Every Brain Matters Monthly Speakers Meeting – Joe Parker
Join us on the first Friday of every month for messages of hope and healing from the impacts of marijuana. We welcome a different speaker every month who will share their experience and provide pathways to find serenity as we navigate through today’s pro-marijuana/drug culture. Whether you’re grieving the loss of a loved one or trying to recover yourself, this meeting is for you. There will be a Q & A at the end of each meeting. This meeting is appropriate for all family members ages 13 and up.
Link To Meeting Meeting ID: 872 9417 0134 Passcode: ebmsupport
Joe Parker was born in Goldsboro, North Carolina on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. After more moves than he can count he settled in Katy, TX with his mother and little sister. At age 14 after beginning his own recovery he realized his dream was to become a counselor in order to help other young people achieve their goals of a happy, healthy life free from debilitating addictions and self-destructive behaviors. Joe believes that one of the biggest keys to successful long-term recovery lies in a relationship with a higher power expressed through connection with others. He still follows the same basic principles today with 20+ years of recovery as he did with 30 days sober; God, Sponsor, Steps, Meetings, Service.
After Awakening from Cornerstone Recovery in 2000 at the age of 17 and graduating high school Joe began attending classes at Texas Tech. At the time of the September 11th attacks on the World Trade Center, he felt compelled to serve our country by enlisting in the Marine Corps. Following 8 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including tours in the Republic of Georgia and active duty in Iraq in 2004-2005 as a machine gunner; Joe graduated from Texas Tech University in May 2008 with a B.S. in Human Development and Family Studies, and a minor in Substance Abuse Studies. During this time he spent several years (2005-2008) working in residential treatment centers across Texas before being honorably discharged from the Marines in November 2010. The following year he rejoined Cornerstone Recovery.
Joe currently works as the primary counselor for Cornerstone of Houston Team Counseling program in the greater Houston & Fortbend areas. Joe’s work is more than a job, he says it’s a calling and his passion. He has witnessed the success of Cornerstone’s Positive Peer Group method first hand, and says its value cannot be overstated. Positive peer support is what youth live and breathe by, and the daily example set by peers speaks the loudest; and with the parent group as the backbone of the program, he feels his role is to lead by example and illuminate the path.
Joe is an “in the trenches” type of counselor who deals with all aspects of substance abuse choosing to focus on a “whole person” method of treatment. He’s well-versed in what is needed in a crisis and has helped numerous families in facilitating interventions. He leads a weekly interactive group therapy session for parents where he facilitates open, honest, direct communication on all parenting topics especially as they relate to teens and self-destructive behaviors. He also provides individual counseling for both teens and parents, as well as family counseling in order to deal with all of the issues that may either be leading to or stemming from a substance abuse issue. He puts his all into getting at the heart of the matter so as to begin the healing in the mind, body, and spirit.
Every Brain Matters Recovery Community is built on a foundation of love, willingness, and HONESTY. We seek to create a culture of healing.
The expansion of marijuana is negatively affecting people in many ways: addiction, psychosis, suicide, homicide, DUI’s, Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome, and other incidents of injury or trauma resulting in harm or death, overdoses, and where marijuana was a gateway, companion, and/or relapse drug.
This meeting may be recorded with the presenters’ and the participants’ permission.
