An Interview with Ken and Bruce of Entelechy Recovery Group
Entelechy Recovery is a group of addiction professionals that includes certified interventionists, recovery coaches, and other skilled providers who provide recovery services to clients and their families who struggle with chemical dependency and mental health issues. Our interventionists are certified and have over 30 years of professional experience. Entelechy Recovery provides families with compassion, support and love while navigating them through the challenging journey of recovery.
How did you get into doing interventions?
Ken - In 2004, with 12 years clean I met my grand sponsor, Randy McGraw, who was an Interventionist working at Proctor Hospital in Peoria, IL and at the time he was doing Intervention training. I was the Director of AODA Services at Alternatives in Psychological Consultation in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Randy was a huge influence in my life and my career. He was ethical, spiritual and cared deeply about helping people. He was passionate about the Intervention field and he taught me so much about working with families. He was a true mentor to me. At the time there was no credentialing process for Intervention. Someone like me was just lucky enough to have met people like Randy with such deep conviction to the field. He was a pioneer.
Randy gave me the gift of his time and ultimately I knew that Intervention work was my calling and I still feel that way today. Every new family I work with is a gift. In the years following I have developed myself and my skills. I was already a counselor but I continued my education by getting trained in the Systemic Intervention Model, the Johnson Intervention Model, getting certified as a CIP (Certified Intervention Professional) and have participated in many various continuing education opportunities as well as continue to seek out colleagues with whom to collaborate to develop my skills.
Bruce - In order to be in this business you really need to have a passion for helping people, an emotional connection, and personal experience with addiction and recovery. I’m fortunate enough to be in long term recovery and to have built a good life. In early recovery I somehow became the guy that people came to and asked me to meet with a family about their loved one struggling with addiction. I didn’t know anything about interventions at the time but took what I had learned and developed a process to help people get into recovery. I did this for years, and eventually got formally trained and certified as an Interventionist.
I love the work, and the chance to help open new doors for people, along with helping the families begin to heal. This industry has some quality, ethical people in it, and unfortunately many unethical, bad guys as well. We need more ethical people involved in our industry.
How did Entelechy Recovery Group get started?
Ken - I met Bruce at the Association of Intervention Services (AIS) conference and we immediately hit it off. We had a spiritual connection, are both balanced and calm and enjoy working with people to help them with their recovery. We met in San Clemente in November 2019, got to know each other at a deeper level, and it was an easy match for us to begin working together. We both wanted the same things for clients and families and that was to help them in an ethical way. We wanted to be of service and felt like we were good at our jobs, specifically being able to help others.
If you work in this business your work really needs to come from the heart. It really is a professional craft of serving the soul. We want to protect our field and industry. The bottom line is, we want the phone to ring so that we can help people.
What does Entelechy mean?
Bruce - The word Entelechy is of Greek origin and comes from Aristotle, meaning “the realization of fulfillment.” Our “entelechy” is what each of us would look like if we were fully evolved and at our full potential. For example, the entelechy of an acorn is an oak tree. We want to play a role in helping people step into who they can and were intended to be by living a meaningful life that makes a positive impact in the world.
What is your specific approach to interventions?
Ken - Our general philosophy is a family first approach while meeting our families where they are. We tailor our services to specifically address each of our family’s individual needs. It is a collaborative effort with us and the family. Everyone brings different nuances that they prefer, and we do whatever we can to cater to that. Recovery is not just for the addicted person, it’s for the whole family.
We use three basic intervention models or a blend of them depending on the situation. We trained through the Arise Network (Invitational Model) and have framed our intervention with the Johnson model. We use a motivational approach that focuses on relationship building. We have honest conversations with our families to really understand what is going on, and what needs to change. We really dig deep to truly understand the situation and what the family needs. Our philosophy is to help the person, no matter if that means with us or someone else. We like to say, if you don’t get help here make sure you get help somewhere else.
What is the current state of addiction in our country?
Bruce - Here’s some data everyone should know - According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), 19.7 million American adults aged 12 and older battled a substance use disorder in 2017. The United States loses over $740 billion dollars every year to drug abuse and addiction costs, including healthcare expenses, lost workplace productivity and crime related costs.
Another study in 2017 found that approximately 14.5 million Americans, which is 5.3% of the total population of people over the age of 12, struggled with an alcohol use disorder. Additionally, 20.7 million people in that age range needed treatment for a substance use disorder.
