Letter from the Founder

One day in 1973, my father called me into the kitchen of our beautiful home for a talk. He was drunk again. I told myself that I hated alcohol and what it did to my father.

One day in 1977, the head of my school called me into his office. He told me that I was being thrown out of school because of drug and alcohol problems.

One day in 1984 I was on tour with Michael Jackson. I had the job that I had dreamed of. Two hours before show time in Miami my tour manager called me into his office at the stadium and he fired me. He said that he liked me but he could not rely on me because I took too much cocaine.

In 1989 I was in prison for drug and alcohol related crimes.

How did a nice kid from Connecticut end up in a jail cell in Amsterdam shaking and sweating from withdrawals? The answer is addiction.

I had had so many chances in my life. My family was not poor and I had all the possibilities and opportunities to achieve success.
I was smart, ambitious and creative.

I have a terrorist in my life called addiction and it wants to destroy me and everyone around me. I have not used drugs or alcohol for many years now and I have made it my life’s work to help others identify and disable the terrorist in their lives. By helping others I save my own life.

Smith & Jones was the first and is the largest private addictions treatment provider in Holland. I am also proud to say that we were the first residential treatment program in the world for online gaming addiction. Many, many people have found freedom through the Smith & Jones treatment programs.

The Smith & Jones center is staffed with the absolute best team available in the world that can help you and your family take out the terrorist called addiction.
It is the treatment that I needed but could not get.

The team has become so professional that I can’t even work at the center anymore. I can do the intakes and interventions, be a motivator and make jokes and be funny. That’s about it.

What I can do is watch. I see everything. I will always be there to make sure that Smith & Jones will try to be the best it can be.
I am the luckiest man in the world. I get to meet people when they are suffering and Smith & Jones can play a part in helping them achieve greatness. Who has it better than me?

Nobody.

Keith Bakker