Our Influences:
- Earl Nightingale
- Tony Robbins, Napoleon Hill, and many more..
- We also have a number of inspirational quotes that have made a positive impact on us.
My professional entry into human service was in 1983 with a Child Development Center, a group home for youth. It was labeled an “Exceptional Group Home”. The youth that resided at the home had varying challenge’s, some were termed “Emotionally Disturbed” at the time. I recall a training session held by a Psychologist from the local State Psychiatric Center. His opening statement baffled me and became a defining moment in my career. He said, “Most of you here are here because you think you can save the world! You think that you can help these kids get better. Let me save you a whole lot of energy and time that you will spend on the wrong things. We have been doing this work for an extremely long time and our success rate with this population of kids is ZERO.”
I remember feeling like my balloon had just burst. I do not recall anymore from that training. I do remember thinking that the Doctor was wrong. I made a commitment that I would never allow myself to believe such nonsense. It was the beginning of my dedication to become an agent of change. At the time my training was limited, and my work in the field was nothing more than a few years of volunteer work with prisoners and volunteer at the State Hospitals for the Developmentally Disabled.
I developed a philosophy that everyone could overcome any challenge. I decided that I would not focus on the challenge rather I would focus on personal relationships, i.e. building trust, and the individuals strengths (Peer to Peer approach). My belief was that it was easier to help someone get better at what they are strong at and enjoy doing than it would be to focus on their weakness. Over the years I believe that this approach has made a significant impact in my work.
Yet the longer I remained in Human Service the more levels of that Doctors philosophy emerged from folks in the field. My coworkers often shared that opinion. I made the decision that I could effect more change if I became an administrator. I was wrong I simply grew more frustrated with the politics and bureaucracy. However, in 1998 a shift occurred. I received in the mail a sales brochure from Nightingale-Conant. I have no idea what possessed me to order the audio set. But I purchased two sets: “Lead the Field” by Earl Nightingale and “Unleash the Power Within” by Tony Robbins.
That was the beginning of a shift in my approach. Everything that I believed was right there. I could not comprehend how a human service professional could justify setting up a treatment plan for a patient when they did not have one for themselves. I interpreted this as the blind leading the blind! I made a decision that I would stop reading the traditional human service literature and focus on the self-development material for the ordinary person.
I began to recognize that self-development is a lifelong process. Each stage of life brings with it new challenges. Human development is for every human being and not just for the so called afflicted! It is the influence of several personal development approaches from both genres of human-growth that the Last Resort Real Life Recovery philosophy has been created.
This page is in honor of their contribution to our center and most of all to our gratitude and success. Most of these honorees do not know us nor of us, yet they have had a profound impact on the people we serve and us. Once a person chooses the path of recovery they often seek out therapeutic methods to assist them in their journey to the light. Most buy in to the dysfunctional syndrome theory. They begin to focus on what is wrong with them as opposed to designing a new life based on their strengths.
At The Last Resort, we think differently, because we have been to the depths of hell and now live a healthy, happy, prosperous, clean and sober life. We believe you can challenge the medical model of treatment. Be open to new ideas and theories. You can and will make a difference in your life.
