Breanna Dedeker, LADC
I met Breanna two treatment centers ago, and was immediately drawn to her warm presence and welcoming aura. We became instant friends when I met her, despite our almost 20 year age gap. I found I had more in common with her free spirit and adventurous nature than most people my age, and I couldn’t have made it to Florida without her unconditional support and compassionate heart keeping me strong when I had nothing left to give. Breanna is currently working as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor working with Extended Outpatient clients, and I couldn’t be more proud of how strong she is and how much she has grown in the 3 years I’ve known her. Breanna is also finishing up school for holistic healing, and will be providing short homemade recipes readers can try at home to help alleviate a variety of symptoms correlating with the themes in the website. Thank you, Breanna, for remaining a bright light in dark situations and teaching me that age is just a number if your hearts and souls align!
Brenda McMahan, Gallery Owner at Brenda McMahon Gallery and ceramicist
I met Brenda my first month in Florida, and when I met her I had no idea she was the gallery owner. I just thought she was a nice, friendly employee who made me feel welcomed immediately. She was humble and kind and listened to my stories with open ears and a compassionate heart. When she was introduced as the gallery owner, I was struck at how someone so successful could be just as kind in return. I began frequenting the gallery regularly, and in doing so learned that Brenda wasn’t just open and accepting to me, she was very involved in helping the art community in general, hosting events for her artists to showcase their art while keeping the profits after the 2024 hurricanes destroyed many of their homes. I admire Brenda, the people she employs, and the artists in her gallery who left me awestruck with their creativity and talent. Thank you, Brenda, for taking me in and including me as part of your “family” while giving me the safe space to be my weirdo self without judging me for it. Keep putting your good vibes and community contributions into the world!
Jennifer Blakemore, Esthetician
I met Jennifer a few months after I moved to Florida, and immediately felt a strong spiritual and mental connection with her beautiful soul. Jennifer moved to Florida originally from Washington DC, after decades of traveling the world as a model and explorer. Jennifer has been through more rare medical conditions than anyone I had met, and was waiting for a cornea transplant due to some of those medical anomalies. She had to figure out her own treatments because doctors weren’t helping her and she had no family support to help her in Florida. During her healing journey, Jennifer learned resilience in the face of adversity, giving her more compassion and teaching her a humbleness she might not have learned otherwise. Jennifer taught me about alternative medicines, different ways to heal without medicine, and how to live a holistic life of healing. We have been on many adventures around our town already, and I can’t wait to include her on more adventures in the future! Thank you, Jennifer, for being an unconditional friend who always raises my vibrations and energy when I feel depleted.
Kyle Sheeley, LADC
When I first met Kyle, I was an intern at a residential treatment center. I was both intrigued and intimidated at the ease at which he ran groups and was able to relate to clients while still sounding professional. I remember training with Kyle and running my first group with him observing me, and running out of material with 45 minutes left. I looked to Kyle to help me finish the group, and instead of helping me like I was hoping, he leaned against the wall in the back and told me to figure it out. I remember panicking at first, but ultimately figuring it out. Over the next few years, Kyle remained a pillar of strength and calm in the midst of storms. Kyle continues to challenge me and push me to be the best version of myself, and I couldn’t be more grateful for everything he taught me about addiction counseling and maintaining boundaries. Kyle taught me that when life gets hard and stressful, to take a step back and absorb the information before reacting with emotion, and taught me to react with my head instead. Thank you, Kyle, for your dark sense of humor and unwavering patience with the process!
Lulu Sveen, LCSW, LPCC, LADC
I met Lulu a few years ago when she was working as a social worker who did treatment coordination for all the counselors at our treatment center. This was a HUGE job that took incredible patience, attention to detail, daily setbacks, and community involvement in multiple facets of recovery. Lulu has been through more hardships than any human needs to endure, while remaining the strength and wisdom behind the whole operation. Lulu taught me strength through endurance and the importance of post-traumatic growth in recovery. She also helped teach me to love myself and continued to encourage me to do my best with an impossible situation, while never judging me as a person or clinician with unconventional methods. Lulu is currently working at the same outpatient treatment center, but with a new and exciting role as a mental health provider and family education facilitator, and continues to make a lasting impression on clients and their families in those roles as well. Thank you, Lulu, for continuing to help others despite needing help yourself. Your strength in the face of adversity humbles me to all the things I still don’t know. Keep fighting for those who need your knowledge and power!
Patrick Johnson; LICSW, RDN, LD, LADC
I met Patrick at the treatment center we both continue to work at, and he is definitely not who he appears to be on the surface. Patrick can come off as aloof and snarky, but under the tough exterior is actually a kind and awkward man who cares deeply about his clients and empowers them to be successful in recovery through education and healthy living. Patrick is currently a nutritionist who does groups on physical health, and a mental health practitioner specializing in eating disorders and trauma. Clients continue to be amazed at how much they learn from him, and Patrick continues to make a difference in whatever position he accepts to this day. Thank you, Patrick, for teaching me that kindness and compassion can be woven into sarcasm and dark humor.
Peter Hanson; LADC
When I met Peter, he was an intern where we currently work, and felt an immediate connection with him despite how opposite we looked on the outside. At first glance, Peter looks big and tough and intimidating, but looks can be deceiving. Peter is actually one of the kindest, most generous, resilient, accepting and forgiving people I know. When I was getting ready to move to Florida, Peter helped me load my pod when I was alone with a 10-pound weight restriction from a back surgery I had a few years prior. Without Peter’s help, I never could have moved and stacked and packaged my valuable items traveling across the country, and from that help emerged a lifetime friend and supporter. Peter remains my biggest fan to this day, helping me with the residual self-esteem problems I carry with me from a lifetime of being told I was the cause of everything bad in people’s lives. Peter was hired after his internship as an LADC, and we couldn’t be luckier to have him! Peter taught me to love the imperfectly perfect person I was, and I will forever be grateful for him in my life. Thank you, Peter, for teaching me kindness and compassion for myself by accepting me as I am!
