Imagine embarking on a journey where every step forward is a triumph over personal demons and past struggles. That's the remarkable path of JR, who joins us once again on the Valiant Living podcast, to share his inspirational climb from case manager to Director of Detox and Assessment. His story is a beacon of hope and a vivid illustration of the transformative power of our program—not only for those in our care but also for the dedicated individuals who work alongside them. As JR opens up about the challenges he's faced, his passion for the nurturing, nature-wrapped approach of our detox program shines through, setting the stage for a conversation filled with heart and earnest dedication.
The landscape of addiction treatment is often fraught with despair, but it is precisely in these depths that the smallest glimmers of hope can ignite a life-changing journey. Through the voices of our detox technicians and the recounting of a moving intervention, we explore the essence of empathy, the cornerstone of Valiant Living's philosophy. The episode weaves tales of resilience and the power of secondary intervention, spotlighting the critical and ongoing support needed to prevent relapse. It's a candid look at the human side of substance use disorder and the compassionate, professional care it demands.
Concluding the episode, we offer a rare glimpse into the delicate process of medically supervised detoxification and the dangers of facing depressant withdrawal alone. We share success stories that resonate with the healing and redemption that unfolds within our residential programs. These narratives aren't just about recovery; they're about the renewal of families and the revitalization of communities. They're about taking that vital first step toward a life of peace and freedom, knowing that the Valiant Living team is there to guide and support every inch of the way.
Imagine embarking on a journey where every step forward is a triumph over personal demons and past struggles. That's the remarkable path of JR, who joins us once again on the Valiant Living podcast, to share his inspirational climb from case manager to Director of Detox and Assessment. His story is a beacon of hope and a vivid illustration of the transformative power of our program—not only for those in our care but also for the dedicated individuals who work alongside them. As JR opens up about the challenges he's faced, his passion for the nurturing, nature-wrapped approach of our detox program shines through, setting the stage for a conversation filled with heart and earnest dedication.
The landscape of addiction treatment is often fraught with despair, but it is precisely in these depths that the smallest glimmers of hope can ignite a life-changing journey. Through the voices of our detox technicians and the recounting of a moving intervention, we explore the essence of empathy, the cornerstone of Valiant Living's philosophy. The episode weaves tales of resilience and the power of secondary intervention, spotlighting the critical and ongoing support needed to prevent relapse. It's a candid look at the human side of substance use disorder and the compassionate, professional care it demands.
Concluding the episode, we offer a rare glimpse into the delicate process of medically supervised detoxification and the dangers of facing depressant withdrawal alone. We share success stories that resonate with the healing and redemption that unfolds within our residential programs. These narratives aren't just about recovery; they're about the renewal of families and the revitalization of communities. They're about taking that vital first step toward a life of peace and freedom, knowing that the Valiant Living team is there to guide and support every inch of the way.
Well, hey, everyone. Welcome to the Valiant Living podcast, where we educate, encourage and empower you towards a life of peace and freedom. I'm your host, Drew Powell, and I'm a grateful alumni of the Valiant Living program. Valiant Living offers hope and transformational change to men and their families struggling with addiction and mental health challenges. So on this podcast you'll hear from the Valiant team, as well as stories of alumni who are living in recovery. If you or someone you love is struggling to overcome addiction or trauma, please call us at 720-756-7941 or you can email admissions at valiantlivingcom. We'd love to have a conversation with you, but for now let's dive into today's episode, JR. Thanks for coming back on the Valiant Living podcast, Drew.
Speaker 2:It's been so much of. So much has changed since the last time we hung out. I mean things, but man, it is. It's different now.
Speaker 1:Well, you're moving on up, You're getting promoted and just skyrocketing. I mean you're just, you're like the head of Haunted I mean, that's what they say.
