Tis the Road Behind, Tis the Road Ahead

Tis the Road Behind, Tis the Road Ahead:
By David Rosengren Ph.D., President PRI

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…”

A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Dickens, in his unique style goes on to say, “it is a time just like our own.”  As I sat down to write this article, this quote kept coming to mind; Dickens had it right.  It is the best of times; it is the worst of times….

Over the next year we will witness Ray Daugherty, PRI’s developer and primary architect of Prime For Life®, step further into retirement and his next great life adventure.  How can PRI possibly move forward without the man who sits at its very core? This is the man who, over 35 years ago, looked at what was available for indicated prevention and decided there must be a better way.   He reviewed the research, wrote down what he learned, and then set out to build a better program.  From those beginnings, Ray and Terry O’Bryan built PRI.  All of what we do stems from this man.  How do you replace that sort of vision and the ability to inspire others?  Sometimes it feels as if it is the worst of times. 

And yet, PRI released a new version of Prime For Life this past year and the reception has been overwhelmingly positive.  A product was developed, refined, and delivered by the entire PRI family and guided expertly by Ejna Mitchell.   Ray, to his infinite credit, had the wisdom to begin building PRI’s capacity to do this work more than a decade ago.  PRI can now continue to thrive and change lives even in his absence.  It’s the best of times. 

The road ahead is unfolding and uncertain.  After a short breather, we’ve jumped into a project that involves programming, media design, media integration, continuing education, and learning management systems for Prime Solutions®; this is a BIG project.  I mean REALLY BIG. Some might say, “It is the age of foolishness.” 

And yet, this project, led by Ray, will produce a presentation App for Prime Solutions that will seamlessly allow counselors to move between the App, on-line support materials, and obtaining continuing education credit for the preparation work they do.  It will evolve how Prime Solutions counselors work. It will transform how and what they learn prior to and after training.  It lays the foundation for high quality training and service for the next decade. In time, it will also impact training of Prime For Life Instructors. It is the age of wisdom. 

At the end of this year, we will say good-bye to Dr. Blair Beadnell, our Research Director, as he moves into early retirement.  It doesn’t quite seem possible that we’ll lose this modest cornerstone who helped solidify and extend the research base upon which PRI so proudly stands.  Indeed, it is a time of dismay. 

And yet, the foundation is solid. We are meeting with potential candidates to fill this Director position and we’ve had intriguing conversations with potential research partners that will take us into new domains, allowing us to feel hopeful about what comes next.  We say it is a time to trust the future. 

Like so many, PRI has suffered through budget setbacks and the resulting belt-tightening that came in the wake of the recession; and right at the time when we needed to roll out a huge transformation of Prime For Life.  Like many of you, we now do more with less. It has been a season of challenge. 

And yet, Prime For Life and Prime Solutions continue to spread into new locations. At present, Prime For Life is the indicated prevention program in 15 states, as well as the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, and U.S. Coast Guard.  Prime Solutions will soon be adopted statewide in its third location.  You, our partners, will serve between 150,000 – 200,000 clients this year.  We’ve been training the U.S. Marine Corps substance abuse treatment staff in Motivational Interviewing.  Yes, we are on the brink of a season of light. 

We know that impaired driving, a primary focus for our work together, has diminished in some areas 30% over the last decade.  While the causes of that decline can be debated, we’ve seen a societal shift in how impaired driving is viewed.  Despite this positive change, there has been an increase in use of opiates that, in turn, has led to an increase in heroin use and overdose deaths.  The tide also appears to be coming in for marijuana legalization and we can expect there will be a subsequent rise of impaired driving secondary to its use.  We are already seeing early hints of that in Washington State.  Even as we make strides in one area, another surges forward.  It could be a Winter of Despair.

And yet, to paraphrase Ray, when the sun sets tonight somewhere a little boy and a little girl will not be crying in their beds because Mommy came home drunk or Daddy is high again.  Our aim is not to sell workbooks, train providers, or enhance the skills of instructors.  It is to improve people’s lives through prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug problems.  We do that with you.  This is the Spring of Hope. 

In A Tale of Two Cities, Dickens uses a theme of doubles throughout the book, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times….” We also use this theme in our story of the coin, “When you pick it up, you get both sides.”  Yet, there is an underappreciated gem in these stories. 

It is not just that there are two sides, but to what we give our attention that matters.  We can focus on the worst of times, a time of dismay, a season of struggle, or the winter of despair.  We have all known those times.  Or, we can acknowledge the truth of those things but choose to focus on the best of times, a time to trust, a season of light, and a spring of hope.  The research confirms what our clients and end-users have already shown us—this focus can be essential in whether we simply survive or we thrive.  As we move forward at PRI, we know our focus will be critical in determining what will come next. 

It was a great road behind.  We choose to focus forward and invite you to join us, even as we acknowledge all that led us here.  Ray is irreplaceable and yet, because he prepared us for this day, together we will go further. 

At PRI, the goals are not to innovate, make great curricula, provide excellent training, and offer great service.  We do those things to improve lives.  As a team—you and PRI—we will continue to do that: change forever the lives of those we serve.  It is a great road ahead.