Betty Ford Center :: Recovery :: Joan Connor Clark

Joan Connor Clark began working part-time in the Center's Training Department in 1988 and in 1993, she began a 16-year stint in the Alumni Services department. She moved into Business Development in December 2009. She has served on a variety of committees during her tenure with the Center, including the first Quality Improvement Team in the early 1990s. She has lived in the desert for over 40 years and attended College of the Desert as well as San Diego State University, majoring in journalism.

sort by: date | category

Stay inside your own Hula Hoop!
September 5th, 2011 / BFC Insights / Joan Connor Clark
If I stand directly in the center of a ‘mental hula hoop’, everything inside it is my responsibility. This includes my actions, my thoughts, my words – all of my “stuff.” Whatever is outside of that circle is none of my business. Of course I can reach out from inside my hoop to help others, and I can share my space with friends that I invite in. However, it’s important that I remember to not jump uninvited out of my hoop into someone else’s. I also shouldn't judge the value of another person's space; my hula hoop is no better or worse than that of anyone...

Creative Intoxication Brings Sobering Consequences
June 12th, 2011 / Doctor's Office / Joan Connor Clark
They eat alcohol-infused whipping cream, slurp gelatin shots and starve themselves during the day to offset the calories in the alcohol they plan to consume after classes that night. They also rely on more traditional methods, such as competitively chugging beer with their fraternity brothers. They do what they can to get drunk; however – for some college students – perceived fun leads to alcoholism and addiction . Thirty young people are currently in the Betty Ford Center’s Young Adult Track (YAT.) The majority of these young women and men either dropped out of college to...

Therapy on Four Legs
March 3rd, 2011 / Programs / Joan Connor Clark
The group therapy session began, and the woman who was reluctant to participate sat a bit apart from the others, arms folded. As the group members tried to coax her into sharing, her eye was caught by a small, furry brown presence at her feet. Toby, therapy-dog-in-training, was on the job. The Cavalier King Charles spaniel was soon cuddling in the woman’s lap, which resulted in the patient literally unfolding her arms to embrace the group’s support. This is just one instance of how helpful two-year old Toby and his three-year old half-sister, Kerry, have been when they visit the...

I thought alcohol addiction only hurt me
January 8th, 2011 / Doctor's Office / Joan Connor Clark
Justifying my continued use of alcohol and drugs was second nature to me when I was in the depths of my disease. Even though any semblance of control was long gone – along with the notion that choice was still an option – I still had a litany of reasons why my behavior was acceptable. What I’m sharing is my own experience. However, if you have heard variations on these excuses among your own loved ones, you may want to dig a little deeper . We can be a crafty group when we’re hiding our addiction; in my case, it took a very dramatic series of circumstances to discover...

Addiction, Treatment and Recovery

Joan Connor Clark

Help is available. So is hope.