Apprentice Spotlight: Reinhardt Ryden
Our Members Say it Best!
Reinhardt’s Success Story
Reinhardt Ryden, Substance Use Disorder Professional (SUDP) Apprentice at Lifeline Connections, reminds us to see the potential in our own journeys.
Reinhardt worked as a Peer Counselor for three-and-a-half years at Lifeline Connections, but his drive, passion, and knowledge prompted his Program Director to approach him with the opportunity to become an SUDP Apprentice through the Training Fund’s HealthCare Apprenticeship Consortium (HCAC).
The motivation and nuanced understanding behind the complexities of recovery are deeply personal for Reinhardt – he will celebrate 10 years of long-term recovery on March 31st, 2024. He reflects on how his own journey supports his work today saying, “I feel that I have been given an opportunity to treat a disease while seeing the person who is in front of me.”
Reinhardt’s parents inspired him to pursue a behavioral healthcare career. “My parents saw me at my worst and saw that potential in me before I could see it to believe it myself,” he shares. “Sadly, my Dad passed away from a battle with cancer about a year before I started this new journey into the healthcare field. I often wish that he would have been able to see the person I became.”
It has not always been easy for Reinhardt to connect his past to who he is now, and he confesses to experiencing some amount of imposter syndrome as his future continues to expand. “The opportunities that have been given to me leave me feeling like I am living someone else’s life. When I look back on choices I have made in my life, and how I was before my journey of recovery, this is a road and path that was not on the horizon. ”
“ I know that this is where I am supposed to be, and the challenge is remembering that.”
Despite the challenge, Reinhardt remains driven in his purpose to help others, and it is why he decided to pursue the SUDP Apprenticeship. “I wanted to create opportunities for those seeking help and eliminate the hoops and obstacles. I wanted to collaborate with community partners and provide community wrap-around care to those who are sick. I wanted to identify creative solutions on how to tailor a support program to the person, instead of the person to the program.” The SUDP Apprenticeship allows Reinhardt to grow into this behavioral healthcare pathway while building relationships now and receiving hands-on training and support.
The SUDP Apprentice program affords Reinhardt the opportunity to experience a diverse range of programs and contexts, including: Men’s Residential, Women’s Residential, Pregnant Parenting Women’s Residential, Withdrawal Management, Intensive Outpatient, Outpatient, Crisis Triage and Stabilization, Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA), Homeless Outreach Stabilization and Transition (HOST), support with walk-in assessments, and Jail Transition Services/Jail Reentry Services with our Therapeutic Courts.
And Reinhardt is already planning his future career as an SUDP Professional! “I am in the process of proposing an outpatient group that is tailored to our unhoused community members. My goal is to create an outpatient group that will build unity within these communities. I can eliminate obstacles by bringing treatment to them that is tailored to their needs in an equitable way.” With motivation from his parents, a drive for improving systems, and passion for building unity within communities, Reinhardt’s journey is just getting started.
As Reinhardt reflects on the apprenticeship program, he says, “I don’t wake up wondering what I am doing with my life anymore. The apprenticeship program has given my life purpose.” The SUDP Apprenticeship has enabled Reinhardt to collaborate with clients and build rapport to assist others in making real life changes now. “The Training Fund/HCAC has created an opportunity that has already been changing and saving lives,” says Reinhardt.
Congratulations, Reinhardt, on your many successes, 10 years in recovery, and all your hard work to improve lives!
Learn more about the Training Fund’s HCAC Behavioral Healthcare Apprenticeship Programs.
