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Barbara Aday-Garcia, Management Consultant in Addiction Treatment
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Barbara Aday-Garcia is an accomplished CEO with over 39 years of extensive experience in the field of alcohol and drug use recovery services. Her career is distinguished by her leadership in program development, implementation, and management, particularly within the alcohol and drug treatment sectors. Barbara’s deep understanding of California’s DUI System and addiction treatment regulations has positioned her as a pivotal figure in shaping recovery services and policies.
Currently serving as the CEO of AG Management Consulting LLC, Barbara oversees a wide range of services aimed at enhancing organizational efficiency, standardization, and fiscal stability. Her work includes managing the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs, where she has been instrumental in the executive and administrative management of the association’s operations, including counselor certification and continuing education.
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Bye.
Introduction to 'Destination Change'
00:00:05
Speaker
Welcome to Destination Change, a podcast where we talk recovery, treatment, and more. I'm your host, Angie Fiedler-Sutton, with the National Behavioral Health Association providers, and I use she, her pronouns.
Meet Barbara Dey Garcia
00:00:15
Speaker
My guest today is Barbara Dey Garcia. Barbara is an accomplished CEO with over 39 years of extensive experience in the field of alcohol and drug use recovery services.
00:00:23
Speaker
Her career is distinguished by her leadership and program development, implementation, and management, particularly within the alcohol and drug treatment sectors.
Barbara's Impact on Recovery Services
00:00:31
Speaker
Barbara's deep understanding of California's DUI system and addiction treatment regulations has positioned her as a pivotal figure in shaping recovery services and policies.
00:00:40
Speaker
Currently serving as the CEO of AG Management Consulting, Barbara oversees a wide range of services aimed at enhancing organizational efficiency, standardization, and fiscal stability. Her work includes managing the California Association of DUI Treatment Programs, where she has been instrumental in the executive and administrative management of the association's operations, including counselor certification and continuing education.
Entering the Addiction Treatment Field
00:01:01
Speaker
Thank you for joining us today, Barbara. Thank you for having me. and Now, ah longtime listeners know exactly what I'm going to ask you first. It's always the first question. I like hearing origin stories.
00:01:12
Speaker
What made you decide to get into the addiction treatment field rather than all the other job opportunities that are out there for you? Well, fresh out of high school, I started working in assembly and i was on the night crew and the night crew was a wild bunch.
00:01:31
Speaker
And so that kind of springboarded into what do I really want to do with my life? And I happened to stumble upon Serenity House and Fellowship Center in Escondido through different family members.
00:01:48
Speaker
Quite impressive. Both of those recovery homes have changed so many lives. And one of the, well, the Fellowship Center was putting together a adolescent program.
00:02:04
Speaker
Now, I was 23 at this point. at this point And looking for something to do. When they started this adolescent program, I was all on board because I knew for young people, there wasn't a lot of education out there. I grew up in the time where drug and alcohol use and problems with that was not really addressed in the way that we address them today.
Challenges with Adolescent Recovery Programs
00:02:30
Speaker
We saw the, you know, scare videos of marijuana and people going crazy. And we knew that that wasn't the case. Drugs and alcohol were prevalent in, well, middle school, elementary school, you know, all of those high school, certainly.
00:02:46
Speaker
But it wasn't something that was addressed outright. And so I thought that that would be something that I could get on board with and really make a difference, especially because I was still kind of young. So I could relate to ah what people were going through.
00:03:01
Speaker
So that is basically my journey to career that is, as you mentioned, over 39 years of service. And it started with the adolescents and it was such a fun job.
00:03:17
Speaker
Number one, being on the ground floor of building something was exciting. But we did. We went into the schools. We met with parents. We met with ah school officials and tried to get information into the schools in a way that would have a impact on the students.
00:03:36
Speaker
And at that time, there were a lot of different programs that were being built to address the problem that hadn't been talked about. And, you know, they ah we focused a lot on those types of programs, helping them to develop those programmatic things, especially in continuation schools and getting the students that really weren't being heard.
00:04:00
Speaker
One of the things that I know your listeners who work with adolescents, it's a tough time in life, as we all know. You add alcohol and drugs to it, and that population is kind of trapped on where they they're at.
