Oxford Houses

I have just recently attended my first meeting last week with Lenny Jason's DePaul University's Group doing Action Research on Oxford Houses. I learned of Oxford House only a few years ago when presenting on a panel with Lenny, and then through a good friend, Maya Hennessey. They have been around for 37 years, and have many in the Chicago, Joliet and Waukegan area. They are opening homes for Latinas, women and children, the deaf community and are open to ideas. I am hoping to get involved as a Research Assistant volunteer with their NIDA and NIAAA grants, and am hoping that perhaps Motivational Interviewing could be used somewhere in this (they are looking at retention) and the use of CRAFT (Community Reinforcement and Family Therapy) as a way of helping folks who are looking for sober living to find a place to obtain sobriety. They do involve AA meeting attendance yet what makes them unique is they are self-supporting and the 12 Traditions are used to govern the homes. That should ideally mean that there is no one making money off of this, anymore than the Central Service Office in New York makes money off of AA meetings.

If anyone has had experiences with an Oxford House, I would be interested. I am hoping to visit a few and get involved, and many thanks to Frank Ponziano who helped bring me into this possible new fold.

Jacque

Change Talk and the 4th and 5th Steps of AA...

Hi everyone:

I have been pondering the Change Talk that occurs during a 4th Step, in an AA where the participants is to list all their 'character deficts" ( all the thing bridges they have burned while drinking /drugging) and though this Step is avoided with a almost phobic reaction, I have come to believe that here is something power about the works actually coming out of the person''s mouth to another human being, who is just there to be a safe place. Once the works are out of our mouths, we cannot take them back in, and that is often what leads to Commitment Talk. I heard recently "You can't put that toothpaste back in the tube." I believe that to be true. Even if the person does not not follow through, they never forget that they made a verbal agreement about what they had done and what they were going to do with it. This is Commitment Talk, and though it may take a few times, I am so hopeful that folks will finally get better in Betterville, no matter what road they take or door they walk through. All pathways to getting better are good pathways.

I have meet folks who have written out 4th step yet never shared them and they have not done so well. It is that willingness to show ourselves warts and all that allows us to join the human race again.

Jacque

Motivational Interviewing: Change Talk

A video to watch!Motivational Interviewing: Hit The Road, Jack .MP4

Motivational Interviewing Certificate started first course

October 21, 2010

The first course of the Motivational Interviewing Certificate program has finally started with 19 learners in it from all over the US. It was originally 6 weeks long yet we are finding that we need and want more time with folks for skills development. Each learner has submitted a "real play" audio session which we have coded with the MITI 3.1 Coding system and we are provided telephonic feedback and coaching. We are using David Rosengren's book Building Skills for MI, and the activities are fantastic. We are also adding short video and audio vignettes to demonstrate particular skills. So far, so good.

Many thanks to Psychotherapy Services Incorporated for their support in this.

Jacque

My website: www.motivationalinterviewing.info

I am excited about my new website so please visit it!

www.motivationalinterviewing.info

More trainings coming up. Clinical Hypnosis at Oakton Community College in July, a current MITI 3.1 Online training beginning June 8 and I will be doing a 2 day pre-conference coding workshop for the MINT Forum in San Diego in October.

Many thanks for all of your support. Keep on eye out for my new products that I am designing to assist in training and learning MI, as well as the launching of my Online MI certificate program.

MI and the Internet

I am one of these folks trying to get MI on distance learning. I have a course with 45 hours already developed and we are just struggling with the Learning Management System. It was nice having Blackboard but many learners complained about that as well. Some folks are really good about getting the work done and others just paid the money and did nothing. It was strange.

The nice parts were the skype and conference calls, along with the audio session we listened to . Very nice.

Late night. Training in Peoria and must get to sleep.

Jacque

How about them free interventions?

Now, I just found out about this recently. There are folks that are charging anywhere from $3,500 to $10,000 to "help" do Formal Interventions, a technique that had almost died out until A & E started up their "Interventions" show. I was recently contacted by a woman who had already agreed to let some "interventionist" do a formal intervention on her partner though it would mean one less week in treatment for him because of the interventionist's fee. Are you kidding? She could not even tell me his credentials.

I meet an "interventionist" recently in Illinois who does not even have an Associates degree, and don't get me wrong. She is a kind woman. When I asked her "Well, what do these folks get for their $3,500?", she replied that they help get the person a bed (I can do that for free and so can most counselors) and that if the person relapses (and what do you think the changes of that happening are, especially after an ambush like this?), she works with the family to help them cope and get the person back in treatment.

Isn't that family therapy? Is that not out of the scope of her practice as a CADC, a paraprofessional? Couldn't she could sued by the family if something went wrong? Shouldn't a person be a licensed therapist with a long and competent history as a family therapist and substance misuse training before they do anything with a family. Sure, they should. Yet families are desperate. I know. I watched my mom die from her alcoholism and though I tried to intervene, some total stranger said something to her in a loving way and the next day, she was in treatment. One doesn't need an ambush to assist someone into getting help. And it doesn't have to be residential treatment. Let the person develop their own treatment plan and have the family help out. C'mon, let us use our brains.