about glenn munso
Diploma of Counselling
Cert IV Alcohol & Other Drugs
Registered AOD Counsellor
ACA Approved
Hi, My name is Glenn Munso.
I am a best selling author, AOD counsellor, advocate and the Founder of The Youth YOU Program.
My life over the past 12 years has significantly changed and I share my story and experiences in the hope of helping others to see there is a light for them too beyond the darkness.
After doing and dealing drugs for many years I found myself in a vicious cycle that turned me into a violent, aggressive person. My choices and actions soon led to me being in trouble with the law and being convicted of crime and sentenced to one month jail which was then overturned into an 18 month Intensive Corrections Order.
Throughout my 18 month order I learned so much about myself and about others who were in a similar situation to what I had found myself in. I learned about the process of rehabilitation programs and why so often it doesn’t work. I attended drug counselling, anger management programs, group counselling sessions with serious offenders and I had a really long time to think about where I was at in my life and what I actually wanted for my future.
Being in the rehabilitation and corrections environment gave me the unique insight into why people re-offend, and what is lacking in the system and why, even someone like me who wanted change, had an 85% chance of reoffending.
One of the biggest things I noticed during the time of being under my Corrections Order was the low level of respect the offenders had for people such as the counsellors and corrections officers. Given that most in authority or who were leading the programs had never been in our situation and had no idea what we were going through, the offenders did not connect at all with the people there to help or run the programs and instead all turned to each other for help.
In the program, I noticed that there would often be older people within the group who had been back and forth to jail for serious offences trying to help, mentor and look out for the younger ones. That made so much more sense to me rather than listening to an old lady telling you about drug addiction.
To put it into perspective, think about who you would relate to. You have a convicted felon who has lost friends, family and almost half of his life to drugs; or you have the old lady who teaches what she had learnt from a textbook with no lived experience.
For me, someone who has been in a vicious cycle of anger, substance abuse, dealing, rebelling against authorities, teachers, parents; anyone who tried to help me, I knew who I could relate to.
Through the journey of my Order, I found that even though I knew I desperately wanted a better life, the support that was out there and being made available to me just wasn’t the right thing that I needed.
Throughout my order I was told I would be back and I had an 85% chance of reoffending and landing in jail because of my age and convictions.
85% chance! That in itself says that there is something missing in the system and programs.
It was all so clinical, I felt like I needed something that was more real life, someone to teach me through their own experience, someone who had been through the transformation.
I didn’t have that, so I transformed myself. By choosing to focus on me and learning the lessons, but I always thought there has to be more.. there has to be a program out there that gives kids who are just like I was a fighting chance to change their lives in a way that they are given the right support and understanding from someone who has done the hard work and just ‘gets it’.
I decided at that moment, if I could not find what I needed I would have to create it myself.
The same day, I began to put together a program based on my experiences and the extra learning I had undertaken to understand people more. I included everything that helped me recover from drug addiction that got me to where I am now and I have continued to study and learn and gain qualifications to enable me to help my clients in the best way possible.
My life now looks very different to how it did 12 years ago. I own a gym and every single day help people improve or better their lives. I hold a qualification in counselling specialising in drugs and alcohol, and am currently a psychological science student.
Over the past 5 years I have travelled throughout Australia doing presentations in schools and participating in community forums. I have written 2 Amazon best seller books.
My program has been shared and written about on many different media platforms, featured in local and state newspapers and has had a lot of success in changing the lives of hundreds of clients.
The Youth YOU Program has celebrated so many notable transformations with participants going forward to lead rich and fulfilling lives. We have celebrated weddings, babies and people getting into community roles such as the CFA (Country Fire Authority). Some have completed or are currently studying community services to help others and others have obtained stable jobs after years of unemployment. We have witnessed many healed family relationships and the outcomes and achievements I have witnessed since beginning the program and offering it to others are endless.
Getting off drugs and overcoming addiction is just the beginning of the journey, and it is my passion to help my clients to build lives that have purpose and meaning.
When I put together the Youth YOU Program, I did it to help and show the younger generation of today that a new life is possible and there is so much out there that they don’t know of. This program was inspired by my personal experiences and I strive to make it non clinical and relatable, whilst still using tools that are proven to work.
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