Rachel Archer; Mental Health Therapist and mother
I don’t even know where to start with my silly noodle doodle. I met Rachel my freshman year of college, and we have been inseparable since. Despite seeming quite opposite and never living in the same region of the country after college, Rachel has remained my sister from a different mister and has shown me the reciprocal and unconditional love I was missing in my life by remaining my friend through all my ups and downs. She has loved and supported me whether or not she agrees with my choices, and I will continue to reciprocate that love forever. Rachel is a beautiful therapist and patient mother of 10-year-old twins, including a son with autism. Rachel mainly works from home doing telehealth for clients struggling with their mental health, specializing in trauma and EMDR therapy, and has a huge fan-base of clients who followed her from corporate therapy to her own private practice. I honestly don’t know where I’d be in life without Rachel, and I appreciate her more than words can say.
Rick Dauer; Co-Author of Helping Men Recover/Helping Women Recover
I started using Rick’s incredible trauma curriculum, Helping Men Recover, in my small groups working with men in an outpatient setting as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC) years before I met him in person. I had personally seen how his curriculum helped so many clients heal through trauma and transform into strong men in recovery and life. I witnessed men of all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds bond through traumatic experiences and learn how to heal with the support of each other in a non-judgmental place of personal growth, while learning more about myself along the way. I started completing his curriculum of Helping Women Recover for my own personal growth after trauma, and it helped transform my self-esteem and sense of purpose into what it is today. When Rick accepted a role where I currently work as an outpatient counselor, I was thrilled to meet him and learn how he intended his curriculum to be implemented, as well as the back-story to why he developed the curriculum in the first place. Rick is a quiet but strong and powerful man, with wisdom to share and a willingness to help any colleague who is struggling or needs support. It has been an honor to have him part of the already amazing team I work with, and I hope more people can utilize his brilliant mind and curriculum in the future. Thank you, Rick, for teaching me that you can help people on a variety of platforms, and be influential and humble wherever you go no matter how much success you achieve!
Ryan Weist, friend
When I first met Ryan, he was my boss at an inpatient treatment center for chemical dependency, which basically meant we were forced to bond over very stressful situations. I remember initially thinking, “He is way too good looking to be straight,” and confirming my suspicions the second he opened his mouth. I knew instantly we would end up BFFs, and that’s exactly what ended up happening. As my boss, Ryan treated me as an equal and valued my opinions about complex situations, helping improve my own mental health and creating a bond we continue to have to this day. He also helped improve my style, never afraid to let me know if what I was wearing was cute or suss. Ryan taught me patience, meeting clients where they are at, and a ton about the LGBTQ+ community and the challenges they overcome on a daily basis. Thank you, BFF, for your unconditional love and support and being the family I desperately needed in Minnesota. Ryan is the reason I moved to Florida, and I will forever be grateful.
Terrance McDonald; LADC
I met Terry two outpatient treatment centers ago, and it was Terry who helped me get the job we are both currently employed at today. It was also Terry who was the biggest catalyst for change in my life, helping me recognize the maternal covert narcissistic abuse I had been living with in Minnesota that I had no idea was occurring. After listening to stories about my family with a compassionate and non-judgmental ear, he mentioned that his mother, Beth McDonald, had written a workbook that might help me. Out of the Mirror: A Workbook of Healing for Adult Children of Covert Narcissists opened my eyes to what adult covert narcissistic abuse was and how to start healing from a lifetime of trauma I was trapped in. With the support of Terry and his mother’s workbook, I was able to find the strength to cut ties with my own mother despite the consequences of complete character assisination, and start living my own life free of guilt and shame. Since learning more myself, I am also able to teach it better and help more clients struggling with the same toxic family patterns I was living with. Terry always encouraged my growth and dreams and became part of my “family” along the way. Terry also has a beautiful family of his own, and I’m so proud of him personally and professionally. Thank you, Terry, for always loving and supporting me in all my weirdo-ness!
Timothy Gregory; Director at Teen Challenge, LPCC, LADC
I met Tim years ago working in a men’s residential treatment facility in Minneapolis, MN. At first, I didn’t know what to make of Tim because he appeared to be a happy, calm, positive, PG normie working with some very tough and sometimes psychotic individuals in early recovery from drugs and alcohol. His personality seemed to contradict the overall vibe and mentality of where we were working, but I soon realized Tim was one of the toughest, most brilliant, most inspiring, sarcastic humans I had ever met. I learned more from observing Tim in action, from teaching small groups about brain chemistry to discharging someone with anger management problems, than anyone during my first few years as an Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC). Tim taught me the best way to connect with clients is to be yourself and meet people where they are at with a compassionate lens. Tim taught me looks can be deceiving and to not judge a book by its cover, because my coworker that was perceivably the most different than me ended up becoming a close friend to this day and someone I continue to be impressed with and enjoy watching grow and thrive. Tim is currently the director at Teen Challenge, is a mental health therapist, recently presented at the annual MAARCH conference, and has written his own curriculum; “A Hero’s Journey;” soon to be published and released. He is also a new husband and father and starting an incredible journey I can’t wait to follow with his family. Thank you, Timmy G, for everything you taught me about recovery and myself. Thank you for always believing in me and bringing out the best in me. May the force be with you always!