Latest / Finding New Waters / From Prison to Purpose: Brian Hughes on Addiction, Redemption, and Working at Caron

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From Prison to Purpose: Brian Hughes on Addiction, Redemption, and Working at Caron · Finding New Waters

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Before that I was living under a bridge drinking 1/2 gallon of
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vodka a day thinking everything was fine.
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My first nudge from a judge was staying in in federal prison for
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for 40 days and then I got out. I got sober, got clean and
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couldn't go back to the beer business or the liquor business.
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Couldn't even go back to my hometown because I wasn't wanted
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and I believe no one trusted me. I started volunteering at a
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place in Connecticut called C Car and I got certified as a
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recovery coach and started working in recovery.
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And I had this amazing gift of from the, from the Department of
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Justice to have three years before from, from my, my plea
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bargaining of saying, yes, I did this, I'm taking responsibility,
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I'm guilty, my guilty plea until my sentencing.
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And in that time, I worked in recovery and gave back.
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And then my second nudge from a judge was saying even though I
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thought I wasn't getting to get any time, I was going to get
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time served. I got 30 months.
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So I was sent to to federal prison.
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That was my second nudge. All right.
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Welcome back everybody to another episode of Finding New
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Waters. My name is Bea Reeves.
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I'm the Director of Business Development here at New Waters
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Recovery in Raleigh, sitting here with our CEO, Justin
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McClendon and our very special guest today, Mr. Brian Hughes
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with Karen. And first of all, welcome,
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Brian. Second of all, where are you?
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Thanks, Bea. I appreciate it.
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I'm up in Connecticut today, but it's a privilege to be here.
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Appreciate you having me on. Yeah.
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Thank you man. Appreciate you being here.
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So Karen is one of the most respected treatment centers in
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the country, been around for 70 something years about is that
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what? How long have they has Karen?
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Correct. 70 plus years, Yes, correct.
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That's all. Yeah, and I have visited all.
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I've been to the Wernersville, PA and I've been to Florida and
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I think I've even been to the Atlanta office.
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And you also have a New York outpatient, is that right?
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New York, just a business office now we no longer have
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outpatient, just business office.
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Cool. Well, we're fans of Karen.
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We work with Karen a lot. And just for the people
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listening who are like, who's this Karen character?
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It's Caron, and that's named after a person, correct?
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Correct. It's actually the I was just on
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campus this week and took a few visitors through the museum and
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Dick Karen is the founder of of care and treatment centers.
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And there's a letter in in the museum.
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There's a letter between Bill Wilson and Dick Karen.
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So it's steeped in in recovery history in America.
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And actually Catherine Karen, his wife really started the
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first ever family program in the country.
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While you know Dick was working meeting with with members from a
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fellowship of a a Catherine was in her kitchen with the with the
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wives and children and meeting with and started and work in the
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family. So when you walk on campus, you
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know you're somewhere special. That's really cool and thank you
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for for pointing that out. And and something that people
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may or may not know that I mean, Lenon has been around almost as
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long as Alcoholics Anonymous itself with Lois Wilson, Bill
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Wilson, Co founder, Bay AS wife, starting the Al Anon program.
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So what did you do before you worked in this field?
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I had a different path to get here.
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I mean, similar to all of us. I, you know, my addiction took
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me to a pretty low rock bottom and gave me the, the really gave
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me the gift of desperation, which was one of the most
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valuable gifts I ever got. But I was a beer salesman for a
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long time. I was one of the first people
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hired at Sam Adams. I worked at Sam Adams for a long
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time. Then I was in the liquor
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industry until it was great, until my addiction, my drug of
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choice, alcohol, brought me to my knees and I needed to make a
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change. Was the was the nature of your
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work just a recipe for disaster where you already kind of like,
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what was it that you seek it out because you like to drink?
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Or how did it all come to be? Actually, no.
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I said no at first because I knew I like to drink.
