The Behavioral Corner 

Hi, and welcome. I'm Steve Martorano. And this is the Behavioral Corner; you're invited to hang with us, as we've discussed the ways we live today, the choices we make, the things we do, and how they affect our health and wellbeing. So you're on the corner, the Behavioral Corner, please hang around a while.

Steve Martorano 

Hi, everybody, and welcome to the Behavioral Corner. I'm Steve Martorano. You know, we take a moment in this special edition to salute the 10th anniversary of our underwriting partners Retreat Behavioral Health. Ten years of spectacular growth, and ten years of providing world-class treatment to scores of people, the Behavioral Corner couldn't possibly ask for a better partner than Retreat. To get started, here's their founder and chief executive officer, Peter Schorr.

Peter Schorr 

Hello, Retreat family. Retreat celebrates its ten-year anniversary this month. Ten years of treating people with the disease of addiction and mental health disorders. The reason we had an open for ten years is because of you. Our staff goes above and beyond any place I've ever seen in my life. Your dedication and hard work. Your countless times where you just put yourself at risk because you wanted to make sure that our patients got what they needed, is not only just something that's admired by myself but it's admired by this whole industry. You guys are amazing. You guys do amazing work. I couldn't be here without you. And I just want you all to know how I appreciate it and thank you. And I thank you and I look forward to another 30 or 40 years with all of you. That would make me --- alright, twenty more years with all of you. But thank you, and Happy Anniversary Retreat.

Steve Martorano 

Hey, back on the Corner, the Behavioral Corner with Steve Martorano and some more new guests. Thanks again, Peter Schorr, founder of Retreat, we're pausing during this program to look back at their ten years in existence now, this week, the 10th anniversary for a Retreat. So it's just an amazing achievement. As we thought about how do we note this milestone, they aren't by the way in the interest of full disclosure, our underwriting partners, but they're way more than that. I've told you that. How do we note that what would be the best way to point out the achievement and the effect of Retreat that it's had on people not only getting them sober, but their lives in general, we thought, Well, here's what we'll do, we'll find some people who were there really early on make sense? In fact, they've identified a handful of people who got their first jobs there. So we've got Maggie Hunt, who represents among many other things, one of the first ten or twelve hires at Retreat. So we welcome Maggie to the show who's a longtime contributor to this program, one we love and rely on her a lot. Hi, Maggie.

Maggie Hunt 

Hi, Steve. Thanks for having me.

Steve Martorano 

And on the other side of the equation, those people who found themselves in crisis with substance abuse problems, and on Retreat's doorstep -- ten years ago. Which is essentially phenomenal by itself, because you know, how do you wind up in a new place? When you're in trouble? We're gonna find out their story straight ahead. Samantha Osterlof is with us, as is Dave Bontempo. Both Samantha and Dave fall into that category. They were among the earliest patients. So we welcome you three guys to the Behavioral Corner. I think for all three of you, including Maggie, it's the first time you hang with us on the Corner. Right, Mag?

Maggie Hunt 

I think so.

Steve Martorano 

Yeah. You've been in the other carnation of the program. Sam and Dave are newbies. So we welcome them. Alright, so Maggie I want to get to in a second because you know, you work for a living. Well, we'll find out how that happened. But I want to know from Sam and Dave. Was it the first time that you were trying to get help at a facility? Sam was your first visit to rehab?

Samantha Osterlof 

It was actually my second on December 21 of 2011. I ended up overdosing on my parent's couch, and a very nice police officer said "Merry Christmas you can go to treatment and not jail." And I reluctantly went to the crisis intervention at my local county hospital. And they gave me two pamphlets. And the one pamphlet I had actually --- already been to that facility. And the second pamphlet looked really nice, a place called Retreat at Lancaster County. And I very reluctantly said I'm gonna go with this pamphlet because it looks really nice. You know, that's kind of where my journey began. I got...they came, they picked me up, and I ended up on their doorstep. 