Speaker 2:I don't know if I've yet internalized that. I, you know, I act as if sometimes, but at the time it feels right, right Like. It feels like I've landed in the right place and I'm really like what I'm doing right now. It's a breath of fresh air and, yeah, it's way different than working down at the men's program man by far and indeed yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, so tell us a little bit about that transition, because last time people would go back and listen to our first episode we had. I think you were like episode man three or four, it was early, maybe even two. I mean it was way early on Because I was like you were such a big part of my story. I was like I got to have JR on Plus. I just love talking. I mean we always have so much fun we're together. But you were my case manager when I was at Viant. But talk a little bit about the transition from what you were doing to what you're doing now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so actually shortly after the podcast that you and I recorded, right, like Michael Denning and I had a conversation about potentially me transferring out to the detox and assessment center and kind of running the clinical program out here, right, and he had a vision for a long time of starting this short term res program out here and kind of this stabilization, and I felt at that time that it was meant for me, right, just like when the stars align and things fall into place. And I had a conversation with Michael and I was like, hey, I think I'm that guy. And so shortly after that I think that was like July or August of 2023. I transferred out here to the Valiant Living Detox and Assessment and just started working clinically with the team up here and then was promoted to clinical coordinator and more recently, over the last three months or so, I'm the director of detox and assessment out here. Man, that is crazy to me.
Speaker 1:Well, all of us that know you and love you, I mean it's like it's so perfect for you. I mean we were just talking before we start recording. You're the way. You have a gift with dealing with people and I know you say sometimes you don't see it, but you just you care about people and you love people and you've got this beautiful way of being firm and direct but also caring and loving, probably because you've walked in our shoes before and you know what we're going through. But, man, like we're all just so proud of you, cheering you on and you're crushing it, and I can't wait to talk about the detox. You're kind of almost running two programs almost simultaneously.
Speaker 1:There. It's a little different, but in the Valiant way. We don't do things the normal way. We like to kind of reinvent and because in the credit to Michael Deneen, even hearing that you want to do that and it's great to be part of an organization where there's a growth path and a leadership path, but also in his credit, he doesn't want to do the same old things, the same old ways that weren't getting the right results. And so would you be willing just to kind of unpack for people that are maybe a little bit more unfamiliar. What is Valiant detox? And then we can kind of go into some of the residential side of things as well.
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. So Valiant Living, detox and Assessment and it's like it's interesting to me you were talking about like my journey through here and you know I'm acting lead tech right now I'm overseeing the tech department and a lot of them don't know this, but when Valiant Living, detox and Assessment started in a small assisted living home in Aurora, colorado, way back when, like four or five years ago, way back when, I was the first Overnight Detox tech, and so Overnight I was a house manager at the MEND program and so those were kind of like my two first jobs at Valiant in like the end of 2018, beginning of 2019.
Speaker 2:And so to come back in this capacity is kind of super cool to watch what it's evolved into right Like kind of see the fruits of everyone's labor and kind of seeing what this has blossomed into man. It's beautiful and we do some awesome work out here, right Like we're a medical detox and so we have a fabulous medical team that can handle any sort of detoxification from any sort of substance. You know where you would consider, you know, a social detox, a cute detox, and what that means is it's not really hospital filling in here, right Like you walk out of my office into the living room and like guys are in there chatting, sitting on the couch, you know eating lunch right now, and so it doesn't have very much of a hospital feel. It's not very institutional here and we're on six acres of property up here in Fort Lupton and it's beautiful out here, right Like I've got corn fields on one side, I've got a felf with fields on the other.
Speaker 2:You know, there's a small airport back there that we watch planes like land and take off, and I mean I have to shout out the chickens, man. When I heard the chicken still there, I was like, dude, I like here's okay, this is how bad it's gotten for me, right, like I'm seriously contemplating going to get a cow, a pair of cowboy boots, because it's a farm out here, dude, and it's so peaceful and quiet. But I need, I need a pair of cowboy boots, like you would rock.