00:04:16
Speaker
They have living situations that they are stuck in, and their emotions are all over the place. So it's a challenging population, but also very rewarding.
Navigating the Recovery Journey
00:04:28
Speaker
That's very good work. One of the reasons we call this podcast Destination Change is because we viewed recovery as a journey. It's not a one-way, know, street line. You can go all over the place. You can pull back and all that.
00:04:42
Speaker
Talk about some of how you kind of see that in your day-to-day and what kind of barriers you see on a regular basis to that keeps people from furthering their recovery journey. Well, that's a really good, thoughtful question.
00:04:56
Speaker
And recovery to me is moving forward. So how do you do that? Everybody has a different path to drive. And some people have a harder path than others.
00:05:08
Speaker
ah We would look at some of the trauma that people can experience in early childhood through those teenage years into adulthood. And a lot of times those traumas will hold us back from our recovery journey.
00:05:25
Speaker
So it's really looking forward and saying, you know, why am I getting in recovery and being honest, which is hard for addicts to do You know, that that honesty, that self-reflection, especially if you're still using is very, very difficult.
00:05:44
Speaker
That's where the counselor comes into to play. When we stumble across someone, whether they're mandated to treatment or they've chosen treatment because their family is at the end of the rope, most people probably don't go, you know, skipping into the treatment center. Hi, I'm here.
00:06:02
Speaker
I'm ready to get sober for the rest of my life. That's generally not the way it goes. It's some kind of crisis that participates that process. stepping through the door for the first time.
00:06:16
Speaker
We have said through the years that certainly relapse a part of recovery. And, you know, to a certain extent, that's true. As counselors, I think it's
Role of Counselors in Recovery
00:06:27
Speaker
important to understand too that the message is that, yes, relapse can be a part of recovery, but relapse could also mean the end of everything.
00:06:37
Speaker
So what can we do to help people with that relapse prevention. So knowing that people come into treatment for usually a crisis intervention, whether it be legal or family or financial, maybe it's the job says, ah you go into treatment or we're done with you.
00:06:57
Speaker
So the different ways that people get in, it's really then what happens in that experience, how that person is treated, how that person is able to self-evaluate.
00:07:11
Speaker
And that's the hardest thing, as we all know, for us to do, whether we're sober or not. Self-evaluation is very tricky. It's very difficult and it can be very humbling.
00:07:24
Speaker
So when you look at the trauma that people may have experienced, and some of that trauma is self-inflicted also because of the use of alcohol and drugs, that there's a lot of shame that goes along with that.
00:07:37
Speaker
So if I address and self-evaluate, that shame may be so heavy. that I'm not able to get through it. So it's really that individual. And I think when you look at our treatment system, it's so vast that we want to make sure that we can still see each person as an individual and look at what would their journey and help them see that they can get through to the other side. And that's difficult sometimes.
00:08:07
Speaker
You know, your primary job is developing programs and, and you know, management consultant. The job description is kind of in the title. But kind of give me um sort of the elevator pitch of what
Executive Management in Recovery Services
00:08:20
Speaker
that means to you. What do you do?
00:08:22
Speaker
Well, the business that I have is executive and administrative management consulting. And it encompasses quite, that's kind of blow a large, vast number of items that we could get into as a company. And that's really the way I wanted it. I wanted to be of service.
00:08:40
Speaker
I've been in the field so long in so many different positions. I've been a clerical, ah accounts receivable, a counselor, a supervisor, a manager.
00:08:51
Speaker
And so I've dealt with a lot of different clients in many different situations. Like I said, a lot of from the crisis to the recovery and sometimes the relapse as well as the staff.
00:09:06
Speaker
And I, I love it. I love managing things. I like bringing order to chaos and I think that within treatment programs, sometimes it's a challenge to think of it as a business.
00:09:21
Speaker
And within that business mindset, what you can find is structure and calm, proper procedures. So everyone within that facility can feel professional proud of what they do, transparent in everything that we do. And then that reflects on the client.
00:09:47
Speaker
So ultimately it comes down to how can you manage a business that So it positively affects your client. And when I'm talking about the client, I mean from the first phone call to the first walking in through your door.