Steve Martorano 

Do you remember who picked you up? 

Samantha Osterlof 

I do remember picked me up to a gentleman named Bob H, who has since passed. However, I can say that he passed sober. 

Steve Martorano 

Uh-huh.

Samantha Osterlof 

Not as a result of this disease. And what was really, really starts how Retreat was different for me than any other experience was, you know...with Bob. He came into my house, he picked me up and met my parents, he met my, at the time, three-month-old daughter, he held her and, you know, kind of gave my parents that peace before taking me off into the car, up the hill to Retreat. And he actually, you know, we stayed close throughout my entire treatment stay, and years after.

Steve Martorano 

I asked about that because we've had lots of guys from the transportation department, as guests. And I always like to say that, if you think these guys are just driving cars around picking people up, you're not getting the whole picture, because I don't care how great the treatment is. If that last mile is not covered right --- nothing works. 

Samantha Osterlof 

That's right.

Steve Martorano 

These guys have a tremendous responsibility. They're not just Uber drivers. You know, they really are the first contact you have with people that care about whether you're going to get...you're going to get sober. So it's a great story and it doesn't surprise me that you remember the details and the guy so well. Now, Dave, you had a special driver, did you, as I recall, who drew who got you to retreat?

Dave Bontempo 

He was the passenger, but he was in the car. Yeah. So the full story is -- it's my second inpatient stay. I met Peter in that whole group at the facility that they were operating previously, I had been talking to him and he thought I was sober since then, about like moving out there and getting a job. And August 21 of 2011 you know, normal stuff in the family that when you're using kind of comes to a head, I might be dating myself, but like when text messages like the first kind of were out, I shot him a text message. I was like, "I need help." And a woman named Laura was working in admissions reached out to me right away. And then Todd and Peter came to my house --- my parent's house and picked me out and brought me in. And it was six days after they open. So it was brand new.

Steve Martorano 

Were the two of you just in such desperate shape that you really weren't considering the fact that this was a new place? Did that ever come into your mind? What, you know, what can I expect? These guys are just getting started that that was not a concern at all. 

Dave Bontempo 

For me. I didn't mean to cut you off, Sam, but I looked at that because I knew everyone there. Like I knew Jesse. I knew Ben was there. I knew Chrissy. I knew Scott. I wanted to go somewhere else and just was like, I need to start fresh. And my mom is a big part of my story and these two ladies know her that she's very abrupt into the point and basically said, "No, you need to be with 30 people that know you're lying, conniving, Dennis the Menace pretend you're good. You know, but you're going to be doing all this stuff behind the scenes to go try and get a girlfriend and all this other crap."

Steve Martorano 

Samantha, you mentioned, you know, you mentioned the people and everything. You know, it strikes me when I hear these stories about the facilities. And I know, it's important that they're good facilities, that the rooms are clean, and that, you know, the food's got to be good. I get all that. It's important to get people i. At the end of the day, though. you're relying on people. I mean, it's the people at the other end, Dave said it perfectly. His mom knew. I don't care where you go, but you got to go with people that know your bullshit already or it's not going to work. So go here. Did you have that in your head? Are we just taking a shot in the dark, the pamphlet looks good?

Samantha Osterlof 

The pamphlet looks good. I was really trusting my local crisis worker, to be honest. I mean, the other pamphlet they showed me, I'd already been there and didn't have the most awesome experience at the time at that previous facility. And so for me, I just, you know, thinking back now, it's funny that you asked that question if I was concerned that they were a new program. I really was so unaware that I really didn't at the time have any idea to gauge whether this was going to be a great treatment or subpar treatment. I just knew that they were --- they took my insurance and they were willing to come to pick me up and the pamphlet looked nice. 

Steve Martorano 

And they were better than jail. 