Speaker 1:I'm picking you right now in the boots, maybe get you a hat. I mean you'd be like. You'd be like the rip of from Yellowstone of a valiant detox and assessment man. You could totally rock it and just stick with the Hawaiian shirt. You know, for people that are listening to you watch, hawaiian shirt, cowboy hat, boots.
Speaker 2:That would be. That would be a blast, that would be a good time, man Like does Nike make boots?
Speaker 1:cause I know you're always coming and rocking them fresh Nike's, so I don't know if they got some boots.
Speaker 2:Dude, my feet will probably go into a little bit of shock with the pair of cowboy boots, but I'm all about it.
Speaker 1:I was wondering if the chickens were there. Is that? I mean? I know we joke, but that's. That's kind of part of it, though, right, it's part of the, the environment that you're intentionally trying to create for people that are coming in and some of the worst moments of of their life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, you know I've got some. I've got some clients that are sitting out on the back porch right now. You know they're, you know they're getting some fresh air, watching the chickens, you know, uh, mosey around and and it's, you know it's peaceful out here, right, like there's not traffic. It's very, you know it, we're, we're very off the grid and so it's. It's a peaceful, quiet place to detox man, like it's, it's beautiful. I love coming out here. For that reason, get me out of the city, get me out of the hustle and bustle of traffic, lights and sirens and ambulances and somewhere quiet, where where our clients detox and get ready for their next step.
Speaker 1:Man, when I visited the detox, I everything you just said I felt it was. It was so peaceful, even the staff. It feels like you know they're there and they're connected, of course, and there's, there's care, but it doesn't. It just feels like you got a, you got space to breathe out there and the property was like cause. I don't have any experience with it. I had no idea that I was in the step of the detox and it was going to feel like this beautiful home in the country. I was like that is not the mental picture I had of, of of detox, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean we have clients that don't want to leave. They're like hey, can I, I'm on? Like hey, like your insurance is running out. We can definitely talk about the option. You know, keep you forever, but we really can't. Um, but I mean they feel it too right when they come out here and they're welcomed by our staff that like gets it right and they're um, you know they're welcomed by the other clients that are like hey, like I, I'm, I'm in your same shoes right now. Like, come hang out. Like let me tell me about what got you here and I'll tell you about what got me here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's so good man. Any other just like philosophical differences and how we approach detox and assessment, um compared to, like maybe some other traditional approaches outside of the setting.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think what I've learned out here, right, and I will, you know, I will preface this by saying that you know, like my own. So I was a detox tech for a couple of months and then transferred over to the men's program. So what I've learned about this level of care is that, you know, people come in and they're um, they're broken right, like they, they've hit their bottom and it is. It's the end of the road for them, right, and they often feel like like everything has come to a halt, right To a screeching stop, and so we're able to kind of, you know, help them pick that stuff up and see that like hey, man, like it may, it may seem like that right now, like you feel like crap because you're coming off of a substance.
Speaker 2:You know your, your family gave you an ultimatum to come here. You lost your job, you know you're about to lose your house, but like here's some hope in that, right, is that there's a lot of us that are walking around through here that the same thing happened to, and like there's great success stories that come out of this first step in the treatment process. Yeah, so, you know, believe in yourself that you can get through this part. My job is to help you navigate through the lack of insight of, like, hey, that's probably not the best idea, or that sounds like a great idea, or that is like a horrible idea. That's what I'm here for, right, to help you navigate, to help you kind of filter through all of that, but for the most part, right, like um, we're here picking up the pieces because we're you know, we're that, we're that first step man, people come in here, intoxicated people come in here, and then they wake up and they're like, oh my gosh, what happened?
Speaker 1:Man I was. I'm glad you mentioned that because I was profoundly impacted. So when I visited the detox, it was because I was there on a visit and Peter and I one of the our marketing, our chief marketing officer there, valiant he, he and I got to go pick up a gentleman who was a friend of his that called him and needed to come to detox. And, bro, I will tell you it was one of the most profound experiences I've ever had in my life. To go to see this guy at rock bottom but just to get our arms around him. And we just kind of held this dude and he was still he's coming off of three or four day thing and still heavily intoxicated, but just knew like he was.
