Bridge NEWS

Jeremy Blair, Director of Operations at The Bridge, commented on the level of excellence and professionalism associated with the material from The Change Companies. Their collaboration with respected experts in the treatment field has created a tool that works well with the

October | 2010

curriculum and philosophy of The Bridge. “Interactive Journaling gives clients a chance to see what we’re talking about in writing,” said one counselor. The presentation of the material helps clients relate to the journals and this helps them and the staff of The Bridge. “When a client finishes a journal, we can use their results as a compliment to Motivational Interviewing and, together, identify a more effective path of treatment for the individual,” said Brandy Johnson. Brandy is the training coordinator for The Bridge and has served in many counseling roles in her tenure. She is also a certified trainer for the Interactive Journaling process. Journals used by The Bridge include a wide range of topics designed to help the clients understand more about themselves, their struggles, and their need to change patterns in their lives. Journals focus on values, family, anger, spirituality, self awareness, and relating to others. Most programs start with a journal entitled “Why Am I Here?” which helps clients understand that it is acceptable to ask for help while asking them to look a little deeper at the influences in their lives.

Volume 3

The wide variety of themes helps reach clients who are in different stages in their recovery process. Shannon Rubio, a counselor at the Westwood program, commented about a client who never understood that they wanted to improve communications with their father until they completed the journal on family. “When the clients are able to open up through the journals, it helps us understand them better but it helps them understand themselves. This is important to their success,” said Johnson.

According the The Change Companies, more than 20

million people have used the Interactive Journals.

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Interactive JournalingOpening New Doors for Bridge Clients

When the Bridge began using Interactive Journals from The Change Companies in 2008, it was well received by the clients. Eric, a client at the Mobile facility, said “it helped me get a better understanding of why I needed treatment.”

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HonorExcellence

Integrity

1 Interactive Journaling2 Education at the Bridge

Executive Director’s Notes3 Excellence in Clinical

Operations Communications Corner

4 TASS Rafting Trip Insurance Benefits

5 Reseach Programs Davis Grand Opening

6 The Bridge Comes to Selma Bridge Celebrations

BridgeNEWS

The Bridge strives to be a resource for the community when it comes to information on adolescent abuse of drugs and alcohol. This story, like so many others, reinforces the fact that drug and alcohol use among teens is not specific to a certain demographic.

Executive Director’s

NotesEducation at The Bridge

It’s All About the Kids

The Bridge operates schools at the residential programs in Gadsden and Mobile and provides a school and vocational training in the Davis Treatment program in Montgomery.

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The arrival of the school year brings plenty of challenges, but the staff at the Bridge in Gadsden turns each one into an opportunity to grow to meet the needs of the students. Recently, a client arrived into Northwood who was a senior in high school advanced placement (AP) courses. With the help of The Bridge IT staff and the support of the Attalla school system, the student was able to continue with his AP coursework. “He was unique in the sense that his work was advanced,” said Arthur Crumpler, “but we strive to provide for the needs of all of our students.” Mr. Crumpler, who directs the Black Creek Academy for The Bridge through

the Attalla school system, has worked consistently to help students maintain their home school coursework and has assisted many students continuing their education. Getting an advanced placement student presented a new challenge for the program. Thanks to the efforts of the Attalla schools, The Bridge is in the process of equipping classrooms with updated computer equipment. We were able to take our new netbooks that were being deployed around campus and utilize them to help this young man continue with his programs. He didn’t get special treatment, but he presented a special challenge,” said Crumpler.

Think of our new excellence initiative as a marathon, not a sprint. Project 2020 – A Vision for Excellence is a ten-year effort to emphasize excellence in every aspect of our operations. This kind of complete culture change does not happen quickly. Before we can move toward organizational excellence we must look at our individual efforts. There are 8 qualities of excellence we should all consider.

