pH Wellness’s Dr. Blair Steel Featured Article

What now seems to be a really long time ago, 14 years to be exact, I became a substance use speaker. At that time it wasn’t about addiction recovery or a heavy emphasis on mental health struggles that many humans face throughout their lifetime. I simply wanted to share my story in hopes that by telling students at schools my story they would avoid a lot of the decisions I made that took me to dark places I didn’t think I would ever go. Most people don’t fill up a gymnasium or auditorium to listen to a speaker talk about drugs, alcohol and the effects it had on their life and think to themselves, “I’m going to be homeless like this guy was” or “I’m probably going to start using drugs and end up in jail/prison.” No one thinks that a substance will cause an addiction when they first start using, I know I sure didn’t. With more time speaking came more clarity on what I was trying to accomplish, which was much deeper than helping kids avoid the mistakes I made when I was their age.

Tony Hoffman- Mental Health & Substance Use Addiction Recovery Speaker - Buchanan High School 2012

The dedication I had to my own sobriety is the foundation of the clarity my speaking would evolve into. I spent a lot of time in therapy trying to dive into the deeper mechanics of my instinctual responses, my beliefs, perspectives & understanding why I was the way I was. The more I learned about myself the deeper the mechanics I was able to give schools and the students that occupied them when I was sharing my story. The best part about my time with them was students didn’t have to feel like they were getting a mental health or substance use and addiction speech. They were getting a real life story with the mechanics built into it so it felt more like an entertaining story or movie if you will.

Once I finally got a crack at speaking nationally my audience type start changing. I found myself getting opportunities to speak about the opioid epidemic and the effects of addiction that oxycontin and heroin had on me personally. The state of New Jersey hired me in 2014 for a gigantic symposium being held for the community in Camden County about substance use & addiction. It was a heart breaking night for me to listen to parents who lost their children to overdose deaths and the effects opioids were having in their communities.

Tony Hoffman- Mental Health Substance Use Addiction Recovery Speaker- 2014 Camden County, NJ

In 2016 when i made it to the Olympics with Brooke Crain as her coach I had completed the four goals I told myself in prison I would accomplish when I was released back into society. I actually got a little confused about what I was supposed to do from that point forward. I didn’t have a fire in me for a new project or goal to set. What I did know is that I was passionate about helping kids, I loved speaking and I really enjoyed coaching BMX racing athletes from all over the world. At that time there was another substance abuse and addiction recovery speaker that was quite popular, Chris Herren. I had a conversation with him about his speaking and what he was doing at the time with life. He was in the beginning phases of starting his treatment center. I’ll never forget his words. “You can’t speak on the road 200 plus days a year and have a family. You need to start thinking about your future.” Obviously that is what I was trying to figure out, the next move 5-10 years from the moment that I was living in. “Opening your own treatment center will allow you to continue helping people and not have to be on the road away from your family.” It made so much sense to me and it was the beginning of me spending a lot of time meditating on manifesting a treatment center of my own.

2018 rolled around and my TEDx talk on the Stigma of Addiction took place which is now one of the biggest in the world on substance use & addiction recovery. RIght after that I had a huge breakthrough in a therapy session with Dr. Jason Richardson it was the beginning of a new era for me. My depth perception about my past and current life had never been more clear. There was a connection between mental health and substance use. It became my heart and deepest passion. I no longer wanted to just tell my story “From Prison To The Olympics” I wanted to help people understand how it all starts for a person that struggles with an addiction. How our emotional wellness was the real risk factor when determining someones desire to continuing using substances once they first started that would lead to an addiction later. Most importantly it became my passion for client care and clinical approach concerning addiction treatment.

In 2020, when Matt Paz and I began putting together the pieces of pH Wellness our addiction treatment facility we wanted to make sure we hired the right clinical team that could provide our guests struggling to find sobriety and balance in their life with the best care they could get. Matt and I met with a woman, Dr. Blair Steel. She had this energy about her, she was vibrant yet concise in her choice of words, maybe that’s the New Yorker in her? She had years of experience in the treatment world and both Paz and I felt she would be a huge asset to pH. She originally declined our offer but unfortunately for her we don’t take no for an answer haha. We found a way to have Dr. Steel apart of our clinical team and she’s been a huge blessing. Recently Dr. Steel was featured in an article on www.prevention.com

We love that she is getting featured because we know how awesome she is and just how much information she has to offer that can benefit individuals process to sobriety, growth or the best versions of themselves. Take a few moments out and read the article

https://www.prevention.com/health/a44937789/how-to-be-more-confident/

Tony Hoffman- Substance Use mental health addiction recovery speaker- with pH team Blair Steel, Angela McMahon, Matt Paz