Speaker 1:I just never seen a guy this broken in, this helpless. I mean, he just it was. But we got to bring him out there and kind of get, get him a fresh start. You know, hit the reset button and when we got there, the team, your team there was. So I don't know how to say this right, maybe you'll help me with the words, but they had empathy, but they also kind of normalized it for him to not make him feel so much shame, right Because he was feeling the shame. So when he came in, I just the way the team handled him, it just treated him like just a human, really like, not like hey, you're this drunk guy that's coming in, I don't, I don't know help me say this better but that your team's approach to receiving people in this moment is so impactful.
Speaker 2:Well, and I think, right like it comes down from Michael Dunneen's vision that we are a company of love, right. And so when you walk in the door here, right, like you're you walk into a place of love and compassion. And I think you said it perfectly right that, like we normalize the idea, the concept that this is a disease, that people are here for symptoms that they're not responsible for. Like it's not their fault that they're a raging addict or alcoholic and have no choice on like what or how much substances they put in their body. And so when they get here, it's like, yeah, man, like, and you said it right Like normalize the fact that you know we're here, because I think, in general, society hasn't done a really good job of dealing with people with these addictions. Right, with substance use disorder, and I'll say that for myself, or speaking for myself right, like you know the stigmas around addiction and you know even the way that people are treated in the. You know, in the, in the health system. I mean, if you go to the ER, you're shunned, you're looked down on because you're highly intoxicated. We're the complete opposite of that man. It's like you wanna come and cry in my office. I'll cry with you, man, I get it, and you know you talk about.
Speaker 2:Something that I wanna bring up is is that, like you know, another thing that we do here is what we call the secondary intervention, right, so the first intervention is getting the person in the door, right, like that's, that's the first intervention, getting them here.
Speaker 2:And then sometimes we have cases where people, will you know, get sober, come back to their senses, and they're like, oh, I don't need treatment, like I can go back to where I was at, back to what I was doing, I'll be fine, like seven days in. And they're like I will never drink again. And so we have the secondary intervention. And I just got off of an intervention I mean 20 minutes before we were doing this podcast for a family of a client that's like wants to go home and they're terrified that he's gonna, you know, drink himself to death if he goes home. And so, you know, facilitating those secondary interventions of like, hey, man, like that's not a good idea, like we're all afraid that you're gonna die from this disease if you don't take it serious and take the help that, like you're being offered today, yeah, how do you?
Speaker 1:how do you have those without betraying confidence? I'm just speaking in general terms. But how do you go about having those conversations, jr? Because those are tough, you know, and I mean you had intervention conversations with me as well, in a little bit different way. So I know I've personally been on the other side of that and I know how well you handle those situations. But I mean, what's the approach for someone like that? He's like hey, I'm all better now, I'm sobered up, I'm ready to go back to work. I mean, plus, there's anxiety about like well, I don't wanna lose my home, I don't lose my job. Is it just a matter of helping them with some perspective, or is it loving leverage, like Daneen says? Or how do you approach that?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that loving leverage is the approach that I've learned from Michael Daneen. You know finding that leverage. You know checking all of the collateral of like. You know gathering the information that I need.
Speaker 2:But you know, when I'm starting an intervention it's always two things right. It's like helping them recognize the lack of insight right when, like because in their brain they think in that moment that they're never gonna drink again. And so helping them recognize that. Hey, man, like for right now you might not ever drink again. But what happens in a couple of weeks when everything starts to fall apart? You know, things hit the fan, like what's the coping skill that you had coming in here? Was that substance, was that booze, was that bottle? Right, and so helping them recognize that.