00:10:02
Speaker
What do they experience? It's interesting because one of the processes that we went through is the Niatek's improvement system. And it's a national system out there that really addresses treatment programs.
00:10:17
Speaker
And the very first thing that they have you do is call your treatment program. So you're in their training and they say, make that phone call. How does your staff pick up? How do you feel as a client?
00:10:30
Speaker
And then you take that down the road and you look at How do they feel when they walk in the door? What's the message? Is it a chaotic place? Is there old things posted on the walls? Is there peeling paint? Is there dirty mirrors? You know, things like that. So that feeling also, it affects that.
00:10:54
Speaker
So then you get down to your staff. How do you support your staff? And part of that is one, clinical supervision. And two, continuing education.
Continuous Learning for Counselors
00:11:06
Speaker
So those are kinds of the things that we focus on in my business is creating that environment for structure, calmness, and transparency for everyone, clients as well as staff.
00:11:19
Speaker
And so we offer a couple of different things, but one I'm really proud of is our continuing education platform. It's built um bye us who you know I've been taking continuing education for years.
00:11:36
Speaker
And I, of course, get that continuing in education through conferences, some in-person training, some online courses. And from being a management person who trains my staff, I wanted to bring a platform that was interactive,
00:11:58
Speaker
not just a PDF that you download and read. I wanted something that actually walks you through and provides some meaningful content for self-reflection.
00:12:10
Speaker
So we ask our clients to do a lot of self-evaluation and reflection. Do we do that ourselves? And really it's reflecting on how am i as a counselor?
00:12:23
Speaker
Do I have the skills? Do I have, ah you know, diversity in my life? Am I striving to be better at what I do and not stuck?
00:12:38
Speaker
And so that's kind of the continuing education platform that that we incorporated was that self-reflection. ah So throughout a lot of our courses, we ask the the learner to self-reflect or to evaluate themselves.
00:12:54
Speaker
through that just by answering some questions, you know, that kind of thing. So it's, it's a good, good platform and it kind of goes into My two philosophies, clinical supervision and continuing education for counselors and how do they interact.
00:13:12
Speaker
So we're in the process of building out our clinical supervision offering courses. And I think that that will be very popular. It's an important part of the field that I think um we could focus on as leaders in the field a lot more.
00:13:29
Speaker
A quick add to say that NBHAP also provides CE-based webinars, and we also have an industry calendar that is fairly comprehensive that we try and list every conference or webinar that I find that is related to addiction treatment or behavioral health.
00:13:42
Speaker
Now, without giving away your secrets, what would you say is like one of some of the things that you hear the most in terms of problems? Well, you know, serving as the CADAP executive director, I'm responsible for the oversight of the counselor certification program that CADAP offers.
00:14:03
Speaker
And ah certainly we have to address ethical violations, right? Now, of course, you're going to have, in as in any industry, you're going to have some bad actors.
00:14:17
Speaker
But generally speaking, The ethical violations that come in really have to do with the counselor kind of drifting on their own.
00:14:29
Speaker
And what I mean by that is there's not a set clinical supervision structure. Or good communication within the agency where policies and procedures are trained on and talked about and signed and revisited.
00:14:48
Speaker
And i'm not I'm not blaming treatment centers for heaven's sakes, no. Because they're doing the best that they can do a lot of times on a very small budget. So how do you, and it's not reimbursable. Clinical supervision isn't necessarily reimbursable.
00:15:04
Speaker
So how do you fit that into the finances of the company? So when you look at counselors out there and the violation of ethics, and I saw this as a manager myself.
00:15:16
Speaker
So I felt I created a pretty darn good environment with structure, policies and procedures, staff training on a regular basis.
00:15:27
Speaker
They met with their supervisors on a regular basis, but we still had ethical violations over the years. You're just going to have that with counselors or in any profession. You know, you work in the banking system and eventually somebody is going to try and steal some money.
00:15:42
Speaker
You know, you have all these safeguards in place, but somebody is still going to try and steal some money. In counseling, there's not just that money aspect, right? it Like a banker, but we're actually dealing with people's emotions.
