Dec 22, 2022
Doug Tieman got his start in the treatment field over 40 years ago at the Hazelden Foundation. During his time there, he served as Executive Vice President of Marketing & Development. In 1995, he joined Caron Treatment centers as the President and CEO, a position he’s currently held for 28 years. Over the last 4 decades, Doug has seen the way professional's and the public’s perception of addiction has changed. In this episode, Doug shares what massive improvements we’ve undergone over the years and what the mental health industry has been doing to deliver better quality results to its patients.
TAKEAWAYS:
[1:40] A little bit about Doug Tieman and his career.
[3:20] As someone who’s been in the treatment and recovery space for 40 years, what has changed over the decades?
[4:00] Back then, anyone who was seen as an ‘addict’ had a willpower issue.
[6:00] In the 80s, you would have been kicked out of a treatment center for exercising.
[8:40] Sometimes, you would put people on the ‘hot seat’, where you almost tore into them as a form of tough love. However, we now know that’s one of the worst things you can do to someone with trauma.
[12:15] Why is addiction considered a mental health problem?
[16:40] Unfortunately, if the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
[17:00] What are some of the known problems about the mental health industry and its ability to treat people?
[19:20] Doug is in recovery himself. Despite being in the field for a long time, in 2008, he got his first DUI and realized he had a problem.
[25:30] As Doug found his recovery later in life, does he feel compelled to make up for ‘lost time’ in his adult children’s lives?
[28:50] Doug’s DUI made page six of the New York Post. The information was out there. Doug had to make a decision to communicate his struggles to his children.
[30:45] There’s so much good that can come from being in recovery. He has no more secrets.
RESOURCES:
Cruise Control: Understanding Sex Addiction in Gay Men
Prodependence: Moving Beyond Codependency
Out of the Doghouse by Robert Weiss
QUOTES:
- “When I started this work in the 80s, substance abuse treatment was a real mystery for most people.”
- “Even when we didn’t have the medical or scientific information that we would have today, treatment facilitators did their best. We believed in loving people back to health.”
- “This is an evolving field. We now know more about addiction as a brain chemistry and we’re unlocking new mysteries of the brain all the time.”
- “Individuals who suffer from mental health typically abuse substances. People who abuse substances typically have a mental health [condition] that goes along with it.”