How Allison Rush of TruHealing Addiction & Mental Health Treatment Centers Is Helping To Battle One of Our Most Serious Epidemics
Leadership is more than just directing people to a common goal. I think it requires someone open-minded, creative, and with emotional intelligence. I am a leader who encourages people to learn, think for themselves, build their skills and be their best self.
As a part of our series about “Heroes Of The Addiction Crisis” I had the pleasure of interviewing Allison Rush.
Allison Rush is the VP of Marketing at TruHealing Centers for Addiction and Mental Health Treatment with expertise in leading and organizing marketing teams, campaign strategy and content creation. Through strategic public relations, Allison has secured numerous broadcast and print media placements over the years focusing on recovery stories and the impact alcohol and drug treatment has on countless lives. Her aim is to destigmatize mental illness and influence the media to shine a light on the disease of addiction on a global scale. She speaks on topics of mental health from a family standpoint in various news interviews, events and conferences.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a bit of your backstory?
I graduated from the University of Florida in 2006 and studied Journalism and Communications. I always knew I wanted to work in broadcast television in some capacity. As it turns out, I learned quite a bit about public relations and television production at my first job at the William Morris Agency. I left a few years later and started my own PR firm. I represented hospitality brands, world class hotels, leading plastic surgeons, and health and wellness brands. It was lots of glitz and glamour producing big events and working with celebrity influencers. While it was a great experience, it was sometimes not always fulfilling. When I first started working in the behavioral health field, I found my calling. I have close family members who suffered from mental health issues and with my connections in the field, I was able to help them. I found a way to utilize my PR skills and help the greater good of the industry to promote treatment resources and that asking for help shouldn’t be shameful.
Is there a particular story or incident that inspired you to get involved in your work with opioid and drug addiction?
A couple years ago, the drug and alcohol treatment industry was plagued by negative media, especially in Florida. This added to an already painful stigma that not only did addicts feel like outcasted members of society, but now they were afraid to get the help they needed because they didn’t know where to turn. Sadly, the industry did have unscrupulous players doing illegal activity. However, that isn’t the case among most providers who generally want to provide good care and do it the right way. I decided to combat the negative press by working with recovering addicts willing to give their testimonials about their journey to sobriety and focus on the successful, real stories out there. One in particular is Brandon Novak, who is now seven years clean and is one of the most sought after recovery speakers in the nation. I have been managing Brandon’s PR and speaking engagements for five years now and he is very inspiring to addicts and loved ones of addicts everywhere. He battled a 20-year heroin addiction and lost it all then went on to find sobriety and now gives back through his talks globally. It is so important for others to find hope and use their platform for good. It’s my job to get that out there.
Can you explain what brought us to this place? Where did this epidemic come from?
Prescription pain killers led to an enormous surge of addiction and drug over doses. In the 1990s big pharma started to produce opioids. Then around the 2010s, a rapid increase in heroin emerged. Many people resorted to cheaper heroin on the street. Now, we see fentanyl and more lethal substances mixed into the synthetic drugs.
Can you describe how your work is making an impact battling this epidemic?
By shedding a light on addiction and working with as many members of the media to achieve this, is how I have made an impact. I want to break the stigma that addiction is a moral failing and educate people all over the world that it is in fact a disease, backed by science, and there is hope most of all. I want to continue to cover stories of recovering addicts, their families, and medical providers leading the way with proven therapies. The more likely we are to see people come forward for help and not become another statistic, is a win. I am contributing to the spread of real information and tangible stories that can be felt, seen and heard. I have worked in the drug and alcohol addiction treatment space for nearly a decade and have made it my life’s work to destigmatize persons suffering from the disease.
Wow! Without sharing real names, can you tell us a story about a particular individual who was impacted by your initiative?
