Better
Decisions Start with Better Decisions
By
Bob Cox
Janina
and Alex grew up on the wrong side of the tracks during the wild and
crazy 1970's, with an unhealthy supply of drugs, alcohol and never
ending parties. Janina’s parents were both alcoholics while two of
her three siblings struggled with drug addiction. The one rule in
Janina’s house was there were no rules. So, she did what many
teenagers do when they are left to their own devices; she ran around
with troubled kids like Alex.
Alex
came from a broken family (divorce) and he spiraled downward into a
lifestyle of trouble. He grew up in a neighborhood that was infested
with gangs, crime and drugs. The gang leaders were the only role
models in his neighborhood and Alex, like most of the kids he grew up
with, looked up to them. He admired their power, their wealth and the
respect they commanded. It took several years in prison for Alex to
receive a much needed wake up call, which he fortunately answered.
That’s when he chose to make better decisions and completely turned
his life around.
Janina
also struggled as a young adult to find peace and happiness. One day,
while she was going through her second divorce, she decided to make
better decisions as well, which completely transformed her life. She
decided to go into a field that she loved and wanted to be more
involved in. She was determined to open up an alcohol and drug
counseling facility immediately after she retired.
More
than three decades passed since the two friends had seen one another
when their paths would cross once again. This time, the friendship
would blossom in a healthy and toxic-free environment. Janina found
out from a friend that Alex had embraced a positive based lifestyle
and had gone on to become a respected drug and alcohol counselor. She
was excited to hear the good news, especially after all the self
destructive years they once shared. Today, they embrace the same
passion for helping others conquer addiction. When she asked Alex if
he would be interested in working with her, he said “Yes,
absolutely!”
I
had the privilege to sit down with Janina Guarino and Alex Noriega
the other day to learn more about the company that Janina has started
here in Rancho Cordova called Better Decisions Counseling Services. I
walked away completely uplifted by their resilience to overcome so
many obstacles and inspired by their passion to help others that have
suffered from similar upbringings. Here’s how our conversation
went.
Q:
What is Better Decisions Counseling Services?
A:
(Janina) Better Decisions is a new alcohol and substance
rehabilitation services agency. We offer a wide variety of quality
counseling services that go beyond drug and alcohol addiction, such
as anger management, co-parenting education, self esteem classes and
more. With our unique experiences of being brought up around drug and
alcohol addiction, we have genuine empathy and understand the despair
our clients feel when they hit rock bottom. Alex and I have been
there, so we know what it feels like to lose hope. Fortunately, we
both decided to make better decisions and completely turned our lives
around. We chose to replace our unhealthy addictions with healthy
addictions that have added more joy in our lives and the lives of the
people we love. We’ve taken those real life experiences as well as
the formal education to assemble a variety of tools to help empower
people, so they can be free from unhealthy addictions and progress in
life.
Q:
How exactly does Better Decisions assist people with negative
addictions?
A:
(Janina) Once a person has gone through a successful detox program,
they need a comprehensive support system and that’s where we come
in. We provide people with the education they need to integrate into
society and achieve personal and professional success. We don’t
have a cookie cutter program, because each person is unique. If
someone has certain issues in their life, we address those issues
specifically. We teach life skills and social skills to help our
clients gain employment. (Alex) We teach our clients the basics, like
writing a professional resume, doing mock interviews and offering
tips on how to dress for the occasion. (Janina) We’re also
assisting people who are going through divorce by providing anger
management and parenting courses, which are sometimes required by a
court of law when dealing with child custody issues. We even have
family and marriage therapy, life coaching and sober companionship.
Q:
Are there any other services that Better Decisions provides that are
not currently available in the greater Sacramento area?
A:
(Janina) Yes, we’re now offering drug testing after 5pm. We’re
available from 10am to 8:30pm. The majority of drug testing centers
in the area close by 5pm. We also provide Saturday counseling by
appointment. (Alex) By staying open after 5pm, we’re trying to
accommodate the working class people that need the service but can
only come after work.
Q:
What’s been your impact on helping families who have
someone
suffering from an unhealthy addiction?
A:
(Janina) It’s been amazing! We’re bringing families together by
offering formal counseling for every member of the family. Many
family services located throughout Sacramento only treat the
individual and exclude the family. We understand that the whole
family is greatly impacted when a member has an unhealthy addiction.
I was raised in a family with alcoholism and drug addiction, so I
know what that’s like. Every member of our family suffered. Had
those services been available to me back then, I may have made the
decision to seek help a lot sooner.
Q:
You mentioned something earlier about adding healthy addictions.
What’s that all about?
(Alex) When most people think of
addiction, they associate it with all the negative ones. But there
are also positive addictions that you can use to fill the hole that’s
left when a person removes a negative addiction. (Janina) We try to
find out what healthy hobbies our clients once enjoyed and then build
on that. Let’s say you used to play in a band and then you got into
drugs and had to stop everything because your lifestyle became self
destructive. We want to help you remember your first love (music)
before the drugs were introduced. We encourage our clients to
remember those things that brought them joy so that that they can
bring that back into their life, minus the unhealthy addictions.
Q:
Can you tell us about your popular women’s support group?
(Alex)
Yes, Janina offers a support group for women, which helps build self
esteem and is very motivational. (Janina) We have found that women
don’t have a lot of support systems available here in the
Sacramento area and women need to support each other. We want them to
feel comfortable with this masculine disease of addiction. When a
woman is in an addictive mindset, she is more apt to solicit the
company of a male figure and fall into an unhealthy relationship. By
having a women’s support group, we’re finding that it’s okay
not to have what I call a better than nothing around, which is a male
figure that’s not good for you. Women can now come to the support
system and talk it out. You may need other people to talk to about
certain things or a place where you can vent and hear somebody else’s
perspective. You don’t have to be in a romantic relationship to
feel loved and understood. A plutonic relationship is often more
healthy.
Q:
What are the future goals of Better Decisions?
A:
(Janina) Today, we’re an intensive outpatient program, but we plan
to have a residential facility in the near future. We’re
incorporating the mental health services with substance abuse for the
better of the community. (Alex) We’re looking to open a Sober
Living Environment (SLE), which offers even more intensive outpatient
assistance. We just want to touch the whole community in a positive
way. We won’t turn anybody down, everybody is welcome. You have to
show up to make a better decision.
Editor’s
notes: Janina Guarino is the founder of Better Decisions Counseling
Services in Rancho Cordova. She is a Certified Alcohol and Drug
Counselor (C.A.D.C. II). Alex Noriega is the general manager for
Better Decisions Counseling Services. He is also a Certified
Addiction Specialist (C.A.S. I). For more information about Better
Decisions Counseling Services, call (916) 368-0700, visit their
website www.betterdecisionsinc.org
or stop by their office at 10366 Rockingham Drive in Rancho Cordova.
Donations are always welcome.
