Oxford Treatment Center Names Employee of the Year

When someone needs to talk, Brittney Collins is there to listen. When something needs to be done, she takes care of it.
That simple, faithful approach to her workdays at Oxford Treatment Center has helped earn Collins the honor of 2017 Employee of the Year. She received the award from CEO Billy Young in January.
“Brittney is very much a team player, as shown by being selected by her peers,” Young said. “What impresses me most about Brittney is her solution-focused attitude and approach to her job. Anyone can indentify problems and barriers. She is the kind of person who goes beyond that to find solutions.”
Collins is a Behavioral Health Technician at Oxford Treatment Center’s 110-acre residential campus in northeastern Lafayette County between Oxford and New Albany. People come to the center from across the country for help with drug or alcohol addiction. The center is owned by American Addiction Centers and has 178 employees in Lafayette County.
As a BHT, Collins’ official duties include tasks like transporting clients and making sure they get to all therapeutic activities on time. But beyond the structured schedule of group and individual therapy sessions, she and other BHTs are always present as an additional layer of support for clients.
“Sometimes people just need to be heard,” she said. “If I have the time, I will sit down and listen. I can encourage them on what I think the right path would be. But I do a lot more listening than talking.”
For Collins, working in the addiction treatment field is an opportunity to witness powerful changes first-hand.
“My favorite part of my job is getting to see the difference between how a person is when they arrive for detox, and where they are after 30 or 45 days here,” she said. “To know I had a small part in that recovery process makes it worth it.”
Collins has been a member of the OTC staff since January 2016. She previously worked in property management and completed training as an occupational therapy assistant.
Addiction had long been an interest for her, stemming from personal relationships. She responded to a job posting at the Etta campus and has since embraced a career path in addiction treatment.

Collins is currently enrolled in the Mississippi Addiction Counselor Training program. Oxford Treatment Center’s Oxford outpatient location is the north Mississippi training site for the program, through the Mississippi Association of Addiction Professionals.
Collins said the training and education she has received through her job have already transformed her understanding of addiction. “Before I came here, I had the same ideas that most people do: ‘If they wanted to, they could just quit,’” she said. “Through my training here, I’ve learned about ‘the hijacked brain’ and about the physical effects of addiction. It’s not as simple as making a choice to stop. Addiction is a truly a disease.”
At Oxford Treatment Center, Collins works closely with fellow BHTs as well as with clinical therapists, medical staff and other departments.
“Everyone here is great to work with, and most of them have been here since I’ve started,” she said. “It’s good to know and trust the people you work with.”
In 2017, Collins was named Employee of the Month for both March and November. Other staff honored as Employee of the Month in 2017 included: Transporter Brandon Gille (January); Discharge Planner Amanda Ladner (February); Mental Health Technician Rebecca Skidmore (April); Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner John Kirkpatrick and Clinical Therapist Amy Woodward (May); Maintenance Technician Devin Mooneyham (June); Behavioral Health Technician Jason Lane (July); Outpatient Receptionist Laken Prather (September); Maintenance Technician Pete Potts (October); and Resolutions Nurse Vicki Bratton (December).

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Special to HottyToddy.com