Speaker 2:But I think, personally, what I do and I think this is something that we do really well here is our clients are like family right, and I kind of step into that place of if this was my dad, if this was my sister, if this was my brother, if this was my aunt, right, like what would I want them to know to help get them into treatment, and I kind of encouraged the family right To do the same in that process Of like hey, like. What would you tell your family in that moment and that's kind of where I lead is like hey, like. You might not know me, we've known each other for the last seven days, but this is what I know for sure and this is what I want to tell you. That's on my heart right now, that I think you need to hear.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man before we move on, because I want to talk about residential and I also want to talk about just how you help people transition to their next steps and find you know the next treatment center. Before we move on, I want to talk a little bit about safety, because there's some things that I learned I had no idea about how to safely detox. Right, this isn't a cold turkey approach, this isn't even you know, and please correct me if I'm wrong on this. But even encouraging people to come in and still be inebriated or whatever, because you want to help them safely, because I was just thinking to go to detox, someone quits and then you go in, but there is actually a way to do this for medical reasons, right? Can you explain some of that to me and the people listening? How does safety play into this detoxification process?
Speaker 2:Absolutely right, like when you start to consider substances like benzodiazepines, also known as like Xanax, valium, clonopin, ativan. Those sorts of medications act the same as like alcohol does, right, and they're depressants, and so what we know about the effects of these substances on the brain is, when you quit cold turkey, there's a high likelihood of a possibility of a seizure, right, and so anybody that's coming to us, right, like we're going to ask them not to change their using patterns, right, because we don't want to risk them having a seizure before they come into our door. So we're not ever going to recommend that, like you change anything before you get here, right, until you're in our care. And then that's kind of when we safely start to detox. And when I talk about subacute detox, that means that, like everything that ever, all of the meds that we use to detox people off of all substances are taken orally. So if you need an IV or anything that should be given intravenously, we're not going to do that here, because that's not the type of detox we are. But if you're able to swallow a pill, I mean you're appropriate for this detox.
Speaker 2:And so the safety aspect of it, right, is that, like we, you know, we know that these substances have effects on the brain and in the withdrawal part of the process, right, there's certain things that happen and so we want to do that safely, we want to do that comfortably and we want to do that with love and compassion, right? Because, I mean, no one wants to withdraw on a couch flopping like a fish. That is just miserable. And that is, I mean, back to kind of my story. I detoxed in a gel cell. I don't recommend that to anyone. If you're listening to this and you have the opportunity to go to a detox like ours, come to our detox, detox in a gel cell, Gel cells no fun.
Speaker 1:Nobody checking on you and making sure, yeah, you're just fighting it out, aren't you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I know the meds that they use in there and it's just like I was given two ibuprofen, two benadryl and some ammonium because my bowels were just out of whack, but that's what I detoxed with. Wow, four, five days.
Speaker 1:I think Not ideal. Definitely definitely come to a serene Colorado country setting in a house with people. Yeah, definitely choose the other path.
Speaker 2:Definitely not the way we do things here. And while you're living, detoxing, is nice, right, right.
Speaker 1:Well, that's really helpful to hear and I think especially for families that might be listening to this or the loved one that needs to come into detox just to kind of hear how that process works. And I know a big part of your emphasis there because it is remind me how long is the detox report? Is it a seven day?
Speaker 2:So it varies between five and seven days, right, like, depending on our provider's assessment with the patient or with the client, and so that's the average. It can go up to 10 days in some pretty significant difficult cases, but five to seven is our average.
Speaker 1:So I know, like referral is a big part of what you do too is helping people with their next steps. Can you kind of talk about that process? What does that look like? How do you determine the right, suitable program? Because you would assume, well, is this just a feeder program into our Valiant Living Men's program? And that does happen, but not exclusively. Some people just aren't right for that program. So can you talk a little bit about that process?
