No one can ever say I didn’t attempt to become the educator I sought to be. As a matter of fact, my epitaph will read: “At least he tried.” Just the other day, I was stalking about a new online course I’m building with my mom and she shook her head and actually said, “Well, no one can say that you didn’t try.” I just nodded slowly; I have tried….
I’ve done a lot to develop continuing education curriculum that I think has merit. I’ve been highly evaluated and I am certain that the core of what I present is valid and valuable. For some reason, however, it sometimes appears that I simply can’t get anyone to attend my workshops or resister for the online course. Maybe, just maybe, my books aren’t all that good; maybe my courses aren’t worth a crap. But, maybe they are. Maybe my books are as good as I think they are and perhaps my courses really will allow students to learn material that they may not otherwise learn. Not sure, but if no one attends my workshops or buys my books or enrolled in my online courses, I’ll never really know.
Still, I produce materials that I believe can make therapists and social workers better at what they do. I am certain that there is a shortage of therapists trained in the “ins and outs” of substance abuse. I also know that there is a lot of moralizing around addiction and I am willing to bet that if people take the online course associated with 49 Tips and Insights for Understanding Addiction, they will at least come face-to-face with their own assumptions about addiction. Those assumptions may not be working — they may be, but until people learn the mechanics of both addiction and recovery, there’s no way they can truly understand their clients/patients.
SO, I’ll keep banging away on my keyboard and developing online courses and in-person workshops that I know can enhance people’s knowledge. I’ll keep on writing books that no ne reads because I never want anyone to say, “He simply didn’t try.” (To check out my current course: click here.)
