A note before you listen... This episode includes frank discussion of substance use, overdose, and family loss, and contains explicit language. We often think the opposite of addiction is sobriety. Rich Jones makes the case that it's connection. Rich grew up in Ligonier, about an hour east of Pittsburgh. A car accident in 1999 sent him home from an emergency room with 120 Darvocet, and within eighteen months he was in a rehab. He's been in recovery ever since; twenty-six years, and he built a career out of what he learned there. Today he's co-founder and chief clinical officer of Youturn Health and founder of BuildWell Health, where the people answering the phone aren't strangers. They're people who've been there. In this conversation, Rich talks about the enormous group of people who fall between doing nothing and going to treatment, and why the system consistently misses them. He explains why "wait for them to hit bottom" was never sound advice. He walks us through what peer support is, how families get trained as recovery coaches, and why he thinks boundary setting and stress management are the two things family recovery actually comes down to. We also get into the parts that hit close to home for us; the phone calls that go nowhere, the treatment windows that close before you can reach them, and what watching someone you love in active addiction does to your own body. This one is heavy. It's also, we think, one of the most hopeful conversations we've had. About Rich Jones Rich Jones is a licensed clinical substance use specialist with more than 40,000 coaching hours. He holds an undergraduate degree in business management from Saint Vincent College, a graduate degree in sociology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and an MBA. He began his career at UPMC Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, later spent twelve years in Greenville, South Carolina building peer support and recovery coaching programs, and was one of the earliest founders of a recovery community organization in the United States. He serves on the board of Sage's Army. Connect with Rich Email: rjones@buildwellhealth.com — the address Rich gave on air. He offered it to anyone who wants more information about peer support certification, particularly listeners outside Pennsylvania. Youturn Health: youturnhealth.com Co-founded by Rich Jones (Chief Clinical Officer)and Hamilton Baiden, who serves as Chief Executive Officer. Peer-based behavioral health and substance use support delivered primarily through telehealth, with flexible scheduling built around the person rather than the program. Youturn serves individuals and family members, with dedicated family coaches and a weekly family group. BuildWell Health: buildwellhealth.com Founded by Rich to reach construction and blue-collar workers, who historically have not accessed traditional behavioral health services. BuildWell operates mental health clinics on site at job sites. Resources mentioned in this episode Sage's Army: sagesarmy.com A 501(c)(3) recovery community organization based in Westmoreland County, with locations in Greensburg and Irwin. Founded in 2012 by Carmen Capozzi after the overdose death of his twenty-year-old son, Sage. Sage's Army provides education, advocacy, and direct services including outreach, and employs Certified Recovery Specialists and Certified Family Recovery Specialists. Pennsylvania Certification Board: pacertboard.org Where to start if you're in Pennsylvania and want to become a Certified Recovery Specialist. Rich describes the pathway accurately: a course, supervised hours, certification, and recertification every two years. If you're outside Pennsylvania, Rich has offered to help point you in the right direction — his email is above. Resolve Crisis Services (Allegheny County): 1-888-796-8226 Free, 24/7 crisis support for Allegheny County residents, including mobile teams that come to you. 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: call or text 988 Available 24/7 nationwide. SMART Recovery: smartrecovery.org One of several alternatives to twelve-step programs mentioned as a pathway worth trying. AA, NA, and Al-Anon We want to be clear about something we said on air: those rooms save lives. If a twelve-step program is working for you, stay in it. Our point in this episode is that it shouldn't be the only door anybody ever shows you. Here's where a few things in this episode come from, and where we'd add a caveat. Rat Park. The experiments Rich refers to were conducted by Canadian psychologist Bruce Alexander and colleagues at Simon Fraser University in the late 1970s. The study used a morphine solution, not cocaine, and found that rats in an enriched, social environment consumed less than isolated rats. Worth knowing: the original study has never been successfully replicated, and researchers have raised methodological questions about it. A substantial body of later research on environmental enrichment has found that animals in fuller environments self-administer drugs at lower rates. Vietnam and heroin. The research Rich points to comes from Lee Robins' longitudinal studies of returning US servicemen, published in the mid-1970s. Robins found that heroin use was widespread in country, and that the large majority of men who had been dependent overseas did not relapse after returning home, and most without any treatment at all. It remains one of the most striking findings in the addiction literature about the role of environment. Los Angeles County Jail. Rich's framing reflects a widely reported reality: the Los Angeles County jail system, along with Cook County and Rikers Island, functions as one of the largest de facto mental health facilities in the United States. Synanon. Founded in California in 1958, Synanon was among the most prominent narcotics treatment programs of the 1960s and 70s before deteriorating into a cult. Naloxone (Narcan). Naloxone displaces opioids from receptors and reverses an overdose. It is not enabling; it's a basic emergency medical response. One thing worth adding that we didn't cover on air: xylazine is not an opioid, so naloxone will not reverse it. Give naloxone anyway, since fentanyl is almost always present too, but the person may not fully wake up. Call 911, stay with them, and keep them on their side. The 6% figure. Rich cites a statistic that only about six percent of people with a substance use disorder ever receive help. That figure reflects federal survey data from a few years back. The survey definitions have since changed, and more recent federal estimates put the share of people classified as needing substance use treatment who receive it closer to one in five. The underlying point, that most people who need help never get it, holds either way. Positive psychology. Mentioned in passing as a source of stress management tools. We covered this ground more fully with Dr. Leslie B. Newman earlier this season. Johann Hari. Rich mentions Hari's talk on connection and addiction, which is where a lot of people first encounter Rat Park. Also mentioned Darvocet (propoxyphene) — a prescription opioid painkiller, withdrawn from the US market in 2010IOP — intensive outpatient programRecovery community organization (RCO) — an independent 501(c)(3) governed by people in recovery and their family membersPeer support / recovery coaching — support delivered by people with lived experience rather than clinical credentials aloneSupport the show We recently opened our Amazon storefront. If you shop Amazon through our link, it helps us keep going at no extra cost to you: a.co/d/09cGQmlj Looking for something specific we talked about, or want to fill out your own life toolkit and tackle box? The TY Toolkit is at thrivingyinzers.com. If this episode found you at the right moment, pass it on. That's how we grow. This podcast is meant to be informational and inspirational, but it is not a substitute for professional advice. 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Follow “This is It! The Podcast by Thriving Yinzers” on Facebook or Instagram @typghpod 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline — Call or text 988https://988lifeline.org
