Gina sits down with interventionist Renee Jackson, who works with Cameron Villas in West Palm Beach to discuss their treatment programs and her style of interventions.
Podcast Transcript
Gina Thorne: Hello everyone, this is Gina Thorne, and welcome to the Lakeview Podcast Series. I’m pleased to be joined today with Renee Jackson from Cameron Villas in West Palm Beach. Welcome, Renee. Renee Jackson: Thank you so much, I’m so glad to be here. Gina: Good, good! Well, before we start talking about Cameron Villas, I wanted to talk with you about your background. I understand that you’re an interventionist and you also work with Cameron Villas and so I’d like to hear a little bit first about your background. How did you get into the field? Renee: I got into the field due to my persona experience. I myself have been through some addiction issues and I started out working in mental health. I started with battered women and then mental health and I found that there was a link between all of them and addiction, and I became very interested in helping those get into treatment. I like the crisis piece; the running around, trying to help people get into treatment. Gina: And as we’ve talked earlier, this can be a very interesting industry in helping navigate families and patients into this program, so it’s nice to have somebody who can advocate for them to help them find the right place. Renee: It’s been awful. Actually I have a son that’s 32 who is in recovery and he was trying to get clean. There was nobody to guide me, it was hit or miss; things did work, didn’t work, it was just so overwhelming. Gina: So you’re a certified interventionist and so what’s your style of intervention? Renee: Well I am accredited with BRI, but I use a variety of techniques when I do interventions. I’m a firm believer that there’s no cookie cutter style of treatment and so there’s no cookie-cutter style of interventions either. Basically, if it works, and I can tell you honestly, I’ve only had one intervention go bad where they didn’t go to treatment. They’ve all gone, thank God, to treatment, so what works, I work it. Gina: That’s great! So tell us a little about Cameron Villas. It’s a sober living, or transitional living community and I understand that it works very closely with people in long-term recovery, so how does the program work? Renee: Ok, they have different components of Cameron Villas. Cameron Villas has Inspirations, which is the female program and then they have a Christian house. And individuals come in and it’s a very supportive, very structured sober living. There are very specific requirements; you have to go to meetings, you have to get a sponsor, you have to work, you need to work a 12-step program or a program similar to that. You may have to go to IOP or counseling but it is very structured. It’s also run by men who are in recovery themselves, so they’re familiar with all the feelings that can be associated with early recovery. They’re not quick to turn people away; if someone has difficulties or relapses, they won’t put you out. They’ll find you detox, get you detox, and then bring you back. It might mean you’ll go to a different house, change the people that you’re with, but they really don’t turn their backs on people. Gina: That’s great. So for those folks that are listening today, if they wanted to access services at Cameron Villas, how would they get in touch with you? Renee: Well they can get in touch with me in a few ways. They can contact me by my cellphone which is 860-256-9685. That’s my cellphone and I go wherever I have to go to do an intervention. It doesn’t matter where it is, what time it is, they can call me any time. Then, they can also contact Frank Walters, who is also one of the heads of Cameron Villas, at 609-658-2700. Gina: That’s fantastic. Well thank you for taking the time to talk with us today, we really appreciate it. Thank you for visiting Lakeview. Renee: Oh, you have a beautiful facility. I have sent a lot of my interventions here and I must say each one of them is doing okay today. Gina: Oh, I’m glad to hear that. Renee: I got to see one today and they look great! Gina: Excellent! Renee: Thank YOU! Gina: Well for those of you that are interested in learning more about Lakeview, we invite you to visit us at LakeviewHealth.com or feel free to call us at 866-887-0142.
