A Conversation with K. Megan Skelding, Therapeutic Community Director at the Indian Creek Correctional Center

West Caldwell, NJ March 4 -

What is your favorite part about working in reentry treatment?

My favorite part is definitely the individuals that we provide services for as they make sense to me. These men and women have their own specific logic and exist in a subculture that has structure and rules. It is a very interesting world to try to understand and I enjoy learning how to communicate with them.

Why are reentry treatment services important to provide these men?

Helping the men we work with understand the “larger culture” begins the process of helping them live within the “larger culture.” The men at the Indian Creek Correctional Center say they want to move into the regular world but they struggle to acclimate because of a myriad of reasons. If we can identify the reasons these men struggle- anger, substances, interpersonal difficulties, financial issues, mental illness, then we can begin the dialog we need to help them get better.

How did you first get involved providing treatment services?

I worked in private business for the first 15 years of my working life. When I got sober 30 years ago, I found that I no longer wanted to do the work that I did when I was using drugs and alcohol. I didn't know what to do. So I went back to school for social sciences and psychology. As chance may have it, one day a substance abuse treatment center that I was associated with called and asked me to come in and do a group on relapse triggers. I hesitated at first because I had seen that working in the field could have negative effects on sober alcoholics, but said yes, and that's how I got into the treatment provider field! 28 years later - here I am.

That’s a great story! Can you tell us more about your 28 year journey providing treatment services?

I began working in substance abuse treatment at Spofford Hall in New Hampshire. That was in the days before managed care and people entered treatment as often as they needed it. From there, I went to work with adolescents in New Hampshire and then to a treatment center in Wyoming. After that I provided services at a veteran’s facility in Pennsylvania and then a women's program in Massachusetts.

What’s been an inspiration to you in your life?

There seems to be an inspiration for each facet of my life. Everything from reading Laura Ingalls Wilder as a child, to watching Nelson Mandela live his life, to watching an addict give up pain killers to face the pain of living. All those and a million other things are an inspiration.