Samantha Osterlof 

It was better than jail. And, you know, when I walked in there wasn't that I --- I didn't walk in there because I wanted to get well. You know, I walked in there because of a lot of external circumstances, a lot of internal sadness and misery. And they could have fed me on uncrushable sandwiches and water. You know, the whole time I was there. Once I got there, it wasn't about the amenities of the food, that stuff was cool. Like, it was nice, you know. 

Steve Martorano 

Mmm-hmmmm.

Samantha Osterlof 

But for me, it was the people that were running that facility, selflessly giving of themselves and sharing their own personal recovery stories with me (and) building that relationship, and really just looking at me with love and empathy and not any judgment. And that is really what I will tell people, you can get sober anywhere. 

Steve Martorano 

Yeah, yeah. 

Samantha Osterlof 

But for me, the difference was in the people that were placed in that facility that helped to start me on a path that, you know, we're almost 10 years in, God willing. But that's what it's about. It's about the people. And, you know, I met Maggie, like, I was like, day three. And she was just so happy to be working there. 

Dave Bontempo 

It drove me nuts.

Samantha Osterlof 

She was so happy. I remember like it was yesterday, she was testing urine, and just loving her life. And it was people like her that made me believe that there was a way out, there was a better way to live. And then, you know, after, you know, I met Dave, he started the alumni program, and he would bring the meetings and he was so happy to be involved and be out of treatment and giving back. And, you know, the first day I met him. when I was a patient, he was bringing the meeting in. He was like when you get out like you're gonna come help do this alumni stuff. And for me, it was that first thing where someone's gonna trust me to do something, and somebody outside of this facility thinks that I may be able to live a better way of life.

Steve Martorano 

Yeah, yeah, the intersection of these three guys is amazing. The doors are open for six days, the first person that I think the person that didn't take you to see Dave is Maggie. Maggie, how'd you find yourself on that side of the table?

Maggie Hunt 

I also went into another facility that Peter was consulting for at the time, and I frequented that place. I was there like four times in nine months. So I really got to know the staff really well. And so, I knew that I wanted to work in treatment, mainly because I'd be sitting in a group and I would be judging the therapist and being like, "I could run a better group than this therapist," but I had like three hours sober. So like, Who am I? So I leave treatment the last time and I went to a halfway house and I stayed in contact with Peter. And I knew he was only going to be at that facility for a little while. So he texted me one day said, "Hey, I'm opening up a facility in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania." For me, I grew up in Bucks County, so the only time I've ever been to Lancaster was like on a field trip with my family. And people weren't wearing shoes and like the country store and they were talking like Pennsylvania Dutch and I didn't even know it. So. I was like, "Why would you ever open a facility in Lancaster County? That's the most ridiculous thing." And so he was like, "Well, why don't you come out and take a look." And so at the time, I was living in Doylestown, I was a newly single mother. And he brought me out to this like a construction site at Retreat, and was like, you know, do you want to work here and we walked around and we picked up debris. And he showed me a vision that like, would shape the rest of my...like really like my whole adult life. Like I didn't have...I think I was like...how old was I 22 or 23 years old when I went out there, like, I didn't know anything, really. So I was two years sober. I was so happy because I was so grateful to be working in a facility. It was pretty incredible for me.

Steve Martorano 

That was a pretty audacious interview. I mean, they're not many jobs I've ever heard of where they bring you to a, you know, busted down the building. You know it thousand and thousands of dollars (of work), and he goes, "Hey, wanna work?" I mean, he's got a great eye. And that's the fascinating thing. Because now, all these years later, you guys are sober, of course, and, by the way, I buried the lead here: They have over thirty years sobriety between the three of them. I mean, it's just, you know, talk about success stories. This idea that you're still working in the field is fascinating for a lot of people. Dave, when did it occur to you that this is something you ought to be doing, you know, for a living?

Dave Bontempo 

Probably sometime when I was in the Retreat, and I don't, I don't know that it was a passion or a life raft of like, if I'm not fully immersed in this, I'm not going to necessarily make it. And I talked to Peter when I was leaving. I was there for 38 days and basically was like,"How can I get a job here?" How can I be like Maggie? I was always trying to be like Maggie.

