entities ‘cause we’ll self-destruct. It’s a disease of denial. When I talk about denial, I’m talking about our government denies it, our medical profession denies it, our spouses deny it, the guidance counselors deny it. There’s just a lot of minimizing, justifying, and rationalizing why Sue isn’t that sick or why, you know, James really – his life could have been different having made different choices, when in reality, had he ever received the treatment he needed for the right duration of the time, the right intensity of time, his life would have been dramatically different.

Question: Why do treatment centers exist? For those who do not know anything about chemical dependency rehab, or addiction treatment centers?

The first thing I would say is that there’s very few of us in this country that don’t have a loved one, either a family member or a close friend or a coworker that we care about, that has not been affected negatively by the use of alcohol or drugs, either prescription or illicit drugs.

Treatment facilities exist to address the symptoms of someone that you care about who has a drug and alcohol addiction. Treatment centers exists because alcoholism and drug addiction are diagnosable diseases by the AMA, the American Medical Association. Like any other disease, there are treatment services, some hospital-based, some freestanding, that are available to care for people who suffer from this disease.

Question: Why are you so passionate about treatment?

First and foremost, I’m a recovering addict and alcoholic. Secondly, I’m passionate about helping people. I’ve been doing this since I was eighteen years old. So it’s my life’s vocation, my life’s work. It’s what I get up in the morning to do. In particularly, women and children and adolescents. Also, adolescents and women seem to be an underserved population that tend to be marginalized and have the least services and the most barriers in order to get care. So any population that is marginalized or has limited resources suffering from this disease is a population that I put my energy into.

Question:What would you say to the CEO’s in the treatment field? (Advice to the CEO)

One is education, two is education, and I could go on saying it. Make sure that you have the right degrees, the right licenses, the right certifications in order to practice specifically in this field. Just because you’re a doctor or just because you’re a counselor; just because you’re a therapist does not qualify you, necessarily, to treat addictive disorders.

I do not believe that you need to be in recovery to be good at assisting those that suffer or their family members. I do believe that if you are non-recovering, you need to take time to go to twelve-step meetings. You need to read the big book of Alcoholics Anonymous. You need to read the basic text of Narcotics Anonymous. You need to read the big book of Overeaters Anonymous. You need to make sure that you read, study, and participate in open meetings as the CEO. That doesn’t mean going to one or two. It means go to them over a period of years so that you understand how to integrate self-help into your clinical practice or your medical practice, and that you can seek from your heart, not just from your head, about what recovery is all about.

You can’t expect others to do what you, yourself, aren’t willing to do. I think it’s important to work at lower levels. It’s important to work in the trenches. It’s important to work in billing and collections. It’s important to work in the admissions office. It’s important to be on the front clinical lines. It’s important to work as a salesperson.

Secondary Question: Why is it important to work at the lower levels and in the trenches?

Because it’s hard to understand and provide leadership if you don’t have an intimate understanding how a treatment program really operates. But make sure that over time, even as things change, that you always take time to sit within your departments and understand what changes have taken place.

We hope that this article has helped you to understand the passion of the leadership at New Directions for Women!

If you wish to learn more about New Directions for Women contact us at Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or simply by phone at 949-313-1192.

Becky Flood (NDFW Executive Director and CEO), Edward Diehl (President of Seabrooke House), Charles Dorsey (NDFW Public Relations Specialist) touring Seabrook House

Even with all the joy and business of the holidays, New Directions for Women still found a way to take advantage of the opportunity to improve the quality of care for the women we serve. Becky Flood (New Directions for Women CEO and Executive Director), Tania Bhattacharyya (Major Gift Director), and Charles Dorsey (Public Relations Specialist) took a trip to visit Father Martin’s Ashley in Maryland and Seabrook House in New Jersey, while traveling through the East Coast.
We toured the picturesque 85 bed facility; Father Martin’s Ashley. We took note of how they manage a rotation of treatment involving concentrated therapy, regular 12-step groups, rolling lectures, recovery education, in-house detox, and co-occurring diagnoses. We were able to view the beautiful inter-faith chapel that teaches spirituality and supports connecting with a high power. These experiences are encompassed in a 28 day model of treatment, after which patients are sent and referred to an extended care facility.