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I, I knew I was an alcoholic when I, the very first time I
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drank. I was 14 and I got blackout
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drunk and generational alcoholism running around in my
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family. But I threw caution to the wind.
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I knew I was an alcoholic. But it, it, it worked for me.
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It actually did the reverse. It gave me the promises before
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it brought me to my knees. And growing up in in this little
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small, small New England town, my nickname was Booze Hughes and
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I was known as a drinker. And then I went to Arizona State
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because that's the best party school in the country.
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And from Arizona State I went to the Boston Beer Company, Sam
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Adams to sell beer. So I kept it close to me.
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I kept my enemies close. And it worked for me for a
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while. It gave my gave myself and and
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my ex-wife and our four kids a great life for a while.
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I hear you. We have.
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I've never heard anybody say what you just said.
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It gave me the promises before I hit bottom.
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And I mean, I mean, I get, I can see that where, you know, we
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think it is at least, you know, fear of, you know, people and of
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economic concern, economic insecurity will leave us because
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I'm, you know, it's impossible for for me to worry if I'm drunk
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or high enough, I guess. Well, you know, the liquid
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courage, I'd take a sip and I'd have liquid courage and and
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yeah, there are people in economic security left me
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things, you know, intuitive situations I didn't know how to
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handle was able to handle it. It it actually works for me for
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a while until as it we know it's a progressive disease and it it
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took me out and I made some, some major mistakes.
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You know, I work with to me, it's such a treat and such a
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gift to be working in this field and helping other people and
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being of service to other people and like going down to new
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waters and see what you do. It's just, I can't believe this
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is what I'm doing for a career now, but I didn't I?
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I like the young men I'm working with and women who have the
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courage to say, OK, I need to stop drinking.
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I didn't have that courage. I was handcuffed by the FBI and
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put in federal prison. And I thought everything was
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fine until then. But that's what brought me to
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well, something's got to change. My life isn't working anymore.
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Well, I guess they were that would Does this qualify as a
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nudge from a judge? It was in the page.
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It was a nudge from an, from handcuffs.
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Yeah, it was a it was a nudge from a judge.
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I actually got my first nudge from a judge.
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Put me in, left me in general population in a federal prison
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in Rhode Island for about 40 nights because I was such
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untrustworthy. If if my mouth was moving, I was
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lying. And I had lost all the trust of,
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of, of our four children of, you know, my wife, of my sister, of
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my family of and my closest friends that including a federal
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judge. So he said, I don't trust you,
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that we'll let you out on bond. Even though I had no priors.
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He made me sit there. And that for me was my first.
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Now you hear all the different people have different stories
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and, and for me, my recovery, it's been the very slow
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educational variety. Like I was like, OK, well, I'm
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in federal prison. Maybe, maybe this isn't work.
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Before that, I was living under a bridge, drinking 1/2 gallon of
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vodka a day, thinking everything was fine.
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So my first note from a judge was staying in in federal prison
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for for 40 days. And then I got out, I got sober,
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got clean and couldn't go back to the beer business or the
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liquor business, couldn't even go back to my hometown because I
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wasn't wanted standardly. No one trusted me.
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So I, I started volunteering at a place in Connecticut called C
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Car and I got certified as a recovery coach and started
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working in recovery. And I had this amazing gift of,
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from the, from the Department of Justice to have three years
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before from, from my, my plea bargaining of saying, yes, I did
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this, I'm taking responsibility, I'm guilty, my guilty plea until
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my sentencing. And in that time I worked in
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recovery and gave back. And then my second nudge from a
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judge was saying, even though I thought I wasn't going to get
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any time, I was going to get time served.
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I got 30 months. So I was sent to federal prison.
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That was my second nudge which I needed that too.
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Wow. And so you were you already
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working program of recovery when you went to prison?
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Luckily, yes, yeah, that's what saved me.
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Yeah. Were you able to go to meetings
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and and continue to work a program other than, you know,
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what's like, I guess prayer, meditation, reading?