Speaker 2:Absolutely yeah. So I would say maybe 10, 15% of the clients that come through the door are even the right fit for the men's program. So a very low number of the people that we treat are even eligible for the men's program. What that means is that we have like 80 to, you know, 85% of people that either come in with an aftercare plan and we'll talk about that in a little bit or that don't have any aftercare plans, right, they're just here to detox. And so what we've done is we've created partnerships with trusted referral partners other programs in Denver or in Colorado that we trust their approach, we trust their vision, we trust their heart. Most importantly, right Like they're in the right place and so we'll refer.
Speaker 2:You know, the assessment part of the detox is. You know, myself and the amazing clinical team will do an assessment on these clients and figure out what the right place is for them, and then that'll be our recommendation of like hey, like, once you're done here, we recommend that you go here, let's get you on the phone with their team so you can ask any questions about their program, and then, once you're, once you're clear here medically, let's get you there.
Speaker 1:What percentage of people that comes into the detox and assessment would you say need some sort of aftercare program? Is it 100% of people or I mean from your stand. I know 100% of people don't do it but how many people need something after detox in your professional opinion?
Speaker 2:People always recommend that somebody follow up with aftercare following detox. We, you know, we that's not our style to recommend that like, hey, you detox, you can go home when you know. Our clinical team is always going to recommend something that you follow up with. Right, and what level that is, that depends on the assessment that's provided.
Speaker 1:And so everyone here.
Speaker 2:everyone that comes to the door leaves with a referral, and so, like our recommendation of what, what are you know what aftercare should look like? I would say in numbers, wise, right. Like I would say, about 60% of our clients come in with an aftercare program or plan. Aftercare plan, okay. And so what that means is we also detox for partners in the community that don't have a detox associated with their program, and so about 60% of the people that walk in the door come in knowing that once they're done detoxing with us, they're going to go to this next step right, that's almost like a pre, not prerequisite, but it's a pre before they go to the program.
Speaker 1:That makes sense.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I would say about 30 to 40% of the people that walk in the door don't have an aftercare plan, and so that's where our clinical team works with them of like, okay, what part of Denver are you in, what part of Colorado are you from? Like, does this work, does that work? And we work with our trusted partners that we refer to if someone comes in that doesn't have an aftercare plan.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So let's talk a little bit about our residential program and how that's a relatively new program, right? I mean it's under a year old. We're really excited about it. We're growing it and building it and it's picking up steam. What's the difference between detox and residential, and what purpose does the residential program serve?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so in my conversations with Michael Denene about kind of what his vision for this residential program was going to look like, it came out of a need, from kind of what his vision for Valiant was and to have a full continuum of care. Right, so we've got detox, we've got res, we've got PHP, we've got IO, pnop, so we've got the full continuum of care now at Valiant Living. But also from communications from our referral partners of like, hey, what we really need right now is this short term program for somebody that might have gone through the full, entire continuum of care.
Speaker 2:They started in detox, went to res, went to PHP IOP, where an OP and they were living in sober living and they might have had a little hiccup on the weekend.
Speaker 2:They needed detox. They need like a short restart. Don't need the full continuum of care again, right, but just need like a 10 to 14 day kind of jumpstart to get them back on track before we put them back in OP, before we put them back in sober living, and so that's kind of where that, where the res program evolved from and it's been pretty cool to watch how it's evolved into that and also primary mental house stabilization. You know, another thing that we've seen, you know a big need for in the community is someone that's been placed on an involuntary hold, we also also known as, like M1 holds or, you know, mental health hospital inpatient holds. There was a gap between getting released from there and continuing to stabilize on medications before they were ready for their next step, and so we you know we also work with different partners in the community of getting people from mental health inpatient hospitals and continuing to stabilize them here before they're ready for that next step.
Speaker 1:Gotcha. So how the residential program? Is that a couple weeks program, and what is the programming look like for that, as opposed to detox words at the same?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so. So the the res program is 10 to 14 days after they've been cleared medically right from detox, so it lands in about two weeks that someone's out here, two to three weeks just depending on what their needs are kind of communications with their referral partners. But what that group schedule looks like is it's five hours of group therapy a day, seven days a week, okay, and so that's a variety of things, right? Like you know our amazing behavioral health tech team, they do reflection in the morning. You know we we've got like yoga and meditation on Monday. We've got a day yoga and mindfulness on Mondays. You know we've got art therapy coming in on Tuesdays, I run a process group.