New Directions for Women continues to rise to the top of the list of extended care facilities that are available as a competent referral option for primary care facilities. We were intrigued and appreciative for the tour of Father Martin’s Ashley. We thoroughly enjoyed the scenery as Father Martin’s Ashley sits on an edge of land that overlooks Chesapeake Bay. What a wonderful time it was to connect. What a beautiful place for rehab and recovery.
We then traveled to tour Becky Flood’s old “stomping ground,” Seabrook House. We walked into the receptionist area greeted with warm welcoming hugs, and we were able to see pictures of Becky, about 25 years earlier, as a young leader at Seabrook House.

Typically treatment centers assign the task of touring to a staff member or an employee. But we were fortunate enough to be given a tour by Becky Flood herself. She gave us a tour of the 109-bed coed facility that sits on 40-acres of land. Seabrook House offers a 4-5 week model for treatment which includes gender-specific relationship building, equine therapy, ropes courses, and music therapy. Though we were only able to tour one facility, Seabrook actually encompasses two, with the other 14 acre facility being reserved for transition living and being located in Tioga County, Central Pennsylvania.

Tania and Charles were also permitted the opportunity to offer insight about New Directions for Women to those who were new to their treatment team. New Directions for Women’s relationship with Seabrook House extends far beyond a source of referrals. It is a second home, a sister treatment center, and a very close companion in the effort to create a sober world. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour led by Becky. It was a demonstration of why she continues to be the passionate leader at New Directions for Women.

Becky, Tania, and Charles also paid a visit to our treatment friends at PACE in Wilmington Delaware. This is just our way of trying to stay connected and maintain positive relationships with partners in the treatment field.

If you want to connect with New Directions for Women or know of a woman and family who can benefit from treatment Call us 800-939-6636 or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn .

Enjoy the pictures from the Trip!

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Courtney Mason (Development and Clinical Outreach Coordinator) managing New Directions for Women's Booth at the Evolution of Addiction Conference

Addiction treatment continues to evolve. For more than 75 years, the concepts of substance abuse, alcohol and drug treatment, and addiction treatment have been developing and gaining more definition. Every new endeavor toward wellness requires trial and error, research, accumulating data, and reflection.

This is exactly the purpose of the “Evolution of Addiction Treatment” conference that took place on Dec 8th-11th, 2011 in Los Angeles, CA. This conference offered platforms for addiction treatment professionals to converse about the past, present, and future of the addiction treatment and the substance abuse field.

New Directions for Women was delighted to be part of this conversation. We pride ourselves in the pursuit of the highest quality of care. We pride ourselves in instituting the most effective, relevant, and newest practices for addiction treatment. As a consequence, we continue to yield results, above the national average for women who recover and stay recovered for a significant period of time (83% of our patients remain sober a year after discharge as opposed to the national average of 50%).

New Directions for Women sent two staff members, Ottis Johnson (Clinical Outreach Specialist) and Courtney Mason (Developmental and Clinical Outreach Coordinator), to participate in the 2011 Evolution of Addiction Treatment Conference. They marveled at the amount of people who were in attendance. There were nearly 500 people and over 50 booths to glean from and network with. People from all over the nation shared through experience, both written and verbal.

Treatment for the family, including young children and pregnant women in any trimester, continues to be rare in the addiction treatment field. Many attendees were interested in the work done at New Directions for Women. We will continue to take advantage of any opportunity to seek improvements for the continuum of care we offer. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us if you’d like to learn more about our programs.

If you want to connect with New Directions for Women or know of a women and family who can benefit from treatment Call us 800-939-6636 or find us on Facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn .

New Directions for Women's booth at the Evolution of Addiction exhibit hall

Lights, Christmas trees, raffle tickets…..appetizers, main course, and dessert. This was the scene at New Directions for Women on the night of Dec 15^th, 2011. It was standing room only! Children, many of whom were born at New Directions, were dancing and jumping around joyfully in their holiday outfits. Parents and old friends joked about the “good ole days.” Santa even made an appearance, to the wonder and amazement of the children! Is this what a sober world feels like?