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Were you? Was there a recovery community
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in prison? There wasn't when I got there,
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but we, I started one with a few other guys and we started a, a
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had been have been shut down because of COVID.
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So we reinstituted it and started it and yeah, recovery is
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what made a difference. And then that connection.
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Remember the prison chaplain coming up to me one of the first
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days I was there and I had my, my, my big book.
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And he said, well, try, try this book.
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It has some of the same principles.
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And it, it, it was an amazing experience.
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And I needed to be, I, I was, you know, I grew up in a
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wonderful town. I, I didn't want for anything.
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Had amazing parents, incredible sister, but I became, it's
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embarrassed. It's the truth.
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I, I was self-centered and entitled and that entitlement, I
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thought I was above the law. I thought I was AI thought I was
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better than people. So a couple stints in prison,
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everybody needs to go to prison once or twice because for, for,
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for people like me because it was that, that gift of
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desperation and the humiliation of that actually right sized me
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and enables me to be of service to other people today and get
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out of my own way and put others 1st and said of myself,
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everything was about me. I was so selfish and such a jerk
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that I needed that to be right sized and to be humble.
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I love that man and you know, and talks about how literature,
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how humility has gotten a bad way in this world.
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I'm probably paraphrasing or butchering the quote, but it,
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you know, gets mixed up with humiliation.
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But then it does go on to say that when in Step 5, there's
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something just a little bit more embarrassing enough about
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admitting to God, to ourselves and to another human being, the
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exact nature of our wrongs. Because if I can walk around
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just saying, well, you know, God knows about everything I did, so
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that's good enough. But without sharing with other
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human being, it's not really real right now.
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And I like to think that that for me, my pride and my bondage
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of self is what isolated me. And what gave me connection was
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being was was being humbled by my mistakes, my poor decisions.
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And in realizing that I'm just a human being to, you know, I was,
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I was incredibly flawed. I still am.
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I'm doing the best I can. And that realization that we're
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all just out there doing the best we can was a great gift for
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me. That's amazing.
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So what happens when you get out of prison?
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I feel like we're we got to hear the rest of the story now.
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What happens when you get out? Well, there wasn't a welcome
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home parade or anything except for I'll tell you the other
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thing, B, you asked about recovery in prison.
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My Home group. I had this little Home group
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that I, that I had in that two, 2 1/2 years, three years in
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between my arrest and being sent going away from my sentencing
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that I joined and, and, and those guys came out to drove 4
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hours there and four hours back to visit me in this little
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prison visiting room. So when I got out, I jumped
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right back in. I got rehired by the, the
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recovery where I was working at the time.
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I got rehired on a prison wall phone, went back in and and
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started working right back in recovery and and went back into
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my Home group. And that's where everything
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started. My sons, my adult sons, you
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know, I betrayed their trust and they had a hard time starting to
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earn that back because everything I had said to to
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them, I didn't keep any promises.
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So I just had to show them through my actions and not my
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words that I was reliable. But what I had to catch me was,
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was our program and the field we work in and, and, and like be, I
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see you at events now and it's like a, the amount of, of people
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that have have come into my life.
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Now for me, the get my recovery. I didn't get rainbows and
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angels. I got people and people that
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believed in me. It's interesting when I, when I
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first, my first job in recovery, I, the day that I got offered
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the job, I pled guilty to three counts.
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So I so I pled guilty to tax evasion, wire fraud and illegal
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monetary transaction. I drove the next day three hours
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to where I to to my hiring boss. She's like, what are you doing
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here? You don't start for two weeks.
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I said, well, I'm a felon. I don't know, but I'm crying
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telling her this. I couldn't believe that I was
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coming out of my mouth, but I'd become a felon.
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She goes, OK, for what? I told her, she goes, what else?
