Beyoncé and her mother Tina Knowles with Phoenix House clients who will be among the Cosmetology Center's first students. (Photo by Ben Hider)

PH: What first drew you to Phoenix House?

Beyoncé: When I started doing research to play the role of Etta James in “Cadillac Records,” the film was covering a period in her life when she was struggling with drug addiction. I read about the work that Phoenix House has done and continues to do to help those in that same struggle.

PH: Before you took on the role of Etta James, what was your attitude about drugs and alcohol?

Beyoncé: I understood that if you drank too much or did drugs that it could be dangerous. I read a lot about people who have lost their careers, their homes, their children and sometimes their lives after becoming addicted to drugs or alcohol. I always asked is it not easy to just stop, to just say no, like we were taught? I understand now that it is a disease and just like no one chooses to catch a cold, no one chooses to be an addict.

What were the most important—or the most surprising—things you learned from the women in treatment at Phoenix House?

Beyoncé: The most important and surprising thing I learned from these incredible women is how strong they are. They have accepted that they are struggling but they have made the decision to get better. They are driven and focused to break the addiction and do better for themselves and their families. Their stories are still filled with hope. They refuse to give up.

PH: What inspired you to create a cosmetology center at our Career Academy and what do you and your mother Tina believe it can do for the people we serve?

Beyoncé: The inspiration for the center really came from the women I met at Phoenix House. It was their stories of what they had been through and how positive they were about the future that inspired me and my mom to come up with something that would teach them a skill, make them feel good about themselves and prepare them to return to work. No one knows about beauty more than my mother. She owned a beauty salon when I was growing up and I spent a lot of time there, I loved it and everyone supported and inspired each other. My mother and I believe that anyone can succeed with a little help. The cosmetology center can help these women, and men, to achieve their goals to be independent, self-fulfilled and ultimately help in their recovery process.

PH: How can we best remove the stigma that keeps so many victims of addiction from getting the treatment that can help them control this chronic disease?

Beyoncé: The first thing is to recognize that drug addiction is a disease. No one chooses to be a drug addict. When someone gets sick, everyone works to get them better. There is no blame and no judgment. If everyone understands that as a fact, I think the addict would feel more comfortable seeking treatment. It has to be so difficult to have to cope with the disease of addiction and to also feel afraid to seek help.

Our annual event celebrates the victories of young people over substance abuse and honors entertainment and business leaders for inspiring them to make positive life decisions. Join us as we recognize these teens who have learned the lessons of honesty, responsibility, and concern for others on their road to recovery.

Proceeds will benefit our residential treatment centers, family therapy, and prevention programs in California. To purchase tickets to the event and for more information about our special sponsorship packages, click here or contact Stephanie Horsley at 310-880-0270 or t4t@phoenixhouse.org.

Register Here!

Photo by Ben Hider/PictureGroup

Friday, March 5, was an incredible day for all of us at Phoenix House. Pop superstar Beyoncé and her mother, fashion designer Tina Knowles joined us for the opening of the Beyoncé Cosmetology Center at our Phoenix House Career Academy in Brooklyn. The new Cosmetology Center will offer a seven-month cosmetology training course, helping our clients gain the career skills they need to lead productive, rewarding lives in recovery.

At the ribbon cutting ceremony—after remarks from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, OASAS Commissioner Karen Carpenter-Palumbo, and Tina Knowles—Beyoncé spoke about meeting with women in treatment at Phoenix House while preparing for the role of Etta James in the 2008 film Cadillac Records. “Through their stories, I realized that all of us have our personal struggles and we all have something to overcome,” she said. “Drug addiction…has a stigma that must be removed. Addiction is a disease and these beautiful women I met did not choose to become addicts, but they have chosen to get better.”

Later donating her salary from the film, Beyoncé wanted to create a program that was geared toward women, “something that would teach them skills that would give them hope even after Phoenix House.” Together, she and her mother, who owned a popular hair salon in Houston when she was growing up, came up with the idea of our new cosmetology program.

As a child, she observed that her mother’s salon was a place for women to “share stories, cry, laugh, and get advice”—and she wanted to bring that experience the women at Phoenix House. “The first sign of recovery is caring about your appearance,” she said. “And hopefully, this Center will be a place that will change lots of lives every year.”

We express our heartfelt gratitude to Beyoncé and Miss Tina for their tremendous gift, which will indeed change lives.

Check out the coverage below and stay tuned for more:

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While Mo’Nique tackles the role beautifully, New York Times columnist Charles Blow recently pointed out that her character revives the 1980s myth of the crack-addicted black mother. Reagan-era anxiety that so-called “crack babies” would overwhelm the healthcare system and create an enormous burden on American taxpayers later proved to be unfounded.

Reading Blow’s column, I recalled a time when many mental health professionals, myself included, believed that this “crisis” was real. In the late 80s, as a young clinician, I even made the topic of “crack babies” a focal point in an intro psychology course I taught at Drexel University, where I was pursuing my doctorate. Most of my students were African American single moms returning to school to get their associates degrees in nursing. To make the class relevant, I decided to write the syllabus around current events. So, I brought in articles from TIME, Psychology Today, and other popular publications—all of which warned that scores of inner city kids, born with cognitive defects due to their mothers’ crack use, would soon become a nightmare for the public school system. My students, many from impoverished areas of Philadelphia that had been hard hit by the crack scourge, shared my concerns; the first group of children born to crack-addicted mothers was getting ready to enter their neighborhood schools.