The room was filled with joy and laughter at our Annual Alumnae Christmas Party. This year’s Christmas party was a potluck as usual. There was more food than the tables could comfortable hold. Specialty and signature holiday dishes accompanied the scrumptious turkey and ham, prepared by New Directions for Women’s Resident Chef Glenda Yamamoto. This is a sight we will not soon forget.

The Alumnae of New Directions for Women deserve to be commended for a wonderful holiday gathering. Many guests brought a wrapped gift for our current patients to open on Christmas morning. Even though they are away from their families during this holiday season, they have a supportive sisterhood of sober women around them to share this special time with. Thank you to those Alumnae who continue to be involved with their alma mater, and share with our current patients the glories of sobriety.

There is always an opportunity to connect or reconnect with New Directions for Women.Want to connect or re-connect with New Directions for Women and our Alumnae Association?  Call us 800-939-6636 or find us on facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn

Enjoy the professional pictures, taken by TFProductions, as we attempted to catch some of the Holiday fun. The rest of the pictures are on our facebook album. Click here to see them http://on.fb.me/sux3Sv

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New Directions For Women staff enjoying gift exchange

How do you recognize employees that have worked hard all year? How do you let your employees know that you appreciate them? How do you create fellowship, unity, and laughter among those who work together?

New Directions for Women is glad to offer some suggested answers to these questions.

1. Decide to host an Annual Staff Christmas Party
2. Make it a potluck so that all contribute
3. Make it a mid-day occasion so that no one has to purchase lunch or stay late
4. Plan an exciting gift exchange game with humorous gifts
5. Prepare surprise gifts for all in attendance
6. Decorate the room with festive and holiday colors.
7. Finally, watch as fun and fellowship result.

 One of the best ways to close the year is through a staff Christmas celebration. New Directions for Women staff are still glowing from this year’s Holiday party. What a wonderful time we had: from bald men getting flat irons as gifts to people stuffing themselves with homemade desserts and reminiscing on the past year, which was our most successful year to date. We are truly lucky to have an exceptional group of caring and passionate staff from a variety of backgrounds.

New Directions for Women thanks the staff and supporters for the continued effort toward transforming women, families and their children, one day at a time. Lives are truly being changed because of your work and dedication. Our rehab center for women, pregnant women, and women with children continues to flourish because of you.

 If you have not had the opportunity to tour, volunteers, or otherwise support New Directions for Women, it is not too late. Call us 800-939-6636 or find us on facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn . We will happily introduce you to the wonderful work of addiction treatment and recovery.

NDFW Staff enjoying food, fellowship, and fun

Our  firstAlumnae Harvest Hunt marked the beginning of the 2011 Holiday Season. The wonderful Alumnae of New Directions for Women hosted a well attended event. There is nothing like a sober night of fun for friends and family.

This event featured a potluck where many alumnae contributed their favorite dishes. Sampling everything was the trend of the night. The children in attendance had a blast hunting for pumpkins filled with candy, hidden all over our campus. Nothing like some friendly competition! Both adults and children had fun carving pumpkins after our delicious meal. There were glowing faces for the pumpkins and glowing faces for the participants.

Renee Pina, Alumnae Coordinator, shared her own story before we dug into the feast. Several years ago, she was a patient at New Directions for Women during the Holidays, and it was very difficult for her to be away from friends and family during this special time of year. However, she was extremely blessed to have made sisters in sobriety at New Directions, and the connections and support system she built continues to help her today in her recovery journey.

New Directions for Women’s Alumnae Association would like to thank everyone who joined us for this Annual Event. Missed this year’s Harvest Hunt? Want to connect or re-connect with New Directions for Women and our Alumnae Association? Call us 800-939-6636 or find us on facebook, Twitter, and/or LinkedIn 

Enjoy the pictures below, as we attempted to catch some of the fun!