Samantha Osterlof 

Aren't we all, Dave? 

Dave Bontempo 

And he told me to volunteer. Run the Alumni Association for a year and show me you can stay sober. And, and so I went, I met some guy in, in Bucks County who was in the program, and I painted for him for like, you know, I think it was 10 bucks an hour. And then I got to raise the 12. And every Friday, I said to this guy, like I need off every Friday because I need to drive to Retreat and spend a day there every week. And I would go early, it was like the highlight of my week. And so would -- Maggie...Sammy would come out when she was eventually got out of treatment. And we would like to do meetings. And then one of the kids is my best friend to this day. I was impatient with this kid named Shawn. And we would go back to his house, and his mom would open the house to all of us, and we would swim or bonfires. And you know, there's all these little things that kind of shape where I'm at today. And it's those people. And Sean's parents, let me live with them rent-free for a year, they refuse to take money. So I could commute to Retreat and work there. And there was just so many people that were like, this safety net around me. And I think I was like, pretty clear, early on that if I...it was my last chance. And if I turn my back to that, or went to, I don't know, become a sales rep at something that wasn't relating to this lifestyle, like I wasn't gonna make it. And that was very clear from probably like day eight or nine.

Steve Martorano 

Yeah, early in. Sam, how about you? When did you go, you know, this is doing more than just helping me in my immediate situation. But this is something that I might be good at going forward?

Samantha Osterlof 

So for me, I had almost completed a criminal justice degree. And I knew that at the time, it was going to be difficult for me as a result of some, you know, legal things that had taken place, during my active addiction. I knew it was going to be hard to get in that space to work in the criminal justice realm of things. And I remember I probably was like, everything happened for me, similar to Dave very organically, where, you know, towards the end of treatment, I said something similar, you know, to Peter and Scott and Chrissy, and they said the same thing they told Dave, they said, "Come back, volunteer, show us that you're changing your life and getting better. And when you have a year sober, you let us know, and we'll hire you on the spot." And that's what happened, you know. I waitressed for a year at a restaurant. And I'll never forget having a year and going and picking out like my work shirts there and getting my first you know, Retreat Polo. And it really was, you know, me and Maggie joke about it, it really was kind of like a residency for me. You know, I worked there for over six years, and really got to...got the opportunity to be part of a small drop in people's ripple effect of whether they, you know, left and did well or didn't and came back. And the beginning it was how can I --- how can I be --- not just like Maggie, but how can I be like Maggie and the other young people living in recovery that are working here? And so it was such a gift because then I got to go back and all those people that I looked up to as young people in recovery, they became like my teachers. You know, and they raised me at that campus. I was inpatient for 37 days. And then I did outpatient programming at the time, which was on the campus. So that first year, I was on the campus, at least...at least once a week, for an entire year. And then I help Dave with alumni, me and Dave and Shawn. And you know, we did alumni, and we got the alumni involved. And we built this little kind of crew of people who were just trying to do the next right thing and just trying to get through the week to the next Friday, to the next alumni meeting. And when I worked at Retreat, I had...I had my son. And when I went on maternity leave, I remember crying as I drove down the hill, because it was the first time in over five years at the time that I had ever been away from the campus for longer than a week. 

Steve Martorano 

Wow.

Samantha Osterlof 

Because they were just so enmeshed in my foundation and my upbringing, not just in recovery, but working in this field. I mean, they raised me. I was born and raised there.

Steve Martorano 

Maggie, so you, you know, you've been where both Dave and Samantha, where you had been where they were, and now you're on the other side and you're in a whole different circumstance. I know you can remember intimately. What was your impression of these two as they sat across from you? I mean did you go...did you go quick like, "Forget it, this guy's not gonna make it." Or did you go? "Well, he looks like he might make it."

Maggie Hunt 

So, I really good stories for both of them. So I'm just gonna, I'm just gonna go ahead. 