• Talents. We each have unique talents we can bring to our jobs each day. We need to recognize those talents, build upon them, and use them in our daily jobs.• Personal Success. Invest in your success so you’re completely passionate and motivated towards realizing your personal goals.• Integrity. Be sure your “audio” is aligned with your “video.” Walk the talk. Always do the right thing and never compromise your personal integrity. • Passion. Keep that fire burning within! Passion is when we truly and deeply care about what we do. Passion is at the core of excellence and it should guide your vision. • High Standards. Standards of excellence are those that are flawless and impeccable. Excellence implies striving for the highest quality. Good isn’t enough; we need to exceed expectations and continually raise the bar for excellence. • Creativity and Innovation. The belief that anything is possible paves the way for creative thinking. “Outside the box” thinking produces innovation and new ways of doing things. • Self-awareness. Pay attention to what brings out the best in you. Know your limitations and know what “puts you in the zone.” • Commitment. To pursue excellence requires lots of “stick-to-it-ness.” You can’t just “try” excellence. It is an uncompromising and unending effort that sometimes drives us, and sometimes anchors us, during challenging times.

So, organizational excellence begins with personal excellence. We can all now challenge ourselves to begin the Project 2020 marathon.

— Tim Naugher

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

In the last newsletter we announced our new initiative, Project 2020 – A Vision for Excellence. As a component of this initiative we also established an Excellence in Clinical Operations Committee.

The committee has been charged with examining and developing many clinical aspects of our current programs. The first thing the committee wanted to establish was our clinical philosophy. We felt it was important to have a unified philosophy that was shared across all programs throughout The Bridge. After gathering input from many of our residential and community-based programs the committee developed the following clinical philosophy: Through Honor, Excellence and Integrity, we at The Bridge are dedicated to helping clients identify, adapt, and effectively deal with difficult and challenging situations. The key elements of our clinical philosophy signify that we believe: 1 Our competent and ethical therapists commit to providing best practice systems of care through an integrative approach that allows for inclusive clinical assessment, combined with individualized treatment planning and services. 2 Clients have the ability to adapt and grow by recognizing and utilizing the strengths and resources they already possess. 3 Through a collaborative and encouraging relationship, therapists provide tools and resources to assist clients in recognizing their freedom and responsibility to choose their behavior.

The Path

TowardExcellence

Communication CornerAccording to our

philosophy in the stages of change, recovery is a process. Excellence is also a process to be taken one step at a time - always seeking to improve.

In any organization, communication is an important ingredient of long term success. When we launched Project 2020 last Spring, I was asked to lead the Committee on Excellence in Public Relations. Over the last couple of months, my regular marketing team has placed their focus on two things – internal and external public relations. An organization cannot overlook internal communication. When we communicate effectively within an organization, we will be more productive, we will be more aware, and we will provide better service. Each of these internal things contributes to how we are perceived by clients, peers, and the community. Because we always seek excellence as an organization, we must constantly improve the message we send to each other in order to send the proper message to the greater community. My committee has developed a short survey to learn more about the way we communicate. It will focus on how you get news about the Bridge (newsletter, email, web, etc.) and what information is important to you as you seek excellence in your own duties. We look forward to your thoughts and comments. Thanks to everyone for your responses to the GOOD Monday emails. When we stop and notice the good work around us, it makes a difference.

— Terry Schrimscher

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4 Clients and counselors will approach the change process through a holistic system of care to restore balance between clients and their life goals; physical and emotional well-being; cultural beliefs; family and community relationships and spiritual connectedness. This philosophy provides the foundation for our clinical training, supervision, curricula and many other components that are or will become an integral part of our clinical programs. We are excited about this renewed emphasis on the clinical quality of our programs. In the coming weeks, our treatment teams will begin utilizing a discussion guide centered on this philosophy in clinical staffing meetings. We are also working on developing a standardized clinical supervision process and training on clinical competencies. If you have any ideas or suggestions for improving our clinical operations, feel free to contact any member of the ECO committee. We welcome you to join us as we seek continuous improvement in our clinical operations. Each day we want to be able to say, we are better today than we were yesterday. — Jeremy Blair Director of Operations

BridgeNEWS

Health Insurance Premiums

...No Increase!