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Becky Flood, Executive Director and CEO of New Directions for Women, with colleagues at AIS conference

There was a time when addiction treatment professionals believed that addicts must lose everything before making the decision to seek treatment and be committed to recovery. This led to missed opportunities and worst case scenarios for treatment field professionals.

Thankfully, this is no longer the case. Treatment field professionals have embraced the still emerging method known as Intervention. Intervention is the process that attempts to convince a resistant addict to enter treatment. This process, which is consistently evolving, continues to prove itself as an effective and necessary tool for moving addicts from denial and disregard to recovery.

AIS (Association of Intervention Specialists) is a professional network of Board Registered Interventionists in the U.S. and abroad that meet regularly for education, information exchange, and networking. Becky Flood serves as the president and co-founder of this important organization.

AIS held their bi-annual meeting this year in Palm Springs, and focused on creating a standardized process for interventionist certification. Currently, this does not exist. That means that there is no clear set of requirements to equip treatment professionals to integrate intervention into their recovery practices. This is a problem.

This process will empower the treatment field to take intentional steps to equip employees and better serves those in need of help. Obviously, this is a necessary network. Becky Flood, NDFW Executive Director and CEO, and Rae Sandoval, Primary Counselor, enjoyed the discussion and progress at the November meeting. Rae is training to become an interventionist, and very much enjoyed the support and fellowship at the meeting.

Want to become an interventionist? Wish to learn more about AIS or New Directions for Women? Contact us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or simply by phone at 949-313-1192.

Calling all New Directions for Women Alumnae and Family!

Are you still making October holiday Plans? We have the perfect event for you.

We invite all New Directions For Women Alumnae Sisters to kick off the Holiday Season with a fun night for all of our women, children, and sisters in sobriety.

Please join us on Thursday October 20th from 6-7:30pm for a fun harvest themed night of mini-pumpkin decorating, a pumpkin hunt and holiday style appetizers and desserts. *NOTE: We will not be having our regularly scheduled Alumnae Dinner Panel on Thursday, October 27th.

We need your contribution of appetizers or desserts, so if you are famously known for a special dish, or if you would like to RSVP so we have a head-count, please call Renee Pina our Alumnae Coordinator at 949-287-6591 or e-mail: reneempina@yahoo.com.

Let’s come together and show our support, strengthen our program and have some Holiday fun!

New Directions for Women Alumna Victoria Patterson

New Directions for Women has been touching women’s lives since 1977. Women, children, and their families testify to the wonderful experiences and memories during their stay at our CARF accredited drug and alcohol rehab center. The formation of positive habits, the relearning of discipline, and the increased value for one’s life are just some of the things that NDFW Alumnae recall.

Many NDFW graduates move into a prosperous life celebrating sobriety while spreading their transformative and heartfelt story of recovery. Victoria Patterson, popularly published author, is one of those graduates. Featured in the September Edition of the Orange Coast Magazine, Victoria tells the story of “the home with green shutters” and how is remains a source of strength in her sober life.

 Read what she said about her experience at New Directions for Women:

Metamorphosis

Trauma and transformation inside a green-shuttered Costa Mesa home

Victoria Patterson

8/17/2011

It’s autumn, and my two sons and I are on our way to visit my mother-in-law when I drive past my alma mater: New Directions for Women, a drug and alcohol treatment residence in Costa Mesa. Their grandmother’s home happens to be nearby, so for more than 17 years now, whenever I make the turn onto her street, my eyes land on the place I used to live, and, more specifically, on the window of my former bedroom.

It happens to be the same month and about the same day that I entered New Directions many years before. A light is on, glowing through the curtains, and a few women are outside, smoking and chatting. A feeling comes over me, something like hope and good will and gratitude, and I say, “I used to live right there, in that room.”

“We know,” says my 10-year-old.

“Didn’t you get kicked out?” asks my 12-year-old.

“That’s OK,” says the younger.

“Why did you?” asks the older.

My sons understand in a general way that the home with the green shutters is significant to my past and, even more importantly, to my present.

