Set Free Alaska breaking the chain of abuse

PALMER — Looking at Set Free Alaska CEO Philip Licht now, one would never guess he knows the same darkness that plagues the agency’s clients.

Set Free Alaska is a Christian, nonprofit substance abuse treatment center founded by Licht and board chair Ryan Ray in 2008. Located off the Palmer-Wasilla Highway on the west side of the Schelin Spur traffic light, the agency is surprisingly easy to miss, its blue and white sign slightly obscured by the leaves of nearby trees. The agency also shares a white, apartment-like building with several other businesses.

Inside, the treatment center reception is stocked with comfortable chairs and free coffee and tea for guests. The room is relaxed, not sanitized.

When Licht enters the room, a gentle, genuine smile rests on his lips. His handmade shirts — designed by his wife — look professional as well as whimsical with their colorful cuffs.

Even he has a story to tell.

Growing up in the Mat-Su, Licht and his younger brother found their way into the drug scene. They tried just about everything to numb the stresses of any given day.

“It nearly destroyed my life,” Licht said.

He saw the destruction of at least five lives as a result of drug overdose, he said, most on heroin and methamphetamines. It was “an experience with the love of God” that changed his heart, he said, but it took several years before he was able to change his thought processes and behavior.

Once Licht had made a full recovery, he turned his efforts to helping others. But he wanted to do more than offer people prayer, and so did Ray. They wanted to combine their spiritual principals with “an evidence-based medical model,” which yielded what the organization refers to now as “the mind-body-spirit approach.”

“We didn’t think we could come alongside someone, say ‘God loves you’ and they would be free from addiction,” Licht said. “It doesn’t work like that.”

So they worked with the Department of Health and Social Services through a state certification process and through a national accreditation process to prove Set Free was an organization worth supporting.

“They don’t care if we’re Christian or not, they wanted results: ‘Are you helping people or not?’” Licht said.

The state granted Set Free Alaska three years accreditation beginning 2013.

The main science behind Set Free’s recovery program is “cognitive behavioral therapy,” a fancy way of saying, “changing the way you think,” Licht said. All Set Free counselors have master’s degrees in the field.

A story of real change

Sarah Bruno started using meth, among other drugs, when she was about 10-years-old. At 14, she was sent out of state for treatment, which consisted of 30 days at an inpatient clinic. There was no follow-up once she returned home, however, and in 2006 she left Alaska again for Dallas, Texas, “basically running from my addiction,” she said. For five years she tried to will herself to recovery.

“I really thought I could do it but I hadn’t worked on any of my root issues,” Bruno said.

She returned to Alaska clean, but soon had another relapse, and another, and last November ended up in jail. She knew what she had was a “spiritual sickness,” she said, and cried out to a God she hadn’t long believed in.

“I just came to a point in my life where I turned to the Lord, and that was what really helped get me clean,” Bruno said.

But she was new to the faith at the time, and felt she needed some concrete assistance to help her get and stay clean once and for all.

While at Mat-Su Pretrial, she attended a church service during which the minister mentioned Set Free Alaska. She was “a new believer,” but had faith that the organization, as described by the minister, could be exactly what she needed.

Bruno got in touch with Set Free Alaska as soon as she was released. After assessment by a counselor who also had a history (and recovery) of substance abuse, she was sure she had found the help she needed.

“Nothing really worked for me, and when I went there, it was unlike anything I’d ever experienced,” Bruno said. “People I had never met before wanted to pray for me. There was no condemnation.”

Instead, she found compassion.

“At Set Free, they’re just so loving and they really, truly care, and you can tell,” Bruno said. “They’re not judgmental and they’re really there to help you.”

Now, Bruno has a stable job delivering flowers in the Valley, and Set Free Alaska is spreading the love to youth.

Youth prevention

Spearheading the development of a youth facility in a former art studio across the parking lot from Set Free’s main office are clinical director Paul Bossart and assessment counselor Beth Knecht. Bossart has a master’s degree in professional counseling and a background in business and the military, while Knecht has a bachelor of science degree in education, and is currently working on her thesis for a master’s in counseling.

According to her research, children with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) — meaning any kind of childhood trauma, as determined by the ACES study — are more likely to sink into substance abuse. And having worked with adult men and women who have struggled with drugs during her internship at Set Free in the past several months, Knecht has seen and heard firsthand what happens when childhood trauma goes unaddressed.

Knecht said her background as a teacher makes things like lesson and activity planning for youth entering the program a piece of cake, but it’s her understanding of how to be a good teacher that will make each teen successful.

“The thing about being a good teacher is being able to … teach for every single person, no matter how they learn,” she said. “If you explain something and they don’t get it, you find another way.”

It’s the same with counseling, though youth counselors won’t be teaching things like reading and writing to their student-clients, Bossart said.

“Instead of ABC’s and 123’s, we’re teaching life skills and coping skills,” he said.

The organization also wants youth — and adults whose childhoods were consumed by substance abuse — to have space, time and opportunities to simply play while “breaking the chain of pain.”

“We wanna (provide) a real creative and innovative environment,” he said.

Set Free Alaska anticipates beginning its youth program Oct. 1, and counselors will be available to schedule assessments beginning Sept. 15.

For more information, visit setfreealaska.org.

Contact reporter Caitlin Skvorc at 352-2266 or caitlin.skvorc@frontiersman.com.