Q & A with Reginald Ford – Assistant Director of Milieu for OPI Living Programs
Recently, I sat down with Reginald Ford, Assistant Director of Milieu for all OPI Living programs, including the Optimum Performance Institute, specialized OPI Intensive for participants suffering from Borderline Personality Disorder and BPD Traits and our newest OPI Living Program, Intensive Outpatient Services, to discuss a few topics about his valued work here among our team of professionals.
Q: What have you learned from participants since you’ve been part of our team?
A: I have learned to work with people from different cultures and personalities. Each individual participant has a unique struggle and desire to better themselves and to become productive citizens.
Q: How have you motivated, inspired, and supported our participants?
A: I am able to connect with most of the participants by giving them words of encouragement, putting things into perspective, and letting them know that I can help them with their issues and help them accomplish their goals.
Q: Have you been inspired by program participants?
A: Definitely. I’ve seen so many success stories that have shown me that in life one can accomplish anything one set’s their mind to, with either short term or long term goals; this is incredibly inspiring to witness firsthand.
Q: What changes have you seen in participants?
A: I have seen participants come into our programs while in a very depressed stage and several months later these participants emerge with a new state of mind and begin to start their lives living a normal life with a full-time job, attendance at a school, living in their own apartment and they’ve built long-lasting relationships with other participants and OPI staff along the way.
Q: Any memorable follow up from past participants?
A: Over the many years I have been part of the OPI team, there are several participants who have kept in contact with me via the occasional telephone call or email. It always gives me great satisfaction to hear that they are doing well living independently and have kept up sobriety from previous self-harming behaviors.
Q: What do you think about our concept of toolboxes for participants while at OPI?
A: Many participants do not know how to create a simple resume; this is something that we teach them. We also teach them how to complete a job application, how to prepare for an interview, how to dress along with proper interviewing etiquette. Participants also learn how to open a bank account and how to budget their money responsibly.
These life skills and job preparation toolbox concepts teach the individual how to be independent and knowledgeable about basic skills that help toward building a successful life of independence after they leave our programs.