Founder, Criminal Defense Firm, San Francisco

One of our most successful partners had been to treatment many times, his problem was well known amongst his peers and employees, but each time he tried to come back to work he relapsed.

Each relapse caused more damage, not only to his reputation, but also to the firm.

The young attorneys who worked for him began to leave the firm and work for other practices, resentful that the issue hadn’t been resolved. As word spread of his latest relapse we knew we had to get professional advice.

We were about to ask him to take early retirement, and risk losing our largest client, when we hired Alpha Intervention.

They assessed the problem, and rather than referring him to treatment again, instead recommended a local Outpatient program specializing in Executives, which he could attend and still come to work.

The Alpha Recovery Coach was the key we’d been missing all along.

The coach had been a successful attorney and had decided to retrain as a Clinical psychologist.
As a recovering alcoholic and former attorney, he understood the professional pressures because he'd faced them himself.

This gave him unique credibility, and allowed our colleague to relate to him in a way he’d failed to with other therapists or counselors.

They built a trusting rapport. Every time stressful situations faced him at work instead of relapsing he had someone to turn to who knew the pressures and could walk him though them.

They worked together for 6 months, and along with the testing and monitoring and the outpatient program, our colleague finally found a way to remain sober and productive.

His coach also put he and his wife in touch with a family therapist, and the divorce that had looked like a foregone conclusion was put on hold.

He’s now been sober for over a year, and is once again living with his wife and three young children.

Managing Partner Criminal Defense Practice, San Francisco.

January 2008