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I'm like, isn't that enough? Come that out those charges
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enough. And she was all right, we'll try
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me. And I said, you mean she goes,
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ask me if I'm a felon. Sure enough, she has some
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charges. And then she looked me dead in
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the eye and said, you know what? You're home like working in
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recovery. You're more valuable because
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your lived experience and your rock bottom will help people.
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I believe that now. I don't have nearly the assets I
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had. I don't have a home I don't have
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barely getting back into my children's lives.
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I owe restitution. So my biggest asset is my rock
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bottom and I can use it to help other people.
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Man, that's amazing. And what a testament to recovery
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and the way you are sober, your modality of recovery, which I
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share with you by you're thinking you're good to go, but
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you're living this life. And then you still surprisingly
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have to go to prison for 30 months and not only stay sober,
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but start a meeting in there and jump right back into your.
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I mean, it's just I, you know, without that recovery, without
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that foundation, I mean, I can't imagine that you would have been
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able to stay sober because people, I, from what I know,
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people will find a way in prison to drink and use drugs.
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Find a way It's it's more prevalent than it is out in
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society. You can get away from inside in
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prison. It's hard.
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I was in federal prison and I could have had any drug, any
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drink I wanted. And I think about what you just
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said the way you said it made me think about it.
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But every month, once in a while, my mind did I shiver Had
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I not been let out on bond from that from Rhode Island for it's
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called Wyatt Penitentiary and it's it's an ugly place if
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you're there. I was in general population.
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Had I not let out, I would have went back to using a drink
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because I wouldn't have been able to deal with it.
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I didn't have any of the tools of recovery.
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I didn't have any, you know, healthy coping skills.
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So I would have found a way to use and I would have went right
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down that path. And I was also I, I was also
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suicidal. I, I would have hurt myself or
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the the gift that that judge gave me, he gave me actually a
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nudge towards towards recovering and, and and having that time to
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go and get clean and sober was if I didn't have it, I don't
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know I'd be alive. Man, that's powerful.
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Unbelievable. Thank you for sharing that
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because like you just said, I mean, your most powerful asset,
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the most valuable asset, I don't want to put words in your mouth.
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I think that's what you said is your rock bottom and sharing.
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And you know, you only keep what we have by giving it away.
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And by you sharing this, I mean, God knows how many people have
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some similar situation, whether it's actual prison or something
14:58
that they thought it was or is impossible to get through or
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share. Man, thank you for sharing that
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with us and with the people who are listening and watching.
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Well. And Ryan, now sorry, go ahead,
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please. Well, you just sorry, I didn't
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mean to step on your sense. It it we all have something we
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may not have federal. Hopefully we don't have federal
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prison and having an affair and hurting the ones just I mean I
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have four children and and and an ex-wife.
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Those are the five people I supposed to protect, are the
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ones I hurt and I went to and I hurt my friends and family and
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went to federal prison for it. So hopefully other people out
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there don't have that story. But whatever's in our head,
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whatever our challenge is, it's in, it's ours.
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So it's it's scary. There's fear and, and, and, and
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standing there and going, this is what I went through and I'm
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still standing. It's OK, you can do this.
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I spent a lot of time in hospitals, in emergency rooms,
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sitting with people to come in either from, you know, DUI or an
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overdose or whatever it may be. And when I first walk in,
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they're like, what is this old white guy?
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How you going to help me? And I'm like, well, I was where
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you were at. I was living under a bridge and
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I was in federal prison. And I'm OK.
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And I don't have much to offer you but to sit and listen to you
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and, and to let you know that you can do this because whatever
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they're sitting with, it may not be federal prison.
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It may not be, you know, children that aren't proud of
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you. It may not be all the pain I
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caused, however they're sitting with something that they're
16:27
dealing that they that they are having trouble figuring out how
16:29
to deal with. And if I can give them just a
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little bit of hope, it's worth it because there's nothing.
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I don't have much else to share. I don't have anything else like
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my assets. And that's fine because I'm
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honest, because I'm reliable. I've never been in a better
16:43
place with, you know, personal happiness, so.
