Equipping People. Strengthening Practice. Creating Meaningful Change.
A Purpose 4 Life, LLC (AP4L) provides professional development, continuing education, and workforce training for professionals in recovery, behavioral health, healthcare, human services and criminal justice.
Our trainings strengthen the knowledge, skills, and confidence professionals need to commuicate, engage, supervise and serve people more compassionately and more effectively.
Why A Purpose 4 Life Exists
Workforce Development That Moves Learning Into Practice.
Many professionals complete required education every year. That doesn't necessarily mean the learning changes how they communicate, engage, supervise, collaborate, or serve people.
A Purpose 4 Life was built on a simple belief: professional development should make a difference in what happens after the training ends.
Information alone rarely changes practice. Meaningful learning gives professionals the chance to engage, reflect, practice, and build confidence, so they can use what they learn and not just know it.
Our Training Approach
Every AP4L training is designed to move participants through four stages:
Information → Understanding → Practice → Application
Our experiential approach emphasizes:
Motivational Interviewing
Trauma-responsive practice
Person-centered communication
Collaboration & Compassion
Practical skill development
Meaningful training isn't measured only by what people learn. It's measured by what they can do differently because of it.
Our Approach to Professional Development
Our Areas of Expertise
Professional & Organizational Development
Customized workforce development for professionals, supervisors and organizations covering communication, wellness and applied professional skills.
Recovery Professional Workforce Development
Training for current and aspiring peer professionals through foundational education, ethics, continuing education, skill development and workforce preparation.
Motivational Interviewing Training
Foundational through advanced Motivational Interviewing (MI) training, with practice opportunities, specialized applications, MI for leaders and supervisors and ongoing skill development.
Trauma-Responsive & Person-Centered Practice
Training that helps professionals strengthen engagement, communication, safety, compassion, collaboration and responsiveness with the people they serve.
WHO WE ARE
Experienced professionals. Skilled facilitators. People who understand the work.
A Purpose 4 Life, LLC trainers have backgrounds in behavioral health, substance use and recovery, human services, healthcare, education, criminal justice, leadership, and workforce development. They bring professional expertise, advanced certifications and credentials, and firsthand knowledge of the systems and communities we serve.
We don’t just teach content. We understand the work, the workforce, and the challenges professionals face every day.
Professional Expertise | Advanced Credentials | Applied Experience | Engaging Facilitation
Meet the Founder
Lisa Ardner, MA, CASAC-M, CARC, CCTP, PLC
Founder, A Purpose 4 Life | MINT Trainer | Workforce Development Educator
Lisa Ardner is the founder of A Purpose 4 Life, LLC and an experienced behavioral health professional, adult educator, and workforce-development trainer with decades of experience across healthcare, behavioral health, substance use services, recovery support, and crisis intervention.
With a Master’s Degree in Adult Learning, Lisa brings a strong understanding of how professionals learn, develop skills, and translate knowledge into everyday practice. Her training approach is highly experiential and emphasizes Motivational Interviewing, trauma-responsive practice, person-centered communication, collaboration, and practical skill development.
Lisa is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) and holds advanced professional credentials as a Master Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor (CASAC-M), Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC), and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). Her professional work also includes crisis response, coaching, family recovery support, and the development of Recovery Professional education and continuing-education programs.
She has a longstanding commitment to supporting individuals and families impacted by substance use and has served for more than a decade as a lead coordinator and facilitator for Celebrating Families, helping families strengthen relationships, understanding, and recovery together.
Through AP4L, Lisa develops and facilitates professional training designed to move beyond information alone—helping participants build confidence, strengthen practical skills, and apply what they learn within the real-world environments where they serve individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
See the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT) website for more information.
Sandy Rivers, MA, CASAC-M, RC
Meet Our Instructors
Founder, Authentic Trainings | Lead Trainer
Sandy Rivers is an experienced behavioral health professional, adult educator, and workforce-development trainer with decades of clinical experience in substance use disorder, trauma, and sexual abuse services.
Throughout her clinical work, Sandy saw firsthand that practical, person-centered and evidence-informed approaches could strengthen engagement, improve professional practice, and better support both clients and the professionals serving them. Recognizing a need for workforce education that translated these approaches into usable skills, she pursued graduate education in adult learning and founded Authentic Trainings.
Today, Sandy develops and facilitates professional training in areas including Motivational Interviewing, trauma-responsive care, substance use and recovery services, and workforce development. Her approach emphasizes practical application, compassion, collaboration, and helping professionals turn knowledge into skills they can confidently use in real-world settings.
Sandy holds advanced credentials and training in Motivational Interviewing and trauma-related practices and is a member of the New York Certification Board Trainer Registry.
Ruth Riddick, CARC, RCP/f, RTR-S
Founder of Sobriety Together
Recipient of the 2025 Long Island Recovery Association Friend of Recovery Award and the 2024 NYS Justice Peer Initiative Impact Award in Training & Development, Ruth Riddick is an experienced trainer offering custom coaching and communications programs since 1997. She expanded her practice to include a specialization in recovery under Sobriety Together Training (est. 2004) and added CCAR programs as an RCP Facilitator in 2015. Ruth holds a certification in experiential sociometry (RTR-S) and is a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC). A FOR NY Best Practice Trainer and member of the NYCB Trainer Registry, which she co-founded in 2020, Ruth co-authored its Member Standards of Practice in 2022. She is also a credentialing expert. In September 2025, Ruth served as producer and co-facilitator of the innovative Embodying Recovery, an immersive retreat focused on the O’Connell-Valentine-Riddick “Stages of Recovery” model. Diverse professionals expressed a high degree of satisfaction with the program’s experiential learning methodology.
Steven Parkis - CARC, Tech Genius, Facilitator Intern and Training Coordinator
Steven is a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach (CARC) and the “Tech Genius” behind A Purpose 4 Life. He is an integral part of our operations, bringing reliability, problem-solving, and a calm, solutions-focused presence to everything from behind-the-scenes systems to live training support. Steven is interning with A Purpose 4 Life and Authentic Trainings, LLC as a facilitator and trainer-in-training. He is gaining hands-on experience in training delivery, participant engagement, and professional development facilitation. He supports the full training lifecycle by helping sessions run smoothly, using technology to strengthen learning, and keeping our programs accessible, organized, and high-quality. Steven’s combined strengths in peer recovery coaching and technology make him a unique asset to our team. His internship reflects our commitment to developing emerging leaders who can support peers, strengthen systems, and elevate the impact of our training across the community.
Contact Steven at support@apurpose4life.com.
Who We Serve
Recovery Services
Behavioral Health
Substance Use Services
Mental Health
Healthcare
Human Services
Education
Criminal Justice
Community Organizations