00:15:56
Speaker
We get to know them on a personal level while we're in those counseling sessions with us. And so that... can cross boundaries very easily for a counselor.
00:16:10
Speaker
And that that's the part where it's so important for that self-evaluation. And sometimes that means that somebody on the outside, like a clinical supervisor, is pushing you to do that, as opposed to you floating there by yourself.
00:16:24
Speaker
So I think that Certainly treatment programs can help by having structure, by doing ongoing training, by having a clinical supervisor.
00:16:39
Speaker
Counselors, I think we can help counselors by being very clear in the beginning of their career. What does this mean? And the three certifying agencies, CADAP, CCAP, and Cady, have all worked throughout the years to implement some things that would help our registrants understand the field that they're getting in better. And one of those is the new counselor orientation, the nine hours.
00:17:05
Speaker
as well as the continuing education every year of ethics and confidentiality. Because we saw that registrants were violating more than certified group because they didn't have that foundational base knowledge right when they started within the field.
00:17:22
Speaker
Excuse me. Now, you mentioned that, you know, you've been in the industry for a while since, you know, the the days of almost the the Reefer Madness-y films. I'm in am a theater background and I love the Reefer Madness music. I'm musical. i will I will hands down say that.
00:17:37
Speaker
yeah What would you say is the biggest change you've seen in the industry? You know, some things, that is it better? Is it worse? Is it just different? Well, certainly a lot of change.
00:17:47
Speaker
A lot of change. Number one, I think that one of the good things is the counselor professionalism, the profession of being a substance use disorder counselor, I think has changed quite a bit.
00:18:01
Speaker
When you think about 20 years ago, let's say, When counselor regulations came out in California, there was no system to certify folks in California as a regular basis.
00:18:20
Speaker
Unfortunately, those regulations haven't changed in 20 years since they came out. The certifying agencies have had to evolve because they are nationally accredited.
00:18:32
Speaker
So the evolution of the professionalism of counselor certification in California can be directly tracked back to, first off, that base regulation being inputted, and then second, the certifying agencies continually increasing the professionalism of the field due to them having to be accredited for their certification
Evolution of Counselor Professionalism
00:18:56
Speaker
programs. You have to incorporate best practices.
00:18:59
Speaker
So actually California is now on par with the with the rest of the states. We're above some, below a little bit below some, and right on par with others. Each state is a little bit different.
00:19:13
Speaker
So that's the big thing that I see is there is more professionalism in the profession. You know, social model was something that was bandied about quite a bit. And you looked at recovery homes and residential treatment and that kind of thing. And it was really based upon that peer-to-peer sharing, which is good.
00:19:36
Speaker
But the profession of counselors goes beyond that peer-to-peer sharing. And that skill base is really what I see that has expanded that counselor beyond that I'm a peer and I've been through it.
00:19:55
Speaker
And it has actually brought more people into the field. And we have best practices and, you know, different models of how to facilitate.
00:20:06
Speaker
So I think there's so much out there now. And of course, now that we have kind of settled in and evolved and then along comes COVID, and gives us virtual treatment, right?
00:20:19
Speaker
So now we're in a whole new level of how do we deal with that virtual treatment? How do we evolve to incorporate that Because you don't necessarily, it's very different.
00:20:34
Speaker
Obviously, you and I are meeting, we can see each other. it It's very nice because we did talk on the phone or through email, but seeing each other and being able to ah connect on that level is much different than if it was just a phone call or just an email.
00:20:53
Speaker
It's not quite in person. Because I'm not seeing some of the subtle cues that I would if if I was in person with you. You may be clenching your hands. And if they're below the screen, I'm not going to see that.
00:21:07
Speaker
You know, so there's certain clues for counselors that... that we're not going to see, where we would see those in person. So it's an evolution of counselor skills to be able to deal with those virtual treatment sessions.
00:21:23
Speaker
ah How do you deal with a group virtually? That's a whole new set of skills that our our counselors need to adopt in certain treatment types, right?
00:21:34
Speaker
So I think that that professionalism is an evolution. I see it going in a very positive way. I'm really proud of the counselors out there. They're so dedicated and committed to their clients, to treatment programs. There's a lot of pride out there.