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That's amazing. And then not only are you
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working in treatment, but you work at one of the, you know,
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the longest or most well established treatments in the
16:53
country, which is pretty awesome.
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Well, don't say that out loud because I don't want anybody to
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figure it out. And then I could lose this check
16:58
because every time I walk in there, I'm like, I can't believe
17:00
I'm here like this is I'm can't believe I get to carry around.
17:04
And I would feel the same way at, you know, new waters or but
17:07
yes, I thank you. Working at Karen is just, and
17:10
it's interesting. When I went there, my hiring, my
17:14
hiring manager at the time was, was Harry Kinane and, and Betsy,
17:18
who's my, who's my manager now? When I went, they said, well,
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you got to go for an interview, part of your interview process,
17:24
you have to go for a tour. And towards the end of the tour,
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I was sitting across from the clinical director at Apple
17:29
Appleman. It was just this amazing woman.
17:32
And I was like, this feels like Boston Beer Company.
17:35
And I was comparing Karen to Sam Adams.
17:37
But it's because the culture and the people, the culture and the
17:40
people there incredible. The the, the clinical care that
17:44
that that they are. We offer people and the tenure
17:49
of the clinicians. It's in the culture.
17:51
You, you again, you walk on that on that campus, you know, in a
17:55
special place. So the fact that me, you know,
17:58
this old guy with a, with a, with a record, gets to carry
18:01
around a Karen card and represent and help people with
18:04
Karen is I, I can't believe it either.
18:07
Well, you know, it's one of the only fields that where this
18:11
stuff is a plus being an addict, addict and an alcoholic and a,
18:15
you know, record like this is valuable.
18:19
You know, what other field does that?
18:21
You know, and it and it's true. And you know, we were talking
18:22
about sitting with somebody like I don't, you know, the only
18:25
thing I have to offer is my story, my bottom and all that.
18:27
And you know, some this treatment and recovery and 12
18:33
step recovery, all of that stuff can get so overwhelming.
18:36
And there are, you know, their books and their meetings and
18:39
sponsors and chips and, you know, steps and traditions and
18:44
all this stuff. It's all necessary and I love
18:46
all of it. But it all started with just one
18:49
alcoholic known. The only way he could stay sober
18:51
was to talk to another alcoholic.
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And so sometimes it gets overly complicated and even overlooked
18:57
at that. The very essence of this is just
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two Alcoholics talking to each other.
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Well, I agree B and you know, the 1st place I got was able to
19:07
earn myself dignity back and respect was from other addicts
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and Alcoholics and from quite frankly, a judge and and and and
19:16
they gave me that respect and grace.
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So if I when I'm in anytime I'm sitting across from someone.
19:21
Yeah. You remember walking through new
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waters and seeing, you know, a patient that was in his room and
19:26
you gave us the tour and, and just stop it and smile and
19:29
saying you're how you doing? Like just giving people respect
19:31
and dignity because there's so much stigma about there's
19:35
stigma, stigma about who we are as people in recovery and who we
19:40
were as addicts or Alcoholics. Then you add the fount, you
19:42
know, a prisoner, a felon on top, like most of society wants
19:45
nothing to do with me. Wouldn't hire me to your point,
19:48
wouldn't bring me on a podcast to talk to me, wouldn't want me
19:51
representing their company and carrying around their business
19:54
car. Like I can't, Karen.
19:56
So I know what it's like to feel that that to be discriminated
20:00
against and and I've sat and that I've been embarrassed about
20:02
who I was. It's so much shame.
20:04
So if I can sit there and just look at people and smile and
20:07
say, you got this, we can do this.
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And they may, they may not turn get long term recovery.
20:12
They may not even make it into Karen.
20:14
But for that 2 minutes or 20 minutes, they, they they feel
20:17
like a respected human being. And that's what was given to me
20:21
so freely that I can at least I can do is give that back.