TASS, Tubing & TherapyTreatment in the Great Outdoors

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A river is not a conventional therapeutic environment. Tubing on a river requires one to leave behind the conveniences and safeties of urban life and rely on oneself—a scary situation for those who are accustomed to an urban landscape.

On July 22, 2010, the Tuscaloosa Adolescent Support Services (TASS) program from the Tuscaloosa campus adventured on the Little Cahaba River in Bibb County. TASS Program Manager Toi Gordon supervised the outing with the assistance of other staff members and Juvenile Probation Officer Jared Ferguson. The day started early with clients and staff meeting at the Tuscaloosa campus at 8:00 am and departing by 8:30. It took roughly one hour to reach Limestone Canoes in Bulldog Bend. The participants were in the water by 10:00.

Although some were hesitant at first,

once the clients got into the water and adjusted to their new surroundings, they enjoyed the experience while learning valuable lessons about

themselves. One young lady who was initially afraid when a dragonfly landed on her tube was later seen smiling and studying the insect and enjoying the calm of her surroundings. Without realizing that they were in a therapeutic situation, the clients discovered a new activity that could replace some of the self-destructive behaviors that brought them to TASS; learned they could enjoy themselves without cell phones, mp3 players, or other electronic devices providing a distraction; increased their senses of self-efficacy and self-confidence; and learned how to open up to new experiences outside of their comfort zones.

— Dawna G. Lockhart

We are pleased to announce that employees of The Bridge will see no increase in their BCBS health insurance premiums during open enrollment for next year. This is great news for The Bridge and our employees since many groups are seeing health insurance premium increases of 10 to 15 %.

We encourage our employees to continue using their health insurance benefits wisely to help hold future premium increases to a minimum. The Bridge is committed to offering our employees the best possible health insurance coverage at the best valued price.

— Steve Richey

To be excellent, you have to constantly seek to raise the standard for yourself – thus excellence is a process not a destination. In drug treatment, understanding the addict helps improve treatment techniques and prevention methods. As drugs and their availability change, it is critical to understand addiction trends in order to improve treatment. This year, The Bridge entered into two academic research studies aimed at understanding behaviors associated with addiction.

“Those of us in the treatment field have too long ignored the importance of research. Research is the light that shines on our processes, work flows, and all our endeavors. We need to always be involved in science-based research to either validate our work or find new ways to improve the work we do.,” said Tim Naugher, Executive Director of The Bridge. In the first study, which is ongoing, The Bridge partnered with Jacksonville State University to study gain loss asymmetry among adolescent substance abusers. In layman’s terms, this study will explore the link between substance abuse and impulsive behaviors. Clients will be given a written questionnaire which asks them to choose between immediate gratification and a delayed reward where the delayed reward is of greater long term value. It is hoped that this study will contribute valuable data on the impulsive nature of addiction. In the second study, The Bridge is partnering with the Treatment Research Institute (TRI), of Philadelphia, to gather data on the use of the internet to obtain drugs. The Bridge is one of 30 adolescent facilities in the United States selected for this project. The TRI project will consist of a web-based survey designed to gather demographic information and drug use data. The study will determine how many adolescents use the internet to research information about drugs prior to use and how many obtain drugs through online sources. Participation in the research is voluntary and is done with the consent of parents and guardians. Great care is taken to preserve the privacy of each individual in treatment. It is hoped that the knowledge obtained in this study can help adolescents in treatment and help governments craft better legislation regulating the online advertising and availability of prescription drugs without a prescription.

The Bridge

TowardExcellence

5

The Grand Opening of the

Davis Treatment Program

The Davis Treatment Program officially opened in August, along with the school year in Alabama. On October 1, 2010, the Bridge’s new community-based program held a grand opening celebration for the program.