Speaker 2:On Wednesdays, mike Wagner comes in and talks about like relapse prevention and living in sobriety. On Fridays and weekend stuff is more experiential. So we do a lot of life skills on the weekends like this is how you do laundry, this is how you clean your room, this is how you cook for yourselves, right, and so weekends are a little bit more experiential based around here. But for the most part, our clients are in some sort of group therapy for five hours a day. That also includes one on one therapy with myself. They're also meeting with our fabulous psychiatry team yeah, the residential level of care and assessing their medication regimen and making sure they they've got the best potential, the best possible launch pad, before they had they hit their next step.
Speaker 1:I just was smiling as you were saying that, jr, because I just thinking about these men and women that are coming into the detox residential and I just for them to have time with you and to have time with Melissa and Natalie and Wagner, like I just like I don't know. Something rose up in me. We were talking about that, like the, a lot of these people don't know the gift that they're getting in, the people that they're about to meet. These are people that generally love and care and you set the tone for that there at the detox. But you know, it's like I just couldn't help but smile like man. I'm so glad they get. When you say wag, I was like man.
Speaker 1:I just remember a group of Mike Wagner. We call him coach. I don't know why. I don't see that we're coaching anything. I think big started calling that, but he just is so full of joy I'm like gosh. I just wish I had the same kind of joy that he has, you know, and for for men and women to be able to come into this program, to be able to rub shoulders with this great team is going to care for him. It's just it really special well, and you're absolutely right.
Speaker 2:Right like that. You know the the culture of valiant living Is. Is that is a culture because of All of our personalities kind of together. Right, this collective idea that, like, we've all been where you're at right now, we all get it and let us love you, man, right like, let us love you Until you can love yourself enough to make the next right step and you know I cannot have this episode was shouting out my amazing clinical team out here, casey Cartier.
Speaker 2:He's, he's been a valiant for a while now. Right like, started off as a tech. He's a fellow MSU Denver along, so go road runners. And you know Dan Mala is training to be a case manager as well, and so they're also going to be running groups. Nice, they do a lot of the case coordination. So if you're a referral partner and you work or deal with valiant living, you are going to be hearing from both of them and me on occasion of, like, getting these people to where they need to go. Yeah, and I mean I just I can't think of a better team to be working with. I mean don't get me wrong like the valiant living men's program, they don't. That's like, that's where I came from. That's where I grew up in.
Speaker 2:Yeah as like someone working in the industry. But you know the medical team, the tech team and the clinical team. I mean, we're a powerhouse up here.
Speaker 1:You really are, man. I think about Crystal and some of the others that are just like oh man, they're just rock stars out there, like he is on the ball.
Speaker 2:I mean they the amount of work that it takes to get someone in the door. And I mean we're like Crystal and Eli and Aaron. Man, like we're getting like three, two to three, four, sometimes four admits a day and I'm just like how do you guys have the time to coordinate this and mission right Like I, like I there's eight hours in a work day. Like where are you guys doing this?
Speaker 1:It is great. And for those that are listening and not watching, that noise you're hearing is JR getting excited and pounded on the desk because he gets so passionate about this. Like quit pounding on the deck. I love it, man. Well, and we're really are blessed in that regard. Yeah, I'm curious, jr. Is there any stories that you know we love, stories that valiant's why we do what we do, and Are there any anyone's that pop out on it? I know you can't use names, but I'm just. I'm just curious if there's any. When you look back at your time at the detox, any success stories that that come to top your mind.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I there. There was a young gentleman from Longmont and if he hears this podcast, which I hope he does, he'll know that I'm talking about him. But, you know, was on the brink of cirrhosis. He was younger than I am and I'm I still like to think I'm pretty young.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're gonna hit your prime, yet You're still climbing.
