Ryan McGuckin Joins the New Life Team!

The latest addition to the executive staff at New Life Medical Addiction Services is Ryan McGuckin. Ryan recently joined New Life as Vice President of Clinical Outreach.

Born and raised in South Jersey, Ryan originally wanted to be a teacher. While he was a reservist in the Coast Guard, Ryan went to community college where he was deeply influenced by his Abnormal Psychology professor. This professor explained how every person is experiencing mental suffering in some way and he would say “We’re all nuts. We’re all a bit crazy”.

That really resonated with Ryan who has family members who have struggled with addiction. Up to that point, Ryan had seen his family’s problems in isolation, but this new realization allowed him to see that everyone is dealing with issues and challenges in their lives.

It was at that time that Ryan decided he wanted to be either a psychologist or a counselor. He decided on being a counselor and, after his education, he started in the addiction field as a case manager.

After becoming a case manager, Ryan also worked in a variety of other capacities in the industry. He has been a tech at inpatient detox facilities as well as an inpatient mental health tech. Ryan then became a primary therapist and then a clinical director and has now been in clinical outreach for the past several years.

The diversity and breadth of Ryan’s positions has been part of Ryan’s overall career plan. As Ryan explains, “I consciously took so many jobs in the treatment field because I knew I would eventually be in a leadership role and wanted to be actually able to do the jobs up and down the organizational stack. When an executive can actually roll up their sleeves and do the work, that drives loyalty and a higher level of performance from the staff.”  Ryan is known to be an inspiring and engaged leader and it is clear that he is a great fit for New Life.

“One of my favorite previous positions was at an outpatient center like New Life”, said Ryan. I loved it and wanted to join an outpatient center that can provide the broadest and highest level of care to the most people.”. One of the things that attracted Ryan to New Life is its ability to accept most forms of payment, including Medicaid, which is rare at other addiction treatment centers.”

Ryan went on to explain that “New Life is a highly credentialed, highly trained team with a lot of experience. This is not common in the field. Plus, the energy level is very high. The New Life Team practices self-care to avoid compassion fatigue, assuring high energy levels.”

One of Ryan’s primary objectives was to find an organization that lives and operates according to the highest ethical standards and with a strong moral code. “When I first met Dr. Joe Savon, he told me that, at New Life, “we live and die by our ethics”.  This sold Ryan. He had another job offer but he wanted to be associated with the best. “That’s who Dr. Joe is and that’s who he wants working for him and this was a critical element in my decision-making process”, said Ryan.

Executive VP, Todd Fedoruk, is another reason Ryan came to New Life. “I love working with Todd. He’s a very lovable guy who just wants to help people. He is also a great teacher who is deeply knowledgeable about hospitals and health care systems and addiction treatment. He is extremely helpful.”

Todd holds Ryan in high regard as well. “Ryan has a reputation as a therapist in the mental health space that precedes him in the southern New Jersey region.” Said Todd. “I haven’t met a person yet that doesn’t like him. He holds himself to an ethical and moral standard that I have only begun to learn the depths of. We are grateful to have him join the ranks at New Life to strengthen the professional acumen we want for all New Life employees. It takes special kind of people to do this type of work and Ryan is what New Life is all about… good people helping good people!”

When we asked Ryan about his thoughts on New Life’s unique, outpatient model, he said it was another key reason for him to join the team. “In an outpatient treatment model, people don’t have to walk away from their lives or their responsibilities. Most of addiction treatment is inpatient, which means that you go away for 30 days and there are many problems with this. Among these are the fact that the patient leaves their job for a month, which is hard under any circumstances. Also, the patient’s family and loved ones are left untreated.” As Ryan explains, “The result is that some people have a perpetual loop of addiction, treatment and starting over”.

A good analogy for this is with common medical treatment. “If you can get your issue treated by a primary care doctor, that is better than going to a hospital for treatment. Once they are in New Life’s outpatient facility, they can get the care they need and then progress to more options if needed.

Ryan’s position as head of clinical outreach for New Life will keep him in in front of the public and decision makers for a long time and we look forward to the progress he will be making at New Life.

To reach out to Ryan or to learn more feel free to call us today at: 856-942-3700 or send us a Text Message.