Motivational Interviewing: The Basics for Criminal Justice Systems - December 17, 2024

John Burns, MBA, CRSW, is a person with lived experience in recovery, a family member of a loved one in recovery and a guardian caregiver for one of his grandsons. He is the director of SOS Recovery Community Organization. John has been engaged in training delivery and development over the last 5 years at SOS. He supervises a staff of over 20 at SOS Recovery Community Organization and assists in training and supervision of three Recovery Community Centers. SOS operates syringe service programs and harm reduction supplies at all of their recovery community centers as well as a comprehensive outreach program with those experiencing homelessness and a statewide “peer-strength” program for individuals involved in the criminal justice system. John and his team at SOS worked with local and national recovery leaders and subject matter experts to develop the Art & Science of Peer-Assisted Recovery® 30-hour peer-assisted recovery training curriculum, as well as trainings on ethics, HIV prevention, and suicide prevention for peer-assisted recovery supports. John is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and completed the MINT training of new trainers in 2021. He has been trained extensively in motivational interviewing techniques through a series of trainings and train the trainers sessions and is trained in Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity (MITI) Coding and is trained and authorized to complete Motivational Interviewing Competency Assessments (MICA) for coding practitioners of MI. John serves as Vice Chair on the board of the NH Harm Reduction Coalition and on the executive committee of the Strafford County Public Health Advisory Committee. He is an appointee of NH Governor Sununu on the Overdose Fatality Review Commission and is a member of the budget taskforce for the NH Governor’s Commission for Alcohol and other drugs.

Eileen Doyle, CRSW, is the Training Coordinator at SOS Recovery Community Organization. A person in long-term recovery and a family member, Eileen has trained SOS curriculums with a variety of trainers and has completed Motivational Interviewing trainings with Stephen R. Andrew LCSW, LADC, CCS at the Health Education and Training Institute and John Gilbert, MS, RD, CCP, RHC-III, ACSM-CEP® at the Institute for Individual and Organizational Change. She works with SOSRCO Executive Director John Burns to create and revise curriculums for SOS and continues to work directly with participants seeking support services. She facilitates an Invitation to Change support group for family members each week. Eileen earned her Masters in Science for Teachers from the University of NH and a bachelor’s degree in Liberal Arts/Journalism from Northeastern University. She is a NH Certified Recovery Support Worker and a certified Journaling Instructor through the Therapeutic Writing Institute. She has led several journaling workshops for recovery support workers. Eileen volunteered at SOS for four years before retiring from a 23-year teaching career in a Massachusetts high school and being hired at SOS. Before becoming the Training Coordinator, she worked as the Recovery Friendly Workplace Coordinator for SOS as part of a statewide initiative to provide training and resources to employers to encourage them to support employees and their family members impacted by SUD.