So many of us have been touched in some way by the disease of addiction and know that it is a disease of isolation. Overcoming it is no small feat.  Freedom Institute is more than just a treatment program; it’s a place where people learn how to reclaim their lives and connect with others.  

We thought you might want to meet the people who make Freedom Institute a place of hope, healing, and connection.  Over the next few weeks we will be sending you portraits of our caring staff with some of their thoughts on why they do what they do.  To begin, we’d like to introduce our longest-serving staff member, Tessa Kleeman, LMHC, the lead clinician on our DBT team.  Tessa has been with us for 18 years.

Q:  What brought you to the work of addictions treatment?
Tessa:  I was brought to this work out of my love for people.  I started out working in Freedom Institute’s School program devising ways to support the healthy growth of young people.

Q: What keeps you in this work?
Tessa:  When people awake to the reality of their addiction they deeply open to the possibilities of life. Facing addiction brings people to the awareness that they are responsible for creating a life worth living.  This is a profound and inspiring transformation. I am grateful to be a part of it.

Q: What do you appreciate about working at Freedom Institute?
Tessa: Freedom Institute is a genuinely loving place.  Healing is at the center of everything that we do.

Q:  What do you do in your spare time?
Tessa:  I enjoy my family, being outside, dancing, drawing, meditating and playing with my youngest relatives.