Speaker 2:So he you know he was he was starting to see the effects of, like, long-term alcohol use. You know some jaundice. You know we were concerned about some liver stuff and you know he he came into detox. You know we talked to him about the short-term residential program. He decided to stay. He ended up staying with us three weeks and then transitioned to to PHP and IOP and About four weeks ago I got an email from him and it was a picture of him and his wife and they were hiking at White Sands National Park in New Mexico and Just to see the smile on both of their faces, I mean they both sat in my office when we're trying to get him to agree to do our short-term res program and he wasn't having us.
Speaker 2:I mean I can't tell you how many times I'm the bad guy and then they come around and they're like, thank you very much for that, but I always play bad cop. That's just what I have to do up here. But he was. They were sitting on that sofa right behind me and she was crying because she thought she was gonna lose her husband to alcohol. He decided to, you know, to do this for him, did the short-term res program, went to aftercare and I mean they're, they're, they're doing awesome right that's incredible these emails I get I get emails all the time is like hey, like thank you for sending me to that program.
Speaker 2:It was such a great fit I'm doing good. This is what's going on. I mean we and I say this right that, like it's my honor to like watch this stuff happen right before my eyes, right like I I say this Sincerely that like I'm the luckiest man on the planet being able to watch this work done in my office, right like being able to be a witness of these miracles that are happening right in front of me and and just to be a part of it, I mean you know the fact that we get someone to treatment is a success story in of itself. Right, like you know that getting them to land somewhere is just I mean, why we, why we come to work up here, yeah, man, j R.
Speaker 1:I just the I just let my mind Wondered to the hundreds and thousands of people that you and your team are making a difference for in the generations.
Speaker 1:You know, I'm one of the, the many in the long line of people that you guys have impacted and in In my kids and my grandkids and great-grandkids are changed because of the work that you're you're doing. It just makes me, I get emotional thinking about it because it's just there's just nothing more valuable, nothing more important in this world. And then doing what you guys do, but also the way that you do it there's a lot of different ways, you know, to help you, but the way that you guys do it with such love and care, tenderness, but also very firm, direct it's, it's a really beautiful thing. Well, I know you got a lot going on. I'm gonna let you go, but before I do any, just kind of last words around detox Assessment and encouragement for people who might be looking at, you know, needing detox, either for themselves or family members. I want to kind of give you the last word here today.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would just say, like, if you're listening to this and you think you have a problem with substances or you just feel like you need some sort of stabilization to kind of get your life back, check us out on the internet, right Like I'll you know, valiant, detox, calm. Check out our team, check out the things that we do. Our admissions number is on that, on that website. Get ahold of our admissions team and you know, I just want to take this opportunity that, if you're listening to this podcast, you absolutely 100% deserve To take a break from the insanity that you're experiencing right now and do something For yourself to get your life back. And let us help you with that right, like, let us love on you until you're able to love yourself enough to take that next step, and we'd love to have you coming out with us.
Speaker 1:So well said, all right, man. Well, I'm gonna let you go go get your cowboy boots, get your hat and get back to work.
Speaker 2:They are lovely man it's always a good time spending time with you and let's hang out, dude.
Speaker 1:Well, we appreciate you listening to this episode of the valiant living podcast and our hope is that it helped you feel educated, encouraged and even empowered on your journey towards peace and freedom. If we can serve you or your loved one in any way, we'd love to have a conversation with you. You can call 720 756 7941 or email admissions. At valiant living calm. At valiant living, we treat the whole person so you not only survive, but you thrive in the life you deserve. And finally, if this episode has been helpful to you, it would mean a lot to us if you subscribe and even share it with your friends and family. You can also follow along with us on Instagram and Facebook by simply searching valiant living. Thanks again for listening and supporting the valiant living podcast. We'll see you next week. You.