Staff Spotlight
Meet The Plymouth House Staff

The Plymouth House, a substance use disorder treatment center in The White Mountains of New Hampshire, has been helping individuals and families heal from the devastation of active addiction for over 15 years. Part of what makes The Plymouth House a widely trusted name in substance use and mental health treatment is its consistent, professional, and dedicated team of staff members. Many Plymouth House staff members, including Ken Haberland, bring decades of personal experience and professional expertise to the table. To learn more about our comprehensive, therapeutic recovery program, contact us today.

A Day in the Life of a Primary Therapist

“I’m a Primary Therapist here at The Plymouth House,” Ken explains. “I work one-on-one with clients in individual therapy sessions. I help clients dive deeper into their unique clinical needs and help them navigate the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. I have personal experience working through the Steps, which I’m able to draw on to help those who might be new to the program. I facilitate group therapy sessions as well. Part of my role is to shake people up; to rattle their cages. To make them take an honest look at the way they’ve been doing things and help them develop a framework for doing things differently.”

Ken began his professional journey with The Plymouth House as an overnight Behavioral Tech. A couple of months after starting, he returned to school to complete his Masters program. “Over time, I worked my way to day shifts,” he says. “I slowly worked my way to Lead Tech, then worked my way to Case Management. I was doing a split role for awhile. We had some internal changes, and I eventually worked my way up to Primary Therapist. I’m still working on obtaining my Masters and should have that licensing sometime in the fall.”

Ken notes that his professional experience equips him to handle a range of cases, from clients with severe co-occurring mental health concerns to clients who might be resistant to change. “I’ve worked hands-on with clients who might have severe PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder] or bipolar disorder. While I was working as a Case Manager I helped clients work through the consequences of their active addictions. There was much more paperwork. Sometimes that meant helping with legal issues or helping resolve financial issues. Clients are able to focus on their own recovery completely knowing that outside issues are being resolved. My role now, as a Primary Therapist, is even more hands-on. It’s been extremely rewarding seeing clients come into treatment and make immense progress during their time in treatment. The idea of being able to walk someone through the process and watch their change and growth from day one to the transition to sober living, it’s really incredible.”

A Therapeutically Based Program

The Plymouth House guides clients through a residential and PHP [partial hospitalization] level of care, a process that takes 4 to 6 weeks on average. “The program we have is able to support people who might need more time in treatment, regardless of their financial circumstances,” he explains. “In the residential level of care, we see each individual client twice a week. My individual therapy sessions are usually an hour and some change, because I try to give the clients the time that they feel they need. I personally don’t have any clocks in my office. Later into their stay, when they are in the PHP level of care, clients have one individual therapy session per week. In some instances, for example if a client is really diving into their 4th Step, therapy might consist of a 30 minute check-in to make sure everything is going well. The length of the session is entirely dependent on the needs of the client.”

Like many members of The Plymouth House staff, Ken went through the clinical program himself when he began his personal recovery journey. He attributes his long-term recovery to the skills he learned while in treatment, and to ongoing participation in the local recovery community. “Being able to help others who are in a similar position to the one I was in years ago has been immensely fulfilling,” he says. “We have a great team, full of compassionate, like-minded people. I’m thrilled to be where I am today.”