There are too many to count. I have worked with so many incredible people from all walks of life, color, race, and religion. Each recovery story is unique. I will say that one young woman has touched me in her journey. She was a single mother and trying to do the best she could while struggling with low self-esteem and addiction to heroin. She stuck to the program and never missed a meeting. She is a success story, now working in a leadership role at one of my recovery centers, celebrating 4 years of continuous sobriety. She made it. I love that she took her mess and turned it onto a message.
Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?
I am proud of being able to work in this field doing what I love. My most uplifting experience is producing testimonial videos. During the interviews, there is intense emotion and breakthroughs happening even when the camera is rolling. It’s authentic, real and raw. I love being able to be a part of this.
Can you share three things that the community and society can do to help you address the root of this problem? Can you give some examples?
Three things we can do is start with a non-judgmental attitude and lessen shame. The second is to focus on education and help members of the community, government leaders, and families understand the disease of addiction better. We have to combat the ignorance and really dismantle misconceptions of the “just shrug it off” and “they made a choice to pick up and use” attitudes. Lastly, if we all made a small effort in our local communities it would go such a long way. For example, donate some clothing to a recovery residence, volunteer with organizations that help those find treatment resources, donate to NAMI and other reputable causes. Small or large, anything helps.
If you had the power to influence legislation, which three laws would you like to see introduced that might help you in your work?
For one, any prescription medication rendered by a provider would need to see the patient in person after seven days of taking medication. They should have a thorough evaluation before they just go on prescribing a 90 day refill. There needs to be more supervision for opioid prescriptions and pain management.
I would also like to see our current administration do a better job in protecting our borders to decrease the amount of fentanyl coming through. This would help in eliminating it off the streets and cutting off as much access as possible.
There are existing laws already in place that have helped like Florida’s Marchman Act. It essentially requires the addict to submit to a treatment facility or do jailtime if they are found as a harm to themselves or others in a court of law. I have assisted several families with this and it has helped many people.
I know that this is not easy work. What keeps you going?
My higher power. Submitting to G-d and knowing that I can’t control everything, but I can do everything in my power to help lessen the stigma and do what I can in my profession.
Do you have hope that one day this leading cause of death can be defeated?
Yes, but it will take everyone in the community from parents to teachers, politicians and those willing to put in the work to affect change.
How do you define “Leadership”? Can you explain what you mean or give an example?
Leadership is more than just directing people to a common goal. I think it requires someone open-minded, creative, and with emotional intelligence. I am a leader who encourages people to learn, think for themselves, build their skills and be their best self.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
At the moment, I have one I can share. I wish I knew “You don’t find meaning, you create meaning” much sooner in life. I was trying to find a job that was fulfilling for so long. I learned to create the meaningful life I wanted instead of looking to find it at some organization where I didn’t fit in.
You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
We Rise for Mental Health™ and STAR™ Supporting Treat Access and Resources will be my nonprofit organization to help place our mentally ill community in safe housing starting in Palm Beach County where I reside. Many people don’t realize that housing in the most fundamental human need to serve as a foundation for anything else we do in life. We can’t have jobs or raise families with housing. People with mental illness cannot receive treatment without housing. Did you know it’s NOT covered by insurance companies.
I have experienced crisis situations where loved ones cannot find housing due to low income, criminal history, and manic behavior because of their illness. This results in more homelessness and guess who suffers? Taxpayers. Community members. You and me.
My solution is to work with our state leaders and be granted funding to build housing communities that would offer on-site clinical care, life skills, security, medication management, and transportation to work and school.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away,” by Pablo Picasso. I want to help others through my influence and there is meaning in helping others.
Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. 🙂
Well, I wish I could have met Robin Williams. But if you told me I was meeting Jim Carrey, then I would be absolutely star-struck (And I don’t get star-struck). He is the exception. Just talking about life with him and his battles with mental health recovery through art therapy would be awe-inspiring.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Follow me on IG @allinicolerush
This was very meaningful, thank you so much!
How Allison Rush of TruHealing Addiction & Mental Health Treatment Centers Is Helping To Battle One… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.