Steve Martorano 

Go ahead.

Maggie Hunt 

So before Dave came in, like, we really didn't have a lot of patients at the time. So like, whenever a new patient came in, it was like, such a big deal for us, like everybody like that ready, you know, because we really didn't know what we were doing. So it was kind of like the blind leading the blind, like, well, you know, so we were kind of like, trying to, you know, figure out the best protocol for how we were going to do this, you know. And Dave went to my high school. So I recognized his last name on the form that I had before he came in. When we first started, I worked like 12-hour days on the weekends. But this specific day, I was like, you know what, I'm going to stay through the assessment. And I remember Dave was like, looking at him now I feel like I can confidently say he was older than me. But he was like, a young boy, you know. Like, he was not mature by any means. You know, he...he definitely also had a sense of willingness at the time for sure. I think he was really humbled by the fact that Peter picked him up. And then throughout, like, you know, his day, he definitely fit in like really well, with like, the cool young people with like, the sideways hat, you know, punk rock rap purse. That was pretty, like, interesting. But for Samantha, I remember I was in the nurse's station, another young girl came in. And she was like, Maggie, I think you need to talk to this girl, because she just had a baby, you know, because like, you know, everybody wants to like judge everybody. And they're like, you need to go talk to this girl because she just had a baby. And she's talking about, you know, how, like, she really only cared about her addiction and not the baby. And it was like, you know, quite an experience. So I went in and I talked to Samantha, who became my best friend.

Steve Martorano 

It's a completely amazing thing. I think we mentioned this...I don't know if I mentioned it, before we started the episode or not, but they're gonna repeat it. Now I told Peter, yeah, we have, look, we have a business arrangement. I can't... I can't hide that. I mean, they are our underwriters, they make this happen. But in terms of cooperation and editorial, freedom, I can't impress it enough he's, you know, hands-off. We do this. But having said, I'm not blowing smoke when I say...I always tell him, it's these people, man. I've worked in a lot of situations in my career in broadcasting, in and out of broadcasting where it was a collaborative effort. You had to get along with a lot of people, and everybody had to be on the same page, or nothing got done. And you know, I was lucky sometimes...most of the time that works, but never have I run into a crew that is all on the same page. Now you guys were in the trenches, so you didn't see it -- I mean, every day, I'm sure there were conflicts and stuff. I'm telling you from someone who came in from the outside, for me Retreat's hallmark is their people all buying into the same premise. We're here to help and let's just do that. It's extraordinary. Peter is to be congratulated for having a great eye. On-point, pick it, folks. He doesn't do it blindly. You've heard all these guys say the same thing. It was not immediate. It was like, show me what you...what you got. And come back and we'll see, you know, we'll see where you fit in. So I congratulate him I've done that. I'm so glad we took the moment to note that their 10th anniversary, it's going strong. It's better and bigger than, you know, now they're in Connecticut. And they're in Florida, of course. And they have the satellite places, in Lansdowne. So it's just getting better and better. I'm glad we took the time to note their 10th anniversary. You three are just shining examples of what happens when you get sober. And again, over 30 years of sobriety with these three guys. Congratulations to you all. And thanks for hanging with us on the Behavioral Corner. We appreciate it.

Dave Bontempo 

Thank you very much for having us. 

Samantha Osterlof 

Thank you.

Maggie Hunt 

Thank you.

Steve Martorano 

All right, guys. Hey, thank you guys for hanging you know, we're here on the Corner all the time. If you follow us on Facebook and you know even write a review. I can take it. I can handle it. See you next time on the Corner.

Retreat Behavioral Health 

At Retreat Behavioral Health, we believe in the power of connection and quality care. We offer comprehensive holistic and compassionate treatment from industry-leading experts. Call 855-802-6600 and begin your journey today. 

The Behavioral Corner 

That's it for now. And make us a habit of hanging out at the Behavioral Corner and when we're not hanging follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter on the Behavioral Corner.