20:24
Yeah, that's. Amazing.
20:25
Love it. Yeah.
20:26
Well, so Karen, you are the you're the Northeast.
20:30
That's your area and where? And you live in Connecticut,
20:33
right? I live in Connecticut.
20:35
I'm actually up in New Canaan and in in a house where you been
20:38
a good friend of yours. I'm in New, so I have New
20:41
England. So I have Connecticut.
20:43
I live in Connecticut, Rhode Island, Ass Maine, New
20:46
Hampshire, Vermont. And then I also have North
20:49
Carolina, S Claremont, Tennessee for Karen with the Boston Beer
20:53
Company. I traveled the country, so there
20:55
was there was an opportunity we needed some help down there.
20:57
So I'm helping out in those three states as well.
21:00
And I get to go in and really my job is on both sides is if
21:04
someone's looking to get into treatment is helping them find
21:08
and navigate through all of everything you just said.
21:11
It's confusing. There's so many different
21:12
partners out there. There's books, there's meetings,
21:15
there's treatment centers, there's, there's IOP, there's,
21:17
you know, and I, I didn't know what all this meant.
21:19
So helping families navigate through that.
21:21
And if Karen makes sense for them, great.
21:23
If it doesn't, I'm going to be with them and help them go to
21:25
high watch or help them go to MCCA, whatever it may be.
21:30
And then on their way out or get down to new waters and look at
21:34
what's going on in their brain. And then when they're done with
21:36
treatment, help them find the right IOP or find the right
21:39
therapist, find a meeting, be there to catch them when they
21:42
come out so they can have that community.
21:44
Because 28 days is great. But really the work really
21:46
starts on the 29th day. And how do we help them find a
21:50
lighthouse or, or, you know, find Dilworth Center, whatever
21:54
it may be? Because I, I didn't know any of
21:56
that existed. And I'm there to be a resource
21:58
on both sides. I hear you.
22:00
That's, you know, that that attitude has served me and
22:03
served new waters well. You know, everybody who calls
22:05
we, we, we can't, we can't admit everybody, but we definitely
22:08
help everybody, you know, and if you basically said it, if
22:11
they're a good fit for us, for us, great.
22:13
If not, that's OK too. We just want to want to help
22:15
them. Well, I can't.
22:16
How many times, excuse me, how many times I step I I reach out
22:21
for you and hey, you know, I have someone down here.
22:25
Can you help me out? And you you jump right in and
22:28
you're giving me resources. It has nothing to do with new
22:31
waters, but you know, you're so connected be that you're helping
22:34
me help people. And it's it's to me.
22:37
Our CEO and president John Driscoll says it all the time.
22:40
But he says, you know, we don't compete with each other.
22:42
We're not competing with any treatment centers, Karen and new
22:44
orders, don't we? We know we collaborate, work
22:46
together, but we're all competing against this deadly
22:48
disease and we're losing. We're getting our ass kicked by
22:51
it. All of us combined are getting
22:53
our ass kicked everyday by this disease.
22:55
So we have to work together, yeah.
22:57
Well, this also goes back to we can only keep what we have by
22:59
giving it away. And one of the great pleasures
23:01
of my life, honestly, is when somebody says, do you have a,
23:04
you know, a therapist in Nashville and just, yeah, don't
23:08
even say yes, just share the contact.
23:10
You know, I mean, I just, I love doing that.
23:12
You know, I think it it helps two people, you know, and.
23:15
It's like a, it is, it's like a superpower, right?
23:17
It's like, you know, somebody reaches out and they're like, I
23:20
need help and I don't know what to do.
23:21
And it's like, oh man, if there's anything I can actually
23:23
do in this world, I can help you, you know, figure that out,
23:26
you know, which is fantastic. Yeah.
