My family saught Billy and Family First out after learning that I had begun using hard drugs (I write this having 70 days of sobriety under my belt). My sisters and mother were afraid for my life and had no idea where to turn. After hours of online research, my sister found Billy and was convinced that he would be the best person to help stage an intervention and coach my family through everything that followed the intervention. The intervention was a spectacular failure. My poor family went along with Billy’s “wise” guidance and decided to ridicule and shame me. They thought that they were doing what they were supposed to. I (like most addicts) responded very poorly to that approach. Feeling traumatized and ridiculed, I immediately took a bus back to New York City (where I lived alone). I shot up meth the moment I returned to NY, sheerly out of spite. What followed was the worst four months of my life. Prior to Billy’s intervention, my drug use was socially (once or twice per month). After I was shunned and felt abandoned by my family (thanks to Billy’s advice), it became daily. I returned from my intervention a full fledged junkie—with a degree from a prestigious university and priorly holding a well paying job.
I tried to constantly work with my family and tell them I would go to treatment, but I wanted to talk about and have some input on my own treatment first. Billy would not even allow my family to speak a word to me, unless I was on a plane to the facility that he recommended in Texas. This resulted in a four month standoff between me and my family, because I wanted treatment—just not at the flop-house treatment center that Billy had chosen for me in Texas. I was BEGGING my family for treatment, but was too perplexed by their instance that I go to Texas to give in to their demands. Had they not listened to Billy and worked with me to compromise, I would have gotten the help I needed much sooner. But why was my family’s only option Texas? My mother and sisters pleaded with Billy several times to let them work with me to mutually agree on a treatment center. Billy explained that I was a selfish addict and that if they allowed me to get “my way”, then I would never recover and I would surely die. He also said that the place in TX was the ONLY facility that would accept my insurance (Aetna PPO, accepted almost everywhere). My family, out of fear and desperation, agreed to give him full control and were at his complete mercy. Billy said that he operated this way, because he was once an addict and he “saw so much of himself in me.” Billy had never met me, spoken to me and knew very little about me or my situation (my sister wasn’t even sure if he remembered what drugs I was using).
No, like all addicts/former addicts, Billy is a master manipulator. Like most people that own facilities or programs in the recovery industry, his primary motivation is financial—he would rather make a buck than save a life. It’s quite obvious that Billy would get a financial kickback from the facility in Houston, Texas (named: Into Action Recovery) from the $60,000+ that they would end up charging my insurance. While Billy was coaching my family and charging them pricey rates by the hour for his services (he lied to my best friend, who he also puppeted, and said he was working for free), he gave them extreme advice that many industry experts and psychologists said was flat out wrong and damaging. He led a group text among my concerned family and friends, where he would publicly shame people in the group if they disagreed with anything that he had to say. Several times, my family and friends tried to go with their instinct and work with me to get the RIGHT kind of treatment and Billy blocked them each time. Only I can take responsibility for my actions and the fact that I was using drugs when I did. However, I can say with unwavering confidence that Billy’s unspeakable actions and hardline approach prolonged my drug use and delayed my treatment. I am lucky I didn’t die in those four months that Billy had brainwashed my family. Had my poison been heroin or alcohol, I may not have lived to warn people about this awful man—Rasputin as I now call him. I am alive today and 70 days sober because of my own will. I did my research and bypassed my family to find the right treatment center and level of care that fit my needs—and didn’t line Billy’s pockets. I found out that Aetna PPO covers almost any treatment center, not just Billy’s friends’ flop house in Houston. I am getting family therapy sessions each week via conference call and working with family and friends to rebuild what Billy helped tear down (part of why I chose where I am at is the family therapy program). I am very strong in my recovery and starting to regain control of my life. If this review saves just one person or family from Billy’s deceptive manipulation, it will have been worth it. Vince New York, NY
Family First Intervention Reviews
My family saught Billy and Family First out after learning that I had begun using hard drugs (I write this having 70 days of sobriety under my belt). My sisters and mother were afraid for my life and had no idea where to turn. After hours of online research, my sister found Billy and was convinced that he would be the best person to help stage an intervention and coach my family through everything that followed the intervention. The intervention was a spectacular failure. My poor family went along with Billy’s “wise” guidance and decided to ridicule and shame me. They thought that they were doing what they were supposed to. I (like most addicts) responded very poorly to that approach. Feeling traumatized and ridiculed, I immediately took a bus back to New York City (where I lived alone). I shot up meth the moment I returned to NY, sheerly out of spite. What followed was the worst four months of my life. Prior to Billy’s intervention, my drug use was socially (once or twice per month). After I was shunned and felt abandoned by my family (thanks to Billy’s advice), it became daily. I returned from my intervention a full fledged junkie—with a degree from a prestigious university and priorly holding a well paying job.
I tried to constantly work with my family and tell them I would go to treatment, but I wanted to talk about and have some input on my own treatment first. Billy would not even allow my family to speak a word to me, unless I was on a plane to the facility that he recommended in Texas. This resulted in a four month standoff between me and my family, because I wanted treatment—just not at the flop-house treatment center that Billy had chosen for me in Texas. I was BEGGING my family for treatment, but was too perplexed by their instance that I go to Texas to give in to their demands. Had they not listened to Billy and worked with me to compromise, I would have gotten the help I needed much sooner. But why was my family’s only option Texas? My mother and sisters pleaded with Billy several times to let them work with me to mutually agree on a treatment center. Billy explained that I was a selfish addict and that if they allowed me to get “my way”, then I would never recover and I would surely die. He also said that the place in TX was the ONLY facility that would accept my insurance (Aetna PPO, accepted almost everywhere). My family, out of fear and desperation, agreed to give him full control and were at his complete mercy. Billy said that he operated this way, because he was once an addict and he “saw so much of himself in me.” Billy had never met me, spoken to me and knew very little about me or my situation (my sister wasn’t even sure if he remembered what drugs I was using).
No, like all addicts/former addicts, Billy is a master manipulator. Like most people that own facilities or programs in the recovery industry, his primary motivation is financial—he would rather make a buck than save a life. It’s quite obvious that Billy would get a financial kickback from the facility in Houston, Texas (named: Into Action Recovery) from the $60,000+ that they would end up charging my insurance. While Billy was coaching my family and charging them pricey rates by the hour for his services (he lied to my best friend, who he also puppeted, and said he was working for free), he gave them extreme advice that many industry experts and psychologists said was flat out wrong and damaging. He led a group text among my concerned family and friends, where he would publicly shame people in the group if they disagreed with anything that he had to say. Several times, my family and friends tried to go with their instinct and work with me to get the RIGHT kind of treatment and Billy blocked them each time. Only I can take responsibility for my actions and the fact that I was using drugs when I did. However, I can say with unwavering confidence that Billy’s unspeakable actions and hardline approach prolonged my drug use and delayed my treatment. I am lucky I didn’t die in those four months that Billy had brainwashed my family. Had my poison been heroin or alcohol, I may not have lived to warn people about this awful man—Rasputin as I now call him. I am alive today and 70 days sober because of my own will. I did my research and bypassed my family to find the right treatment center and level of care that fit my needs—and didn’t line Billy’s pockets. I found out that Aetna PPO covers almost any treatment center, not just Billy’s friends’ flop house in Houston. I am getting family therapy sessions each week via conference call and working with family and friends to rebuild what Billy helped tear down (part of why I chose where I am at is the family therapy program). I am very strong in my recovery and starting to regain control of my life. If this review saves just one person or family from Billy’s deceptive manipulation, it will have been worth it. Vince New York, NY