Love First Institute

Redefining clinical excellence

Our intensive, multi-day clinical trainings for addiction professionals are unlike anything in the field. They are challenging, rigorous, and inspiring. Class sizes are very small, and the curriculum features active learning and practical training. Our professional interventionist training and our Structured Family Recovery® training are designed for seasoned addiction therapists, social workers, psychologists and physicians. They are not designed for beginners.

Debra Jay and Jeff Jay present the trainings in person and provide supervision afterwards. Your tuition includes a private room, along with all meals and snacks at the McIver Center at The Retreat, in Wayzata, MN. In addition, Jeff and Debra Jay host a welcome banquet on Sunday evening before each training for everyone.

There are two trainings to choose from: 1) Clinical Interventionist & 2) Structured Family Recovery® counselor. Click through to the details from the choices below.

Clinical Interventionist
Training and
Certification

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“I have been licensed as an LCSW and LADAC for over 30 years and the Love First clinical intervention training is absolutely the finest training I have ever attended. Debra and Jeff offer a depth of knowledge, experience and passion that is unparalleled.”

Jill Yeagley, LCSW, LADAC
New Mexico Bar Association, Albuquerque, NM

“The training I received from Love First was the best I have attended in 25 years as a counselor. It was engaging, relevant and imminently useful. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone.”

Jeff Henrich, MA, LAADC
President & CEO, Guest House, Lake Orion, MI

“The bar for acceptance and certification is set high. The training experience has changed my practice in numerous ways… it was an invaluable and worthwhile commitment and one I shall hold onto with fond memories for many years to come.”

Dave Mulvaney, addiction specialist
London, England

Structured Family Recovery^®
Counselor Training &
Certification

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“Structured Family Recovery is the most important work to come along in the field of recovery in my 25 years as a licensed therapist and clinical supervisor. This training gave us a complete framework and practical skills ready to put into practice.”

Shannon Petrovich, MA, LPC

“The SFR^® training with Debra & Jeff Jay was by far the best I have ever had. As the owner of an Intensive Outpatient Treatment Center, I have incorporated many of the concepts in to our work and we are already beginning to see dramatic changes.”

Lois Jordan, LCSW, LCDC
Owner & Director of Solutions Outpatient Services, Dallas, TX

“Debra Jay unlocks the secrets of this revolutionary approach [the New Paradigm] to addiction… The author highlights the essential element of the approach as no one else has: the crucial role of the addict’s family.”

Robert DuPont, MD
1st Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse

“In over 20 years of specializing in family systems and addiction, I’ve never seen families change so quickly. As a matter of fact, I see things happen in 2 to 3 weeks that, as a profession, we just weren’t able to make happen before.”

Steve Hanna, Ma
Licensed Professional Counselor