In the Spirit of Collaboration

In The Spirit of Collaboration

by Jane Eigner Mintz

In the month of September I attended three major gatherings of dedicated addiction treatment professionals; The Cape Cod Symposium (Cape Cod, MA), The Promises Polo Event (Los Angeles, CA) and the Moment of Change Conference (Palm Beach, FL). At the close of each of these events I left feeling the intense buzz of promise and possibility. I reveled in the good will, humor and comfort of my enduring friendships. Here’s why.

Being an interventionist can be a lonely existence. We work in isolation often in the recesses of our home offices, in our various corners of the world. We work under intense circumstances with much at stake for the families that retain us. We often put in 18 hour days because we have families calling us at all hours due to time zone differences. We return West Coast calls at night and take East Coast calls in the morning or vice versa. We carry backup cell batteries because we need them. We have flat ass syndrome, chronic back and leg aches all because we spend countless hours buckled up on flying sardine cans. We run through airports to catch connections with our hearts in our throats because if we miss those connections we can’t get to the families that need us in time to do our pre-intervention work. We travel with handheld GPS systems and are comfortable in strange locations. We are street smart and know how to move around strange cities with confidence. We often find it hard to remember where we’ve parked our rental cars because we’ve forgotten what car we’re driving at the time. We can be in two or even three different time zones in a week. Many of us have packed on more than a few pounds due to irregular eating compounded by being fed by friends and colleagues on the road.

But- all in all, ask any of us if we’d trade one minute of it. Not a chance. It’s who we are and what we do.

The beauty of attending conferences and charitable gatherings is that it bonds us together in immeasurable and profound ways. We trust that not only can we count on one another for failsafe support but that we must collectively hold up the families that count on us to bring them through the worst moments of their lives. What an honor. What a gift.

To truly collaborate binds us to one another. The strong handshakes of new colleagues and the big bear hugs from old ones speak louder than words. The feelings run deep and wide.

We’re truly bonded in the knowing that it takes all of us working together to change the course of the lives of those that are sick and suffering. Together we prevail. Alone we don’t.

That’s what I love about this business.

Train online to become a Field Model Interventionist at www.interventioncourses.com 
or www.3isonline.com


For more information about Jane Eigner Mintz and her private practice or speaking opportunities in addiction intervention and behavioral health crisis management please go to her website http://www.realifeinterventions.com/

How Continuing Education Saved My Life

HOW CONTINUING EDUCATION SAVED MY LIFE

From the time I was a small child I was profoundly influenced by my family’s passion for continuing education. Not only my parents, but my aunts, uncles, cousins and close family friends placed a premium on the pursuit of new ideas. It’s nearly impossible to count the collection of professional degrees and mind boggling successes that are warehoused among my people. How you put your tools into action was the stuff that you are admired for. Entrepreneurialism, thinking out of the box, creative networking, fascinating personal and professional networks, being socially and politically aware, reading the daily newspaper and watching the news were all natural bi-products of the passionate pursuit of one’s continuing educational endeavors.

Dinner conversation, at any family member’s house, is often loud, animated, filled with laughter countered with hot debate. I never fail to learn something new and always walk away being profoundly grateful that we belong to one another.

When I tanked on alcohol and emerged from treatment in 2000, I returned home depressed, deflated and friendless. I had made the commitment in treatment to give up my old network of drinking and cavorting girlfriends and had nothing to replace them with. I had never before traveled without a posse. I was so fragile and felt so alone. I, of course, immersed myself in AA but still felt adrift.

So I did what I knew how to do…continue my education. I went back to school.

I studied like crazy to pass those hideous graduate entrance exams. I applied to Graduate School in Community Counseling and got in. I worked all day, six days a week, went to grad school at night , cross trained in a multitude of specialties, and raised three kids as a single mom. I did this for four straight years. I battled my depression, fought exhaustion, learned how to cope with the stresses and strains of parenting, and slowly made new friends, all in sobriety and in school. Immersed in the excitement of learning, the possibilities of life opened up to me in a way that I never would have expected or predicted. In 2005, I opened up my private practice in addiction intervention and behavioral health crisis management. The rest is history.

Like the phoenix rising from the ashes, I was reborn. I was back. Bigger and better than ever.
So that’s my story on how continuing education saved my life. Because of my relentless pursuit of knowledge I’m able to reinvent myself anytime that I want. And now, I want to share this gift with you.

I am dedicating a very large portion of my time to promoting The Field Model of Intervention. It’s the first clinical and crisis oriented model of intervention available online. Additionally, I’ve founded the International Institute for Intervention Studies (3IS) which will be devoted to bringing the best in continuing education products and services to intervention, addiction and behavioral health professionals. I, of course, continue to serve those in need through my direct service intervention work with families.

No matter where you are in your life, whether you’re out of work, in a job that you’ve outgrown, feeling stagnant and apathetic or just want to expand your marketability or knowledge base, I urge you blaze your own continuing educational trail.

Why don’t you start with learning something about intervention?

It’s the fastest growing field within the addiction specialty. There certainly isn’t any shortage or people or families in crisis. We need really good, qualified, credentialed people out there on the front lines that are devoted to saving the sick and suffering from inevitable, horrible outcomes.

Join the ranks of the fast growing Field Interventionists. Become certified today…on your own time and at your own pace.

Be well. Learn and Prosper.

Jane

www.interventioncourses.com
www.3isonline.com
www.realifeinterventions.com
jane.mintz@realifeinterventions.com
jane@3isonline.com