23:28
I mean, it's kind of like what you're just saying about like,
23:30
you know what you have to give your most valuable asset as your
23:33
bottom and that mean that's where all of what I'm what we're
23:36
talking about here comes from. Without my bottom, I wouldn't be
23:38
able to, you know, to help anybody.
23:41
You know, I was pretty helpless and certainly couldn't help
23:43
anybody until, you know, a little over 7 years ago.
23:46
Me too. I wasn't not not only was I not
23:48
helping anybody, I was hurting people.
23:50
Me too. I was hurting.
23:52
I wasn't helping me. And somebody said to me the
23:55
other day, I was with the family for a long time.
23:57
They're like, oh, this is amazing.
24:00
You were sent to us by Bo. And I'm like, well, it's pretty
24:02
selfish actually, because I'm doing this so I don't get, I get
24:06
out of my own head. I don't worry about all the
24:08
devastation I created. I don't sit in my own head.
24:11
So me sitting and helping someone, it's really all I can
24:15
do. That's it's it's selfish.
24:17
Yeah, well. Talking a lot about our own
24:20
personal stuff. Will you tell us in our audience
24:23
what all what all does Karen do and where we kind of whenever,
24:26
but I want to hear from you where the locations are and who
24:30
is served at each one. Yeah, thanks.
24:32
Thanks for the opportunity to talk about it.
24:33
So Pennsylvania is our main campus and in there we take we
24:39
take commercial insurance. So we do and this is new for
24:42
Karen. For years it was just private
24:44
pay and we now take a commercial insurance with all major
24:47
carriers basically. And we serve people from 17 up
24:52
through, you know, older adults in a variety of different
24:55
programs, men, men and women with substance use disorder as
24:59
the primary. And then of course, we all have
25:01
something else going on with behavioral mental health, which
25:03
we address. And our admissions team is
25:05
incredible and does a great job really diving in, interviewing
25:09
and making sure we put each individual in the right program.
25:13
We have in that in the with commercial insurance is
25:17
accepted. We have a relapse program, men
25:19
and women's, which is just incredible.
25:21
So we, you know, as you know, and going through the
25:23
foundation, you have to build of the understanding of recovery
25:27
and of a, A and a, whatever, whatever your pathway may be,
25:30
that even if when you, if you do relapse, you don't lose all
25:34
that, that still stays. So when we bring men and women
25:37
in that have had multiple stays in treatment, they come into our
25:40
men and women's relapse program and there's we really dive into
25:43
what happened when that slip came.
25:45
What were you thinking? We role play that that that they
25:48
are working together with their therapist, with their group and
25:51
with their peers. Next time when you go out, those
25:54
same pressures are going to be there.
25:55
What do we put in place so that you don't make that decision and
25:59
you don't relapse? And it's just, it's one of my
26:01
favorite programs that we have the men and women's relapse
26:03
program. We also have a young adult
26:06
program and then we have on the signature side which is the
26:09
private pay. We have an executive program at
26:12
Grandview where someone can come in ACEO of a business owner,
26:19
lawyers, attorneys, etcetera can come in where they still have to
26:22
have some depth of touch base at work and they can have access to
26:28
their computers and their phones to work while they're going
26:31
through treatment. And they're with like
26:33
individuals, they're with other CEO's and businessmen that are
26:36
going through the same thing and they can figure they work
26:38
together. That's called Grandview.
26:40
And then we have a program called Monarch, which is for
26:44
older adults. But really anyone that has
26:46
medically complex case, like for me, when I got put in prison, I
26:49
was a mess. I detoxed in a prison cell.
26:52
I had drank for 1000 straight days.
26:54
I was 53 years old and I was not in good shape that you know,
26:59
physically, obviously mentally and emotionally, but also
27:02
physically and we see that a lot.