Four months before my 21st birthday, convinced I was an alcoholic, I committed myself to the chemical dependency unit of a psychiatric hospital. At the strong recommendation of the staff, instead of returning to college after my hospital stay, I went to New Directions.

I’d been a sophomore at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, where, instead of attending Ivy League parties, I was more likely to be found at Lemons or The Auditorium, local working-class bars.

I also was often at the campus infirmary, and there’d been two recent stays at the hospital: one for alcohol poisoning, and the other for a nosebleed that wouldn’t stop, my blood too thin to clot because of the vodka I’d consumed the night before while writing a speech for my “Elements of Political Thought” class on why the legal drinking age should be lowered. The nosebleed had come after a violent bout of morning-after vomiting. I never did make that speech.

When I entered New Directions, I thought my life was over. I made my bed and brushed my teeth every morning, cooked and cleaned, worked at Alta Coffee Warehouse & Restaurant, went to sleep without drinking alcohol, woke without hangovers, and learned to take “contrary actions” rather than succumbing to the sway of my emotions.

I’d guarded my secrets for years. Shame was second nature. But at New Directions, women spoke openly and in tragic detail about incest, rape, and physical abuse—things even more disturbing than what I’d gone through—so I understood that the secrets I’d spent my life protecting weren’t all-powerful. They seemed almost commonplace—and an increasingly poor excuse to destroy my life.

My college roommates came from upper-middle class families; my roommates at New Directions included women on parole, mothers who’d lost custody of their children, a nurse whose license had been revoked, and a former Vegas showgirl whose sugar daddy was footing her bill.

Detox, a stray cat the residents adopted and who adopted us in return, made his rounds, cuddling with anyone who needed it. Often, that happened to be me.

I was educated on the extent and severity of drug and alcohol addiction, and the stakes involved. More often than not, the heroin addict whom I admired—the one who looked like an angel and spoke like a guru—was the one that would use again. And the person I least expected to remain sober might surprise me.

I was discharged six days before my 21st birthday, having broken the rules (fourth offense) by staying out all night. According to my counselor, I was setting myself up for a relapse. I’d been looking forward to turning 21 for as long as I’d been drinking, and now that it was about to happen, it seemed cosmically unjust to be an alcoholic.

Although I no longer lived at the halfway house, I continued to attend the after-care program. On my 21st, the women in my house gave me cards, sang for me, and even baked cookies. My birthday came and went without a relapse. I continued to stay involved, volunteering to drive the van to take the ladies in the treatment center to and from 12-step meetings, occasionally making pit stops for snacks and candy.

More than 20 years later, New Directions still guides me. I make my bed and brush my teeth each morning as I was taught to do, no matter how I feel, knowing that discipline, self-care, and action help keep me sane. I’ve learned to ask for help (loudly if need be), rather than suffering and imploding alone. And when I make mistakes, I come clean by telling someone (eventually), and then I try to remedy what I’ve done, and move on. There are no secrets worth keeping anymore, especially the shameful ones. The impact on my life has been profound and immeasurable.

It’s fitting that I fell in love, married, and had children with a man whose childhood home is just down the street from my old recovery home. Over the years, a sure remedy for my imagined or real problems is to simply walk down that street. If my problems haven’t disappeared within minutes of listening to a newly arrived resident’s story, they’ve certainly become containable and less urgent.

I try to explain all of this to my kids. I try to be honest while avoiding gory details, and that seems to work best. I hope they understand that, because I sought help and then accepted it, I’ve had a life beyond anything I ever could have imagined. And that includes the greatest privilege of all—being their mother.

This article originally appeared in the September 2011 issue.

[1] Victoria Patterson. “Metamorphosis.” Orange Coast Magazine. August 18^th, 2011 http://www.orangecoast.com/myorangecounty/Story.aspx?id=1524026 accessed August 31, 2011

On behalf of New Directions for Women and all its supporters we congratulate Victoria Patterson for her hard work. She is an excellent example of the potential of life beyond addiction. If you know of a woman, pregnant woman, or a family who is suffering from the disease of addition consider NDFW as a safe luxurious choice for recovery.

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