Dependable, loyal and compassionate are three adjectives I’d use to describe John Hamilton. He is returning for the eighth year as Emcee of NCPSG’s Community Addiction Awareness Vigil. What I like about John is he blends his expertise of three plus decades in the prevention, treatment and recovery world with empathy for those who struggle–be they the loved ones themselves or their family members.
A little bit about John. He is President & CEO of Liberation Programs, one of Fairfield County’s largest behavioral health organizations. John chairs the advisory board for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and serves on the Governors Alcohol and Drug Policy Council. In 2013, John was the recipient of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence (AATOD) Nyswander-Dole Award for his contributions to the field of Addiction Treatment. He also has maintained a private practice during most of his career, as a LMFT and LADC. Currently he conducts individual counseling sessions right here in New Canaan, usually on Saturday.
Consistent with our “Families Empower Recovery” theme, John took advantage of available grants to hire family recovery coaches to supplement Liberation’s existing recovery coach team. He talked recently at a major conference, under the heading of “Unleash The Power of Parents & Peers: Engaging & Empowering Families”. He’s also a big believer in motivational interviewing and harm reduction, and will be speaking in October at the Global Exchange Conference, the topic being “Breaking Down the Harm Reduction and Addiction Treatment Divide”.
John has impacted so many people in his roles of program executive, speaker, panel moderator and clinician. Not that he’s not a family man as well. I believe, doing simple math, that John has touched tens of thousands. Take a look at John’s LinkedIn profile. He has 30,000 followers in his network!
Thank you, John, for your loyalty and dedication to our cause. See you at the Vigil!
(To learn more about New Canaan Parent Support Group’s August 29 Vigil, click here, or go to ncparentsupportgroup.org]