At Stonewater, we value love, respect, and treating others the way we want to be treated. Our monthly Employee Spotlight is a way to celebrate the valued individuals who keep our community going.

Nursing manager Shauna Johnson uses her professional expertise in conjunction with her personal experiences to provide clients with comfort and support that sets them up for success on their journey from day one – both mentally and physically. And she is often one of the first Stonewater team members they meet!

Shauna came to Stonewater with six years of experience in the nursing field under her belt, and calls on her previous experiences daily while supervising or stabilizing Stonewater clients through their withdrawal and treatment process. Now, with over 5 years on the Stonewater team, Shauna has a diversity of expertise and training that make her an invaluable resource to our residents and their families. On top of making sure every adolescent is comfortable and feels cared for, she’s focused on recognizing and addressing physical symptoms that can be a barrier to someone’s recovery journey without them even knowing. She believes that healing the body is a crucial part of the mental health recovery process that gives individuals a greatly improved chance of long term success.

“Our bodies react to stress, trauma, anxiety and depression in physical ways due to our minds always being preoccupied with thoughts and feelings. If a person has constant thoughts or feelings that they're trying to process, their body becomes run down from always being "on" and not being able to rest. This can lead to fatigue, disrupted sleep patterns, headaches, elevated blood pressure and many other physical ailments. If we start working on making our bodies better with healthy eating habits, physical exercise, restful sleep and being in a safe environment, our bodies start to produce the natural chemicals it needs to feel happy and at rest,” Shauna explains. 

Shauna’s understanding of what Stonewater adolescents are going through includes more than professional medical experience, though. As an individual in recovery herself, she’s able to connect with our adolescents on a deeper level even before they’re invested in their own treatment journey. “Without lived experience, no one can truly understand what it feels like to go through the struggles of having addiction and co-occurring disorders,” she said. “Sharing my experience with our residents allows them to feel heard and understood.” 

Shauna’s knowledge and commitment to providing Stonewater residents with an experience that truly meets all their needs drive the superior treatment approach that we use to create a personalized detox and/or treatment program for every individual. “A standardized process of one-size-fits-all does not apply here,” she said. “We’re here to ensure the adolescents’ mental and emotional struggles are tended to, so that they are more likely to buy into the treatment program. Our attentiveness lays the foundation of trust in our staff... It all goes hand in hand.”

We’re grateful to have Shauna on the Stonewater team!