Prevention Leaders w/ Dave Closson

Today, we’re talking about prevention in the higher ed setting with Dr. Allison Smith who facilitates a statewide higher education prevention coalition, provides professional development training for higher education staff and stakeholders, facilitates campus community partnerships and delivers technical assistance around the issue of substance use prevention collegiate communities. This episode i...

STAND is a coalition of community organizations, businesses, and individuals focused on the health and well-being of the youth in Scott County, Tennessee. They are leading the way in Scott County's alcohol and other drug prevention. Part of what they do includes sponsoring prescription drug take-back events, advocate for policy changes related to drug and alcohol ordinances, work with local law-en...

Let me tell you a little bit about my extraordinary guest, Chief Jill Lees.  Chief Lees graduated from Indiana University in 1995 with a degree in Criminal Justice. She attended the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Bloomington during the summer of 1994 as an IU Police Part-time Police Officer. She was sworn in at the Plainfield Police Department (IN) on May 15, 1995, National Peace Officers...

Dr. Alex Elswick is a tireless advocate for people with substance use disorders.  He currently serves the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist for Substance Use Prevention and Recovery.  Alex is a trained researcher, recovery coach, and mental health therapist, as well as the co-founder of Voices of Hope, a peer-driven recovery community organization....

My guest today has well over 13 years of prevention experience, working with individuals and communities that want to grow through strategic and evidence-based solutions. She has led community substance use and suicide prevention efforts AND within that work she coaches individuals in the areas of leadership, finance and wellness. She is on a mission to inspire, educate, empower and challenge you…...

Most addiction is rooted in the teenage years: 9 in 10 all adults with substance use disorders began using one or more drugs like alcohol, nicotine, and marijuana before the age of 18. A key reason for this is the unique vulnerability of the still-developing teen brain to substance use. The earlier substance use is initiated, the more likely an individual is to develop a substance use disorder. An...

On this episode, we’ve got a team that has a strong desire in their hearts to reach out to at-risk youth with support, encouragement, prevention services, community resources and most of all, showing them the unconditional love they deserve. Hub City Outreach Center is an organization that grew from the compassion that a few Prevention Educators possessed for youth in the community. This organizat...

For decades substance use and college campuses have been talked about as an inevitable rite of passage for college students, creating a norm that can far out shadow the dynamic pursuits of college students that revolve around academics and future opportunities. Today, we’re going to have a different conversation around college life and substance use; one that focuses on holistic health, rather tha...

Take a trip with me across the globe to Bali and listen in as I have a conversation with the one and only Sober Yoga Girl. We chat about everything from our sober journeys, sober-versaries, mindfulness, and of course sober yoga.  Alex McRobs, known as Sober Yoga Girl, is a former party girl turned international yoga teacher and sober lifestyle coach.⁣⁣ Originally from Canada, Alex has been li...

A former NFL center, Randy Grimes lived as everyone’s all-American—with a successful 10-year career for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a beautiful and devoted college-sweetheart-turned-wife, and two healthy children. But pain took over, and the prescription pills used to treat chronic injuries eventually led to playing in blackouts. When Randy’s career ended, the pills continued—feeding an opioid addic...

In this episode, I am speaking with Hillary Bolter, LCSW, LCAS, and founder of Bolter Consulting, LLC Hillary shares her wisdom from working in wilderness therapy to community mental health, providing in-home & school-based services, as a therapist with specialties including working with anxiety, trauma, addiction, and veterans. She has a ton of great resources on motivational interviewing for...

Today we are talking with Abruee Adams who is a former colorado mom and mom for kids in recovery. Aubree is a driven prevention champion and one doggone-inspiring woman! In this episode, she says her story of being a former colorado mom and her global community with Every Brain Matters.org. Together they are fostering a cultural change with the widespread use of their logo, which unites us and sym...

Although we have a number of buzzwords focused on diversity and cultural inclusion, this topic should have always been at the forefront of our minds. In fact, when you truly examine our code of ethics and the Strategic Prevention Framework, is it obvious that diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in our professional standards? This episode places a spotlight on the WHY and HOW we can be in...

In this episode, I unpack what the turnkey revolution is and how it can help you in setting up your prevention team so that you have systems and processes set up for a consistent, effective, and orderly way of doing your work. Day in and day out, so that the prevention team is systems dependent and not people dependent. I cover... Hard, Soft, and Information Systems Humanize your processes and sys...

Today we are talking about the six principles of adult learning and experiential learning so you can take your T/TA to the next level! Interested in my new Lumina Spark Coaching? Message me here: daveclosson.com/contact Links: www.daveclosson.com www.preventionleaders.com https://www.daveclosson.com/social-media-links

Today we talk about how to take your TA to the next level. When you’re providing TA - a coaching-based approach can drastically increase the quality, engagement, and impact of your work!  Links: www.daveclosson.com www.preventionleaders.com https://www.daveclosson.com/social-media-links

How would you answer the question “ My prevention team has a culture of _____?” · Now, how would your team answer that question? Or someone outside of your team? As prevention leaders, we talk about culture. Cultural competence is at the core of the strategic prevention framework and woven through each step. But today I want to talk about the culture of your prevention team. Not diversity – but cu...

Just last month I had to opportunity to speak with a military caregivers resource group from a multi-state hospital system out west. They invited me to share my personal story of struggling with substance misuse, post-traumatic stress, and an undiagnosed traumatic brain injury and how I stumbled into post-traumatic growth to get my life back on track. Although it was a little tough sharing such a...

We all know how important sleep is, but are we as Prevention Leaders making sleep a priority?  If you're struggling to just tread water these days or wanting to step up our game and rise to the challenges 2020 is bringing us, it all starts with getting quality sleep.  In this episode, I share my personal story of TBI and PTSD related sleep problems and how I worked for over a year to get...

Your committee is excited and ready to begin the strategic prevention framework. You have diligently worked to get the key stakeholders at the table. Things are looking great. Now it is time for step one, the assessment. You disseminate the results of the substance use survey to each committee member and each notices a high past 30-day consumption rate. Bingo! We know the problem, now we can use t...

If you’re feeling overwhelmed, stress, not sure where to begin, or want to step your game up to a whole new level then this episode is for you. We dive into coaching, how it differs from TA, and how to create long term change. WHO IS HUELIFE? HueLife is a human understanding and engagement (Hue) consulting firm. They take ideas, aspirations, and goals, and turn them into exciting realities that th...

For today’s episode, we are bringing you another quick mini-episode with Angie and Karie from HueLife . A quick refresher from the last episode, the Huelife mission is to educate, facilitate, and inspire engagement in meaningful action for the greater good of communities and organizations. We wanted to build on the last episode where we chatted about the importance of starting with why. Today we a...

Today’s episode is a little different. It’s a quick mini-episode with Angie and Karie from HueLife. A quick refresher from the last episode, the Huelife mission is to educate, facilitate and inspire engagement in meaningful action for the greater good of communities and organizations. We wanted to jump on and have a chat about the importance of starting with Why. We are fans of Simon Sinek’s work...

In today’s episode we will be talking about leading a DFC coalition, writing for years 1-5 and for 6-10, and a proven process that builds buy-in and sustainability right from the beginning. The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program has been a central, bi-partisan component of our nation’s demand reduction strategy since its passage in 1998. The consistent and steady growth of the program from $10 mi...

In this episode, I have a wonderful conversation with Angie and Karie from Hue.life . They share key insights, lessons learned, and strategies to build an engaged and driven coalition. We dive into the process they use to build buy-in, trust, ownership, and sustainability in community coalitions across the country.