27:04
We work with people that are post transplant whatever may be
27:07
in our Monarch program. And then we also have a PHPIOP
27:13
in Pennsylvania. Then our other location beating
27:16
UNS was in is down in Florida and Delray Beach and the state
27:19
is it's the Keel center and we have ocean Dr. homes, which is
27:23
where our signature programs are for the exactly the same way for
27:28
that executive adult who needs to stay in touch with their
27:33
family, has many assets and still needs to to have access to
27:38
them. And, and, and, and that can't
27:39
just completely put their life on hold, but has to deal with
27:42
their addiction as well as the Monarch older adult program.
27:45
And we have started taking insurance down in Florida.
27:48
You know, one of the best things that ever was said to me because
27:50
I, I, I was a low bottom, obviously in prison and where I
27:54
went to treatment and our good friend, mutual friend, Trey
27:58
Laird said, you know, come work here and I'm like, I'm working
28:00
at Lighthouse. I'm not sure.
28:01
And he said, well, addiction doesn't discriminate.
28:03
Discriminate. And he's so true.
28:05
Whether it's someone who's I was homeless at the end of my run
28:09
and as much business success as I had, I was homeless and then
28:12
put in prison and I needed help. Well, so does someone who has
28:15
all the money in the world. They still need help because it
28:18
doesn't discriminate. So Ocean Dr. we can help both,
28:22
both sides of the spectrum. Awesome.
28:24
And then the last part of that is our neural cognitive similar
28:27
what you guys do at New Waters. We have a neural cognitive
28:29
program down there run by Doctor Decker and doctor where we do a
28:33
complete similar New Waters where complete neural COG
28:36
assessment and then we have neural cog therapy etcetera.
28:39
Again, looking at it that this is this is not a disease for
28:44
because we're immoral or we want to drink, but it's a brain, a
28:47
disease of the brain and how can we help people get over that?
28:51
Yes. You're absolutely right.
28:53
And you said it earlier, you know, we treat primary
28:55
substance, but everybody's got something.
28:57
They're the very least just covering up with drugs and
29:00
alcohol. And one thing I wanted to just
29:02
emphasize is you said 17 year olds, you can take a 17 year old
29:05
in Pennsylvania, correct? Correct, that's.
29:07
That's a we get that, we get a call, you know, probably once a
29:10
month. Can you take somebody who'll be
29:12
18 on Tuesday? We can take them on Tuesday, you
29:15
know, so it's good there. Aren't any.
29:17
I think Texas you can be 17, but there are many options.
29:21
In Pennsylvania, we could take them on Monday.
29:23
There you go. Love it.
29:25
Yeah. Well, well, man, I just want to
29:28
say thank you so much for. I'm so glad to know you and have
29:31
you in the field and have you as a friend and in my, you know,
29:34
recovery community. My, you know, my work colleague
29:37
and a friend and Karen is so lucky to have you.
29:39
We like Justin said, I mean, we work with Karen all the time.
29:41
We love Karen. Lots of friends who are still
29:45
sober after going to Karen and they're lucky to have Brian.
29:49
So how does how do, how do people listening and watching
29:53
find you and find Karen? Obviously, but karen.org and
29:58
it's is a great website. Completely everything you need
30:01
is on there. And you can e-mail me at I'm B
30:03
Hughes BHUGHES and e-mail me and I'll get right back to you.
30:08
I mean, it's, it's it's all I do.
30:09
My passion used to be beer in the beer industry.
30:12
My passion is recovery. So if you reach out, I'll get
30:15
back to you and help you any way I can.
30:16
And Justin and B, this is a privilege.
30:18
You, you are both your mentors to me, like I learned from you.
30:23
I'm the oldest one sitting in here, but you got I'm, I'm, I'm
30:26
young and doing what I do and, and you guys, it's great
30:29
learning from the best and being able to, to privilege to call
30:32
you friends and mentors too. So thank you and thank you for
30:34
saying that. Great.
30:35
Thank you if you liked. What you heard today or?
30:37
Just want to know more? Give us a call on 9196708119 or
30:43
visit us at newwatersrecovery.com.
30:45
Thank you.