How are you handling interventions during COVID-19?
Ken - We offer online Zoom or Skype interviews so that we can stay socially distanced as much as possible. We are cognizant of the family’s safety and that is our first priority. We also provide outdoor interventions; we wear masks during our sessions and while we travel, and we follow all safety protocols. As an alternative approach, we also offer our “coached intervention” model for a family that wants us to guide them through an intervention but not be in-person. Many families are taking advantage of this new model as we deal with COVID.
What is a coached intervention?
Bruce - A coached intervention provides the tools, techniques, and methods to help the family perform the intervention on their own, and not have one of us present. They get the professional help they need but stay safe. (not only for COVID but also for privacy reasons).
What do families need to know/hear?
Bruce - We do like to help manage expectations when a family calls us. We often say, “an intervention is not an event, it’s a process. And if nothing changes, nothing changes.”
We emphasize that love is the change agent in an intervention. No shame, blame, or anger. Love wins. Not only does the addicted person need to get into recovery but so does the whole family. We start the healing process and support the family to embrace it.
We also deal with a lot of mental health issues including anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Families need to know that a majority of people with substance abuse issues also have mental health issues. This is known as co-occurring disorder or dual diagnosis. This is where treatment assessment and selection becomes very, very, important.
When we work with families we typically start by providing education around addiction/chemical dependency and the resulting changes in brain chemistry. We discuss the family system, roles family members take on when in a relationship with a person in addiction, and enabling.
The main goal when meeting with our families is to educate, help them understand the framework of the intervention, prepare them for it, and reassure them that they are being courageous and loving as we try to save their loved one’s life.
What separates you from the competition?
Ken and Bruce - Some of our colleagues have a specific business model and they only do it one way. Kind of cookie-cutter. We like to give our families the opportunity to have a say in what is best for their loved one. Some families are looking for immediate gratification, to get the person struggling out of the house and into treatment. They want to pay the money and be done. A lot of times this is a band-aid, and we recognize that, really trying to bring the right solutions for each situation. We work with the family to determine the best model and we offer the best options and solutions that make sense for their circumstances.
We don’t ever want to do more harm than good. If we recognize that somebody with addiction has a good relationship with their family and they are still communicating, the right model may be an invitational intervention. This type of intervention invites the person who is struggling to the intervention with the family as opposed to a surprise intervention, where they are not expecting it. We build relationships with our families and provide follow-up care after treatment is completed. We believe that “recovery is not a sprint, it’s a marathon” which allows us to continue to provide support to the families for as long as they need.
It’s an honor to do this work, we take pride in what we do, and we are passionate about helping people. We always want to know how we can help more people, and how we can share this information with more people who are struggling.
How do you know if a family member needs an intervention?
Ken - When the family calls and says “I can’t do this, I need help” we know that something is going on and we are needed. The question, “is it really time?” usually comes up. When a family calls, 99% of the time, it’s time for treatment, they are in crisis, the family is ready, and the person struggling needs treatment. Typically, less than 1% of cases, they are not ready for treatment. There are a lot of signs, but they are not quite an addict.
Bruce - Typically a specific event has precipitated the person's call to us. We try to quickly gather as much information about the person of concern to determine the appropriate level of action and treatment necessary. It really varies on many factors including how long the addiction has been going on, age of the person, physical and mental health, legal issues, safety concerns, etc. Our job is to evaluate the situation and provide our recommendation based on our years of experience.
What are your hobbies/what do you like to do for fun?
Bruce - I am a pickleball fanatic, enjoy mountain biking, and skiing. I love to hit the beach, and hangout with my wife and my 3 boys.
Ken - I love music, of all kinds. My favorite type is a good, clean, sound. I’m pretty open minded to different types of music, vinyl, CD’s, jazz, you name it. I grew up on motorcycles and cars, although I don’t really ride too often because I love my life too much to risk it. I believe that things are just “things” and that’s that. What is important and what matters most is the people in your life.
If you or someone you know is suffering from the grips of addiction and you think an intervention or treatment may be needed, reach out to a caring staff member from Entelechy Recovery right away. We are here to help you and your family. Call 800-690-5259 or visit our website at Entelechyrecovery.com