00:21:52
Speaker
And we see it to their certifying agencies also. you know the The certifying agencies have different people from different treatment programs that are certified with them, and their responsibility is to be able to represent everyone through their certification program.
00:22:10
Speaker
And I think we have three three really good agencies out there that care about their counselors. Now, kind of ah similar along the same lines, ah where do you kind of see the industry going in the next few years? We're still kind of in a massive...
00:22:23
Speaker
change in the industry, especially now with what's going on in the world. Where do you kind of see the what's going to happen in the next five, 10
AI in Recovery Services
00:22:31
Speaker
years? so Well, I think definitely virtual is going to become even bigger. And I think AI is going to start becoming a player within that field. And what I think, and I'm hoping that we see soon and first is that AI can help with some of the minutia that we get into with data collection and notes and, you know, those kinds of things.
00:23:02
Speaker
There's so many different technology platforms out there that could help counselors be able to get through those things quicker and more efficient.
00:23:14
Speaker
So we can not only save money, but we can be more present for the client. And so I'm hoping that AI can play a big part in that. And I think it will.
00:23:26
Speaker
I think that in the next 10 years, I think you will see the evolution of the counselor certification ah profession. And the reason why I say that is because now we have peer mentors, right?
00:23:41
Speaker
ah Peer support people. And that's a ah new position, basically. And how does that interplay with the counselor? And I think that when you think about that social model program that we talked about within treatment, where it's peer-to-peer sharing,
00:24:01
Speaker
That's the our peer support specialists. They are that peer-to-peer social model type of setting. So the professional counselor, the counselor who's registered moving towards certification and the certified counselor are on a different level.
00:24:16
Speaker
And I think that that's the piece that needs to evolve even further. is the counselor coming into the profession understands that it is a profession. It's a professional position and they have more responsibilities. And that's not necessarily that social model peer-to-peer sharing.
00:24:36
Speaker
that those the counselor needs to have skills. And those skills range from knowing all of your ethical boundaries and confidentiality requirements, but also those counseling skills that you need to help that client delve deeper.
00:24:54
Speaker
Because to get people, let's circle back to relapse and and recovery, to Allow people to the opportunity to self-evaluate.
00:25:07
Speaker
Honestly, take skills. It doesn't require necessarily a peer-to-peer sharing when you're in the counseling session.
00:25:20
Speaker
Now, the peer-to-peer sharing is an important aspect of treatment and recovery because we talked about that shame piece. you know and we've all been in some kind of situation that we're recovering from, whether it's direct use of alcohol or drugs. Maybe it's somebody in our life who was ah an addict and we're recovering from the trauma of them or other traumas that are in our life and we're trying to recover.
00:25:45
Speaker
So that peer-to-peer sharing is an important aspect, but the counselor is a whole different type of person. position than that.
00:25:56
Speaker
So how do we evolve as a profession to that professionalism? So people who have a license, you know, they're a marriage family therapist, they've licensed, they've been to school, they've passed an exam, they've gotten a the experience in the workplace through internship, et cetera, and they gain a license.
00:26:17
Speaker
Well, our certified counselors are that too. Now, their schooling wasn't as long, but they've been through school, they've passed an exam, they've taken an internship, and they got the work experience.
00:26:33
Speaker
So that certified counselor profession is very important. So I see the evolution of that. AI, I think, is going to play a big. Virtual, I think, will be more. When you look in California at virtual services, if you live in the Bay Area or you live in Sacramento or you live in l L.A. or, stand you know, these big cities are very compacted with traffic.
00:27:02
Speaker
So you drive across town and it takes you a half an hour where it's really like five miles. But you have a lot of traffic and stop and go, etc.
00:27:13
Speaker
So getting to the session sometimes gets you there more stressed out than you were when you started getting to that session. So maybe virtual can help with that.
00:27:27
Speaker
Also, when you look at rural areas, we don't have a large counselor base out in rural areas there or a lot of treatment programs. So virtual can help with access.
00:27:40
Speaker
So I think it's it's a hard switch for counselors. It's a new skill, but I think it's an important skill and it's an evolution in providing treatment out there.
