Instructors in the Addictive Disorders Studies (ADS) program met on Friday to honor the work of the man who started the program at Oxnard College 29 years ago.
William Shilley, now retired from his position as department chair for the program, was the guest of honor at a luncheon at the Tortuga Cafe in Oxnard.
“He’s just the kind of grandfather you would love to have, he’s got that feature,” said Jose Ceurvo Sosa, a state certified drug/alcohol addictions counselor who works at the Alternative Action Program in Oxnard.
ADS, which was started by Shilley in 1981, is a program that trains students to become certified substance abuse counselors.
The luncheon was also a birthday celebration for Shilley, who turned 81 in February.
“He’s actually a father figure for a lot of addicts who didn’t have a very good father figure growing up, and whether he likes it or not, that’s the way everyone views him,” said Sosa. “But he does like it.”
The luncheon was also an opportunity for members of the program to meet and reconnect, which Sosa feels can be important for counselors in their field.
A good portion of the students entering the program are recovering from addiction themselves, and the risk of relapse is always present.
“Counselors in the addiction field are just as susceptible to relapse as anyone else,” said Sosa. “Just because we’ve made the grade of counselor doesn’t mean that we’re immune.”
These kinds of meetings, which Sosa hopes to have every two months in the future, are a way for them to help support each other.
“When we get together, it just strengthens, it reties those bonds we had in class and it gives us the energy and support to keep moving forward,” said Sosa.
Shilley himself agrees with this sentiment, noting that out of the hundreds of students who enter the program, about 10 go on to become full certified counselors.
“I think the rest of them kind of use it to reinforce their own recovery,” said Shilley. “It reinforces and stabilizes, and I think leads them on to higher things. We’re always facing new challenges, new upsets in society.”
Michael Webb now has the position of department chair, and he is quick to place attribute Shilley for his current success.
“If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be standing here right now,” said Webb. “He is the man.”
