Full Measures Sober Living
About Us
Dr. Stephen Severance (or in recovery circles "Dr. Steve!") is a board-certified gastroenterologist who has practiced and taught his specialty at Long Beach Memorial Hospital in Long Beach, CA for over thirty years. During that time he has watched his solo practice grow into an eight person group. At various times he has served as Chairman of Gastroenterology and Chairman of Medicine at Memorial Hospital, and he is the longstanding Chairman of the hospital's Physician's Assistance Committee, (dealing with chemically dependent or otherwise impaired physicians). In years past he authored a handful of journal articles and contributed chapters to two different textbooks, with subjects including some of the medical complications of alcoholism. However, his greatest professional satisfaction has been derived from teaching. For several years he served as director of a Gastroenterology Fellowship Program at Memorial, and during that time was twice designated by the trainees as "Teacher of the Year". In the past few years, he has expanded his teaching sphere to include chemical dependency, most recently serving as course director and lecturer at a seminar entitled "Health Care Professionals Forum on Addiction" held at Memorial on October 10, 2008, sponsored by Betty Ford and New Found Life, and attended by 300 professionals in various disciplines in the recovery field.
He continues today as Associate Clinical Professor of Medicine at University California Irvine and his name appears regularly in various "Best Doctors" resource lists, most recently that in the January 2009 edition of Los Angeles Magazine, as well as in the follow-up in the same magazine planned for January 2010.
Steve believes that much of his professional growth has been made possible by parallel growth in his own recovery from alcoholism. On October 28, 2009 he celebrated 35 years of sobriety. Indeed he first came to Memorial Hospital to enjoy admitting privileges to it's chemical dependency unit, since closed. Over the past several years he has largely restricted his medical practice to the treatment of liver disease, creating a strong professional interface with the recovery community. In his personal life, he has found himself increasingly involved with the recovery process in young people, re-kindling a longstanding dream of creating a highly structured, safe, and supportive sober-living environment with a primary focus on the young chemical dependent.
Mr. John Perez has been an active member of the recovery community, here in Long Beach, for over six years now. John is currently working towards a CAADAC (California Association of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors) certification and pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Services. For the last two and a half years he has been actively working at a State Licensed and Certified addiction treatment center as an intern and counselor. This particular recovery center is a drug treatment facility for individuals with substance abuse problems. His role there entails facilitating many different types of structured activities, including: individual and group treatment, outside support meetings, psycho-educational groups, physical education and random drug testing. In addition to working at a treatment facility he also volunteers at a family support center where he assists case workers with distributing food and necessities to families in need.
The Full Measures Sober Living project is the next intended stop for John to give back to the community and assist young people in recovery. He believes that anyone willing to make a change in their life should have the necessary help that was so willingly given to him. He has immersed himself in the recovery community here with a vigilance that cannot be described with words; whether it be picking up a new face and going to a meeting or taking that extra time to listen to a fellow, John has always offered his time. In this capacity John will be best suited to help young residents to get connected with other sober peers and establish a foundation for growth and long-term recovery. In addition to running the day-to-day operations for the house he is also the live-in house manager and provides necessary help to integrate the “newcomer” with sober activities and sober peers in the area.