Virtual Services and Rural Reach
00:27:53
Speaker
And it's an important skill. So I would suggest to counselors start exploring that. Take trainings that talk about virtual services, that talk about telehealth, learn how to run a group via telehealth.
00:28:10
Speaker
It's a new skill that I think will become more and more prevalent, especially as we we become more populated. Yeah, I was going to say i grew up in a fairly rural area myself. So ah while the Internet and telehealth definitely have their problems, I, you know, i' would have been grateful to have something like that when I was growing up. ah right oh that like Now, I know you probably don't have an average day, ah i' but I'm sure it's also a lot of meetings and a lot of trainings.
00:28:40
Speaker
What would you say is your favorite part of your day to day job? Well, the diverse number of people I get to talk to and, you know, Angie, you being one of them, you know, I i would not have met you if I hadn't been in this position. Right.
00:28:57
Speaker
So I meet so many people on at so many different positions that it's exciting for me because I get to kind of experience everything where if you're, you know, if I was in Just in my office, at my desk, going to meetings, doing emails, you know, that gets redundant and kind of boring.
00:29:26
Speaker
What makes it exciting is the people. And once I get excited about something, then I, you know, take it down the road. And so watching, there's two different aspects of what I do, you know, my consulting company and my contract with Kadap and Kadap's my biggest contract. So certainly i take care of them. Right.
00:29:49
Speaker
But I have a lot of contracts, um, that, are helping the treatment programs with certain aspects of what they do. And my primary focus is DUI. That's the majority of my experience.
00:30:04
Speaker
Although in my early career, I worked in the adolescent program that was county funded and eventually that contract ended. I worked in an inpatient treatment program.
00:30:15
Speaker
I worked at a residential treatment program. So I had a little bit of diversity within there. But once I found DUI, that was my big my biggest passion. It was where I fit very well.
00:30:27
Speaker
So I've been in the DUI field in different capacities for so long, i have a really intimate knowledge of that, that I can provide to DUI providers.
00:30:39
Speaker
And I enjoy that. I enjoy writing policies and procedures for them and ah providing training and seeing what staff are out there. So diversity, i think, is what I love with my job is because I will work on three different, four different contracts throughout the day.
00:31:02
Speaker
And so it provides me with the excitement to keep going. Well, actually, you, beginning of your DOI service, that was actually where I was going to head next. so I was a member of SAD in high school, and that very much aware of the things. I have family members who are recovering alcoholics.
00:31:20
Speaker
Talk a little bit about more about your work there, or know how is it different from what your other ah work is, that kind of stuff. Well, I'm very lucky. I have a large extended family.
00:31:31
Speaker
And we've been in California for a couple of different generations. So when um I was born in Oakland Hospital and lived up in the Bay Area for half of my life, until I was like 16 or so, and then moved to San Diego. And I've been here ever since.
00:31:50
Speaker
So I'm based out of San Diego still. And some of the families stayed up north. Some of them. came down here, but I have ah three siblings and we're all very close and we've all had kids now and we're all, you know, getting into our later years, not quite middle age, maybe a past middle age a little bit.
00:32:17
Speaker
So family to me is really important. And i think for recovery, it's finding those types of things that, enhance your life and are more important to you than yourself a lot of times.
00:32:35
Speaker
Because what we know with people in recovery is, again, that shame factor, that trauma factor. Sometimes we have to be able to find something that means more than we do. And so a lot of times family can provide that. Sometimes it can't.
00:32:53
Speaker
um So I feel incredibly blessed and I have two daughters and I have one grandchild and one on the way. I've been married for a long time. ah He always keeps track, but it's, it's over 35 years.
00:33:10
Speaker
Yes. And you know, you're married 35 years. is Sometimes you like each other and sometimes you don't. Yeah. And you know, ah We ended up building a fantastic life that we can look back on and kind of congratulate and pat each other on the back for sticking to it, even through the tough times.
00:33:32
Speaker
Working in the in the alcohol and drug treatment field, you you're not going to get rich. That's for darn sure. And, you know, pennies were always being pinched.
