Had a great conversation with Dr. J. Flowers on Understanding the Human Condition Ep. 77, click here to listen now!
Those if you who know me know I have had a long history in Texas. My first experiences with being able to visit Texas was with The Association of Intervention Specialists meetings where I met up with Tondra Frisby, Lois Jordon and Pat Breshears. I remember us visiting way back then the Green House in Dallas and the Arbor in Austin. Along the way I was able to make good friends in Texas all who have an amazing spirit, wonderful hospitality, and a way of creating healing centers for all.
Thanks to Wendy and Justin Harvey who were just opening The Arbor, I went to Austin and did their keynote, and when Marsha Stone created BRC and the blue bonnets were blooming, I was privileged to speak at both their first and second spring round up.
I also was able to visit with and speak in Dallas at a foundations event and along the way visit Padre Island and Hannah’s House and speak alongside Dr. James Flowers at the Dallas symposium, which Rick and Sylvia Hubbard were and still are instrumental in making a top notch conference.
Dr. Flowers, Michael Beard, and I first met at a foundations conference in Las Vegas of all places. We were speaking at this conference, and as former academics, we hit it off professionally and personally. I welcomed the innovation of thought and his passion for working in an integrative fashion with families who experienced chronic pain.
At that time Dr. Flowers was creating Kemah Palms and I had just published my first book Falling Up – A Memoir of Renewal. We did an opening luncheon on one of the rainiest weekends in Houston For Kemah. Hard to believe that Dr. Flowers has been creating treatment programs for over 32 years, and I have been a licensed clinician since 1973 committed to helping families thrive.
We became fast friends and colleagues, and like a big sister, three published books later, I have watched with awe as he created many synergistic behavioral health centers from Kemah Palms, Driftwood, Cypress Lakes and now his flagship, the JFlowers Health Institute, here and in London.
In doing so, I have had the good fortune of experiencing Dr. Flowers as a friend and as a visionary. We have collaborated as colleagues, sparred like brother and sister, been present at celebrations (awards), showed up at those tough times when death and illness took hold. While we are independent in work and in thought, the deep respect we have of each other remains strong.
We caught up two weeks ago at the JFlowers Institute and I was able to see first-hand what was happening there. I was delighted to be meeting new staff (lots of talented folks) and the out of the box treatment offered. I often liken Dr. Flowers to Dr. Sherlock Holmes, as he excels at finding what others cannot find in complex, high-acuity individuals and creating solvable solutions. While visiting we once again did a podcast, our third together, catching up on what is new in our personal and professional lives – from Dr. Flowers opening a London office, to me speaking with YPM in London, to Dr. Flowers soaring high above the sky once again with his favorite sport. (I can only imagine what he will create next with having a limitless horizon), to me having a complete wardrobe of pickle ball clothes, driving a MOKE, being a grandparent that’s produced over 400 blogs and loving being “family whisperer” who works locally and globally.
As a senior in the field, I know that Dr. Flowers, along with his co-founders Robin Mooney and Michael Beard, are creating a legacy of behavioral health here and abroad. It is a privilege to watch them soar.
