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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024
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81-Year-Old Still Sharing Lessons of Her 57 Years of Sobriety

At 81 years old, Jeanne McAlister still manages the day-to-day duties as founder and CEO of the McAlister Institute, a substance abuse and recovery center that has 150 staff members who help more than 2,500 adults and teens every month. I recently had the privilege of visiting with this remarkable woman.

Upon entering the center in El Cajon, the headquarters for the institute, McAlister’s personality and spirit is palpable. She came bounding down the stairs and greeted me with the energy of someone half her age. Following close behind her were her three West Highland White Terriers, one 11 years old — nearly McAllister’s age in dog years — and two adorable puppies.

“I could leave them in my apartment downtown, but why?” she said.

McAlister is a recovering addict who struggled with substance abuse for more than 10 years. “I started drinking when I was 15, and by the time I was 24, I was almost dead,” she said.

She said alcoholism was not understood in 1957 and particularly not accepted when you were a young woman. Fortunately, she met the right people at the right time and was able to regain control of her life. McAlister celebrates her 57th year of sobriety this year, and she has dedicated herself to helping others trying to do the same.

McAlister’s journey to this position is remarkable. After a series of what she calls “straight jobs,” McAlister immersed herself in the human potential movement in the early 1970s. She went to workshops and retreats and got to know many influential people like Eric Burne, the creator of Transactional Analysis, got involved in Gestalt Therapy and transitioned to conducting groups in her own home. She realized this was what she wanted to do with her life and pursued that goal with a passion. She worked with Dr. Tom Rusk, author of many books, most notably “Treat Your Ego in Four Hours.”

Rusk held the contract with San Diego County for treatment programs for drugs and alcohol. McAlister said that at some point he got tired of dealing with the county and backed out. McAlister had a center in El Cajon working with hundreds of people, and her friend Charles O’Leary had a similar number of people in a center in North County, and they didn’t know what to do. After much discussion and a personal financial investment by McAlister, the McAlister Institute was born.

“So here I am 37 years later,” she said.

The nonprofit now has more than 27 programs representing a continuum of care that spans prevention, outreach, intervention, deferred entry programs, outpatient treatment and sober living.

In 1981, she created Kiva Learning Center for Women and Children — the county’s first and the nation’s fifth program to let women live with their children in a safe, instructive and supportive environment while they received treatment. In 1991, McAlister championed group homes, which still represent California’s only nonmedical residential detox for adolescents. Last year, she was funded by the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency to help combat teen substance abuse and now provides free drug testing for teens.

There is so much more to say about what McAlister has accomplished and her frustrations regarding the complications with funding and the regulations on how long the Institute can treat people and under what circumstances. In particular, she described how different it is today. The drugs are much more serious and relatively easy to get.

McAlister said the most important point about her work is that the McAlister Institute treats the whole person. It isn’t just about alcohol and drugs; it’s often a more deep-seated issue. Now, McAlister said the issues are much more complex and that often the reason for the abuse is that people are “self-medicating” for serious mental health issues. She said it’s wrong to treat a person and send them back in three weeks to the environment that brought them there.

“Thank God we get to see some miracles because the work is hard these days,” she said.

Please send Kudos/Giving items to sglidden@sdbj.com.

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