00:33:44
Speaker
And, ah but we made it through, you know, and at this point now we're in retirement. And I really, truly believe that my work in this field helped me see things differently that allowed me to stay semi-centered, not all the time. I mean, I still go crazy at at certain points. I mean, you know, we're all human, but it allowed me to view
00:34:17
Speaker
my life and where I wanted it to go ah through the eyes of recovery. And I think that that's an important aspect is where can I be if I get through those tough times?
00:34:32
Speaker
What's the reward on the other side? Now, if you have a drink or you have a drug, what's the reward on the other side? ah So I think it's a long-term view.
00:34:44
Speaker
Also, I think it's important to, you know, AA always says stinking thinking. And, you know, one of the things I have written in my office that I can look at is thoughts or things, choose the good ones.
00:35:00
Speaker
And that's all, that's not always easy, you know, because those negatives can come in and, you know, we look at our, our current environment, our current political environment.
00:35:14
Speaker
There's a lot of stinking thinking and some people get so wrapped up into that, that it invades everything. So occasionally you're going to have to say to yourself, you know what? I'm watching too much news.
00:35:32
Speaker
It's invading my psyche or this TV show I'm watching is too negative. It's invading my psyche. I need to switch to something different. And I think this field can help you focus on changing yourself.
00:35:47
Speaker
Okay. Whether you're in recovery from alcohol and drugs or not, again, we're all in recovery from something. who So thoughts are things. Choose the good ones and try and push out the bad and make those tiny adjustments that can have big payoffs to happiness.
00:36:06
Speaker
Now, we've already kind of you've already kind of touched on this just now, in fact, but our audience
Advice for Newcomers to the Recovery Field
00:36:11
Speaker
is a wide range. We have people for who are just starting out to people who've been in the industry you know a long time. So i always ask for the people who are starting out, what kind of advice would you want to would you give to somebody just starting out or what's your biggest lessons learned?
00:36:25
Speaker
My advice is work hard, show up, look good. And by that, I mean brush your hair,
00:36:36
Speaker
Put on a suit jacket, a tie, ah nice outfit. You know, when you go to work, be at work and show that you are a professional. And then when you leave work, be a professional of your life, which is show up, work hard and look good.
00:36:58
Speaker
And ah by looking good, I don't mean that means makeup or hair or, you know, a dress and nylons. you know It's really the dependent upon the facility, but a pressed shirt, you know, goes a long way and get noticed.
00:37:15
Speaker
If you want to move ahead and make more money, get noticed. And a lot of times that noticed is by going above and beyond. And if you go above and beyond, don't do it because you expect something in return, do it because it makes you feel good.
00:37:32
Speaker
in whatever you know capacity that you can. So you go the little extra mile, you feel good, you can pat yourself on the back. Eventually you will be noticed and you can move forward in your career, whatever that means.
00:37:47
Speaker
And I think that you know it's funny because I told you in the beginning that I started out in an assembly factory and I loved it. I was very good at it. I learned everything on the assembly line and there was places to go in that company. And then I stumbled across...
00:38:05
Speaker
drug and alcohol recovery and went in a whole different direction. I didn't start out at college thinking this would be my career. I ended up there and then I grabbed on.
00:38:18
Speaker
So it's grabbing on to something and making it a passion. And I think that that is an important aspect of what we do. And every experience that you have brings something like my assembly work.
00:38:32
Speaker
I use that for policies and procedures. What's the most efficient way to assemble this file? From very simple things like that, which can bring you a lot of joy to have a file that is nicely put together, right? In the most efficient manner.
00:38:46
Speaker
So it's finding those little things, your passion, what you're passionate about and show up in your best light in every way that you can.
00:38:57
Speaker
Great. Now we're getting close to the end, unfortunately. i always like to ask so people can bring, take away something from the podcast. What kind of resources would you recommend that you, or what that you use on a regular basis that people can look up if they want to learn more?
00:39:12
Speaker
Well, I mentioned online continuing education, and I think that that is such a good way to get your continuing education. So I would recommend that counselors look for courses that mean something to them, that provide a little bit more to their skill level,
00:39:34
Speaker
and try to not make it a burden, right? To think of it as an opportunity. So you mentioned that you guys have a great continuing an education platform.
