This issue, we talk with Hennepin Health’s Valerie Gustafson, a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor about her journey from Peer Recovery Coach to LADC. Views expressed are of Valerie’s and not of her employer.
Can you share a bit about yourself and your role at Hennepin Health?
I’m a person in long-term recovery (since 2008) who found out about Peer Recovery Coach training in 2017. After completion, I was invited to join the newly formed AmeriCorps program “Recovery Corps.” My assigned site was Minnesota Recovery Connection (MRC), where I spent two years learning more about recovery than I had ever imagined existed and became an accidental graduate student. AmeriCorps programs pay living stipends and give educational awards, so I applied to a UM Masters in Addictions Counseling program thinking there was no way I’d be accepted but could show my kids that I’d tried and give them the money for their colleges. Instead, I got a letter saying “Welcome to graduate school.”
I joined Hennepin Health last summer as part of a pilot substance use disorder (SUD) expansion to their Social Service Navigation Team. Back in 2017, I read an article about wrap-around SUD care that supported people’s recovery in situ, and it inspired me to work in the addictions field. It was only available with one type of insurance out East and doesn’t appear to have continued, but Hennepin Health is a Managed Care Organization that integrates traditional medical services, behavioral health services, and other county and community services that address the social influencers of health.
What inspired you to work as a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor (LADC)?
Becoming immersed in the recovery community via MRC and seeing first-hand how the Certified Peer Recovery Specialists (CPRs) workforce struggled for acceptance and validation made me think that CPRS becoming LADCs would synergize and expand the behavioral health workforce, and that lived experience would commensurately help to reduce stigma. It seems like that’s happening.
Can you share a bit about what you’re seeing in counseling individuals with substance use disorder (SUD)?
Everyone’s experience is different, but addiction has commonalities. Substance use generally starts out as enjoyable and/or helpful and becomes a disorder when people find that they can’t stop or control use that’s affecting them negatively. It’s often rooted in trauma, and sometimes the trauma is caused by the substance itself becoming a burden that can’t be put down. Stigma, the idea that addiction is a choice rather than an illness which no one would choose to have, holds people back from seeking help.
Are you seeing an increase in people seeking help with their addictions?
I think so. Along with increases in medical treatments available for SUD, there’s a trend towards integrating SUD care into regular healthcare vs always having to go somewhere that will target a person as substance-affected before they are ready to identity as that.
What things are most helpful to someone dealing with a substance use disorder (SUD)?
Everyone’s experience is different but listening to people, really listening to hear them and not just to respond, is always a good place to start. Looking up “meeting people where they’re at” gives a good description of where to begin.
How can someone help a person who is struggling with a substance use disorder (SUD)?
Educate yourself on who and where to refer, what resources are available. There are Recovery Community Organizations (RCOs) all over the state who can help, and the easiest way to find them is through MARCO (The Minnesota Alliance of Recovery Community Organizations):
- Connect With An RCO – MARCO / Phone 612-888-9001
Anything else you’d like to add about your work / any resources people can access while they are seeking recovery?
Contact an RCO and connect with peer support! When my mother died, I bought a little book called Water Bugs and Dragonflies (Doris Stickney; Pilgrim Press, 2009) for my children. It’s meant for teaching children about death: The water bugs are happy together but whenever one of them leaves the water, the others don’t know what happens to them. Then the story follows one who climbs and becomes a dragonfly up in the sunny world. Anyone who’s in recovery knows how it feels to be a dragonfly, which is why peer support is so important—because we can go back in the water and show the water bugs what is possible.
Wanna chat? Send us an email to phoenix@thephoenixspirit.com. We may earn a commission via some of the links on this page – at no cost to you.
Last Updated on May 6, 2025