The Honorable Judge Charles Price (pictured above) opened the event with an explanation of the program. He was joined at the podium by Chief Justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, Sue Bell Cobb, Montgomery County District Attorney Ellen Brooks, and Bruce Howell, administrator of the Montgomery Juvenile Court System.

Executive Director of The Bridge, Tim Naugher, Associate Executive Director Mark Spurlock, and Director of Corporate Compliance Jim Herring each spoke briefly about the program and its goals before guests were given a tour of the facility.

The Davis Program is more than a day or evening reporting center, it is a vocational training program and a school featuring courses in Casey life skills and job placement services.

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Important Contact Information

Teacher of the Year Nona Rogers, from the Gadsden campus, was selected as Teacher of the Year by the Norris Scholarship Foundation.

Grand Opening Celebration The Davis Treatment Program in Montgomery celebrated the opening of the facility with a reception on October 1, 2010.

The Bridge Celebrations:

Spirit of Recovery Ashleigh Simon was awarded the Spirit of Recovery award for National Recovery Month in recognition of 10 years of service in the recovery community in Mobile.

Recovery Month The Bridge participated in Recovery Month celebrations in Mobile, Gadsden, Birmingham and Selma. Miah Tolbert, of Selma, helped coordinate the event and raised more than $500 for the recovery celebration.

Please share news with The Bridge by following us on Twitter @The BridgeInc. You can also become a fan of The Bridge on Facebook. Learn more by visiting our home page on the web at

www.bridgeinc.org.

The Bridge Comes to SelmaDrug Courts, Evening Reporting & Streamlined Community Services

The Juvenile Delinquency Drug Court and the Family Dependency Drug Court are coming up on their one year anniversary October 1. The family dependency drug court is currently serving 45 families in Dallas County where parents are dealing with drug, alcohol, child custody, and legal issues. The program works with families to help parents recover from drugs/alcohol and retain or return custody of their children. Parents needing substance abuse treatment are referred to the Cahaba Cares program, a division of Cahaba Mental Health Center, or attendance to parenting classes through local church organizations, and/or GED classes through the local library or Wallace College. The Juvenile Delinquency Drug Court currently has 12 participants who have come before the court with a past judicial history or have current charges that stem from or are based around drug related activities. Cahaba Cares Adolescent division, as well as other local entities provide drug related treatment services as well as family counseling, and individual counseling. There are also other local agencies that we partner with to provide mentoring, GED preparation, basic living / vocational skills and many other needs. Miah Tolbert has been hired to coordinate the Juvenile and Family Drug Courts under her position as the Dallas County Grants Manager. She has come aboard the Bridge Inc. flagship with her sleeves rolled up and dove right into the mix and has really developed a passion for her job. Miah and Greg hosted an event for national recovery month in September. The event was a breakfast for the members of the juvenile and family drug courts and also the treatment providers and community liaisons. The Bridge Inc. helped sponsor the event and Miah raised a total of over $500 in a short period of time to put on a 1st class event, representing another notch in the belt for the Bridge Inc, in our commitment to excellence. Our next project which is in the development stages will be to open an Evening

Reporting Program (ERP), working with those individuals who have had trouble within the juvenile court systems to the point where they have a held order to a program at the Department of Youth Services. This ERP will offer the youth a chance to stay in the community and have the opportunity to seek guidance and get help with any educational or treatment issues needs, as well as putting a focus on the importance of family. Judge Armstrong has played an integral role in the success of the Drug Court Programs donating his time outside of regular court hours to work with the individuals in the Juvenile and Family Drug Courts and he has also committed a block of court time to help with the Supervision of the Evening Reporting Program and the Dallas County Compass Network. The Compass Network will look to develop relationships within the community between treatment providers, educational entities, judicial services and the human services organizations, so that all agencies are offer seamless services to community members with the goal of improving quality of life.