00:39:46
Speaker
You have an event calendar of things that are happening. So people should find somewhere to get that ongoing information to help further themselves and think of it as an opportunity as opposed to a burden.
00:40:03
Speaker
And I know that that's hard to do sometimes when you're judging, you know, you're drudging through sexual harassment training for the umpteenth time of your career, but apply that sexual harass harassment training again.
00:40:17
Speaker
to you and that critical. So I think continuing education platforms, variety of continuing education platforms. When I get my continuing education, I go to many different providers to find different services takes on things, different courses.
00:40:35
Speaker
And of course, they cost different amounts of money. There's some expensive, some not so expensive, some cheap. You just have to look around. So don't get stuck in a corner. And then I think if you can, as a person, get out to community meetings.
00:40:54
Speaker
within the field and learn a little bit more. Take yourself out of the treatment center. If you come across a conference or something that's outside of the office, ask your facility if you can attend.
00:41:11
Speaker
And say, this is, you know, I can get continuing in education hours. I can also learn more. So advocate for your ability to get out there in the community.
00:41:23
Speaker
It is one of the competencies that is in TAP 21. is playing a role in the community. So it can help again, kind of diversify your thoughts.
00:41:34
Speaker
You learn new things and you're you're gaining your skills and maybe you're getting noticed by your company that you know you're putting in a little bit of effort to source these things. Don't wait for your employer to do it for you, do it yourself.
00:41:50
Speaker
Look around, enjoy your job and make it a passion. And that means everything from your certification to your education, to your clients, to your facility, your treatment facility.
00:42:03
Speaker
And um that can make a difference. You mentioned ah the price of CE courses. i would I would be remiss if I did not plug the fact that MBAP members do get our CE webinars either for free or for sharply discounts, like up to 50%.
00:42:18
Speaker
So if you're not a member, you become a member. Now, to bring this all that back to the beginning, when all is said and done, why do it? Why do you do what you do? Well, I enjoy it.
00:42:31
Speaker
And I think that's number one. I'm passionate about it. I enjoy it. I like challenges, even in my house. And my husband keeps going, why are you doing that? That doesn't need to be done. Well, I noticed it and now it's a challenge. I have to finish it.
00:42:45
Speaker
have to make it better. But I also think that we, as a profession, and I'm including myself, I don't see clients anymore. I don't manage a treatment program.
00:42:59
Speaker
But I am involved in the field and I feel a part of it. I am ah still a certified counselor with both CADAP and CCAP. And I believe that we have such an impact on our communities that it makes me feel good about what I do and who I represent.
Learn More About Barbara's Work
00:43:25
Speaker
That we are making our communities healthier were by one client at a time and it's a real joy to be able to be a little part of that just think if we weren't around you know we yeah that is the perfect button to end this off so for people who want to learn more about you or learn more about your business where would they go how do they find you You can find us at agmanagementconsulting.com
00:43:58
Speaker
and it's agmc-services.com. And our website is there and it has all the offerings that we have, which is quite diverse. Like I said, all the way from website, building websites to online CEU platforms to on-call counselor service. So we do quite a bit of diverse things through our company.
00:44:22
Speaker
And certainly you can find me at info at cadap.org. If you have questions about certification or ah professional journey to certification.
00:44:34
Speaker
And I look forward to seeing, and I really appreciate you having me on today. Yeah. Before I end it, is there anything that you wanted to talk about that we haven't, or that you thought I was going to ask, but I didn't?
00:44:48
Speaker
No, it's been a great conversation. Awesome. girl You're a good leader. <unk> virtually then thank yeah You've been listening to Destination Change. Our guest today was Barbara De Garcia. Thank you for being here.
00:45:02
Speaker
Our theme song was Sun Nation by Kitsa and used via Creative Commons license by the Free Music Archive. Please consider rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcasts so we can get more listeners. In the meantime, you can always see more about the podcast, including show notes and where else to listen, on our website, www.nbhap.org.
00:45:21
Speaker
you have questions for the podcast, please email us at info at nbhp.org. Thanks for listening.