As the years went on, however, predictions of a “crack baby” epidemic were never borne out. Early case studies proved purely anecdotal—and not indicative of a larger trend. Later studies found that the problems originally attributed to a mother’s crack use, ranging from coordination issues to long-term, serious cases of ADHD — did not develop. In fact, alcohol has remained the number one deleterious substance, with fetal alcohol syndrome causing a more significant set of problems.

So, why did so many of us in the substance abuse and mental health community buy into this media-driven myth? The answer is that we went with the prevailing knowledge of the day. But, twenty years later—armed with more than just preliminary research on the subject—I am confident that we as treatment professionals have put the crack mother stereotype to rest. Now, it’s up to us in the field to speak out and call the media to account. When Hollywood perpetuates this tired cliché, we have an obligation to set the record straight and get the word out that this characterization has no basis in reality.

Lena with longtime friend and former Phoenix House Chief Clinical Officer Dr. David Deitch

 PH: In 1959, what were the treatment options for people struggling with addiction?

Lena: As far as I knew, at that time in Los Angeles, it was either jail or Synanon. I found out about it one night while watching the news and stuck it in the back of my mind. I had a court case shortly after that and the judge told me that the next time I got busted, he was sending me to the penitentiary. So I decided to try Synanon. My mother said she would keep my two kids.

PH: How would you describe the treatment environment at that time?

Lena: There weren’t any counselors, so we had to counsel each other. When I got there, there were 52 people and two of them had been clean nine months. And I figured, What did I have to lose? It was either this—or to stay on the street. I was one of only ten girls and we shared each other’s clothes. It was a tight group and somewhere along the way, we started learning and changing our behavior.

PH: How were you reunited with your family?

Lena: After about six months, I was told I could go get my kids, Yolanda and Billy Jay, and they became the first children at Synanon. We moved into a house, but we were quickly evicted because the landlord didn’t know black people were moving in. We got a house across the street with two other mothers and their children. I became the overseer of the house, so I was in charge of getting the kids into public schools. It felt like a real feat because before, we didn’t know how to be parents. Eventually, we had a school of our own with 80 to 100 kids.

PH: What brought you to Phoenix House?

Lena: I went on a tour of the Orange County facility with my old friend Dr. David Deitch. I saw what great work the organization was doing. I became a counselor on January 27, 1986 and have been here ever since.

PH: What is your philosophy when working with Phoenix House clients?

Lena: It’s simple. I tell the truth, ask questions, and do what I can to give them practical information, so they can make it.

PH: What is the most rewarding part of your work?

Lena: When the former residents I worked with call or visit me and say, “You helped me.” I always try to think about, “What was I said or did that made a difference?”

PH: There are a number of stories in the news lately about youth addiction. What would you say to a young person today who was entering treatment?

Lena: I’d let them know that it’s not easy. If they want to pull themselves up, they have to fight for it. But most of the counselors have been there and understand their situations. If you’re willing to listen to what’s being said, it will come.

PH: It’s been more than fifty years since you entered treatment. How have you managed your recovery?

Lena: I’ve had to keep an eternal vigilance. It’s like managing any chronic condition. You have to follow the doctor’s orders and practice “acting as if.” I’ve been practicing so long now that I no longer have think about it consciously.

PH: Do you feel we’ve made progress in terms of erasing the stigma of addiction?

Lena:  Yes, I think we’ve come quite a ways. There’s more recognition now that those who struggle with addiction have a deadly disease, so we shouldn’t look down on them. When I first went into treatment, I didn’t know how not to be a drug addict. I thought, Once an addict, always an addict. Now, I know that if you’re willing, change is possible.

–As told to Kate Schmier.

The story addressed the controversy surrounding Insite, the first legal facility in North America where injection drug users can come with their substances of choice, receive clean needles, and inject under the supervision of nurses—without fear of arrest. Insite operates in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, a poor neighborhood that is home to about a third of the city’s 12,000 injection substance abusers. Since Insite opened in 2003, supporters say that it has helped prevent the spread of infectious disease and overdose deaths, yet Canada’s federal government insists that it merely encourages drug use and perpetuates addiction. So, Insite advocates decided to take advantage of the recent media focus on Vancouver to make their case for its existence.

While I strongly believe in public health initiatives that aim to minimize the damage injection drugs can cause, I found it striking that none of Insite’s supporters quoted in the story mentioned drug treatment referrals or testing for HIV, TB, and other conditions. Providing clean syringes and first aid in the event of an overdose certainly lowers the likelihood of injury and disease, but these services alone won’t stop the cycle of substance abuse. Any harm reduction strategy, like the needle exchange programs in the US, belongs in a package that includes screening, brief interventions, referrals to treatment, and other medical care.

Later, when I looked at Insite’s website, I was encouraged by the fact that the facility is actually part of a larger organization that provides “a complete continuum of services,” including prevention, opioid replacement therapy, residential treatment, and housing support. An addiction counselor is part of Insite’s staff and, in its second year of operation, it made 2,000 referrals to other services. A New England Journal of Medicine study found that, because Insite removes barriers to treatment, its clients—who may not be well connected to the health care system—have increased their use of detox and withdrawal programs.

If Insite’s advocates want a real shot at challenging critics, they should emphasize that it is not a stand-alone operation, but a “rung on the ladder” from “chronic drug addiction to recovery.” People suffering the devastating effects of substance abuse cannot change their lives overnight. But, getting off the street and coming to a place like Insite—where medical professionals can help them get the care they need—may be the first step in the process. I hope future media coverage of Insite offers this perspective.

Phoenix Houses of Florida is excited to announce that our friend Kara DioGuardi will participate in a fundraiser golf tournament on April 24 at Golden Hills Golf and Turf Club.  Proceeds from the tournament will benefit our facility in Citra, Florida. To read the article from the Ocala Star Banner, please click here.