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TEEN STORY OF RECOVERY - MARIJUANA ABUSE
On December 22, 2008 my life changed….I awoke with
Nathan in my room and I was off to Inspirations Teen Rehab.
When I arrived I was sure that I was going to do my time and
go back to my old addict behavior. My old lifestyle consisted
of me getting high no matter what and disrespecting everybody
who got in my way. I did not think anything was wrong with
the way I was living but I knew I had acquired a serious habit
with drugs. The first part in my recovery at Inspirations
was of course admitting I was an addict because acceptance
is the first key.
During my stay at Inspirations, I had my difficulties not
only with authority but also while working on myself. I didn’t
want to give up marijuana because I felt like I would not
be able to have fun without it. However, I have now discovered
how untrue my statement was and I continue to have fun every
single day without the use of drugs.
While I worked hard on myself in groups and other forms of
treatment I learned about important character defects I have,
such as, always looking for an easy out. In my days of using
I would always want to stop and tell myself I was going to,
but when the going got tough I never had the strength to finally
stop. And that is exactly what NA and AA programs do for me
today. When I have a problem I look to my peers in the fellowship
to help me through and give suggestions that have worked for
them in the past. The support I get day in and day out is
unparallel to anything else in my life.
The turning point for me in my sobriety was definitely changing
the people, places and things and going to a halfway house
straight from treatment and not taking any chances on going
back home. I met some very influential people who introduced
me to a lifestyle that I never thought was possible. I look
up to those people today and would not be in such a beautiful
position without them. Also, my parents have been so supportive
of me. They gave me a gift of treatment to turn my life around
and I have responded. I couldn’t have done it without
them and I’m grateful everyday when I wake up for this
opportunity. Before I got clean I treated them with no respect
and didn’t ever care about what they wanted as long
as I got my way and got high. Today I have learned not to
take them for granted and have realized how much they care
and love me.
As a recovering addict, I’m still not perfect but I’m
working on it everyday. I continue to go to meetings almost
everyday as well as working the 12-Steps which is key in recovery.
While I still have bad days and things definitely do not always
go my way, I have learned how to handle difficult situations
and not pick up drugs no matter what situation arises in my
life.
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David R.
PARENT JOURNEY THROUGH RECOVERY WITH SON DAVID
I could not believe this was happening to my precious family.
Where did I go wrong? What have I done? I felt like I had
failed as a mother and a parent. I was scared to death for
my son’s life.
David’s drug use has escalated from smoking pot to using
pills. His behavior was erratic, scary, nasty, and belligerent.
It was impossible to deal with him.
Both my husband and I were finally in agreement that there
was a significant problem, and treatment was necessary. We
reached many facilities in our local area, but I was not impressed
with any of them. The severity of David’s drug use worsened
and more despair set in. we decided to look at 30 day treatment
programs, but there were very few programs accepting adolescence.
We spent hours on the phone talking to many facilities. With
God’s help, we were directed to Chris Walsh. I could
not even tell you how or who gave me his name. I had literally
spoken to over 50 people that afternoon. Chris explained to
us all about his facility Inspirations in the FT Lauderdale
area. It had all the necessary components that we were looking
for, such as individual, group, and family counseling. The
only problem was that there was no way my son was going to
get into a car or plane and agree to get help. Chris asked
me to call Nathan Fears and discuss the case with him. There
was confidence and a sense of understanding in Chris’s
voice. I felt like I could trust him. I followed his advice
and phoned Nathan.
Nathan spent an hour on the phone listening and explaining
how serious this situation was. He explained how important
90 days of treatment is for adolescence. At that time, we
were not ready to commit to such a long duration. But as the
conversation continued, I realized Nathan has done this so
many times before, and we need professional help. I also realized
I did not have any expertise in this area. Finally, in my
heart I knew what needed to be done, but I was not sure I
could actually do it! It was the hardest thing I ever done
in my life. Was I really going to have my child picked up
by a total stranger and be placed in a drug treatment center?
Nathan worked diligently with my husband and I discussing
all the scenarios. He started to break through our denial.
It was days before we had the courage to call Nathan again.
I called Nathan on a Saturday and said we were ready. We knew
the right thing was to put David in treatment, and we needed
Nathan’s help to get him there. He laid out a plan,
and we followed. We were at our rock bottom. I was in the
process of a nervous breakdown and could not get out of bed
or go to work. Within his last two months at home, I had lost
18 pounds. We realized our lives become unmanageable and we
were powerless over the drugs. We all needed help badly.
Nathan arrived at 7:30 a.m. as planned on December 22, 2008.
He was prepared and ready o get our family through the roughest
point of our lives. He spent the first hour talking to me,
my husband, and my 15 year old daughter. Previously, we were
instructed to individually write a note to David stating how
we felt about this whole situation. As we sat down, Nathan
collected the notes and reassured us that this was not our
fault, we did not cause it, we can’t control it, and
we can’t cure David.. at the time I had no idea these
were words that would become part of my everyday life through
Alanon. We watched Nathan conduct the intervention in a professional,
calm manner. My son did all the screaming and yelling and
it did not even phase Nathan. He remained calm, which kept
all of us calm on the outside and shaking on the inside. My
son was not cooperative and we had to call the police before
he was ready to go with Nathan voluntarily.
As David was leaving I was scared for him; I knew he needed
to be detoxed. I also had this sense of relief that he was
with the right professional staff and would get the help he
needed. Nathan remained in constant contact with us.
I still did not believe David would need more than 30 days
of treatment. I thought that it would be okay because we would
simply detox him, give him a little therapy, and he would
return home shortly after. Over the next month the staff at
Inspirations had made great progress with David and us. We
did come to believe that every 30 days of treatment and sobriety
would give David more time to build on. Once we were on board,
we decided he would stay 90 days. It was the best decision
ever made. We had realized this was not over but just the
beginning. David now has to learn how to live sober. Nathan
also had a plan for my husband, daughter, and me to get help
from an addiction counselor and attend Alanon regularly. Alanon
has been the best place for us to learn about the addict and
how not to enable our son’s behavior. Nathan was also
there to help us make better choices with David. Even today,
we run things by Nathan before we say yes.
In summary I am so grateful for all the help, the guidance,
and support we were given. David has completed his first year
of college at Tulane University and has been sober for 17
months!!!! Nathan visited New Orleans last fall to make sure
all the pieces (counselor and sponsor) he put in place were
working. We are so proud of all David’s hard work, but
without the help of our extended family at Inspirations, we
would not be here today!
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David R.'s Parents
We at Inspirations understand the unique challenges of being
a parent. If you have any questions, please know that we are
here to provide you with support and guidance, 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. We welcome the opportunity to answer
your questions free of charge about teen drug rehab, teen
substance abuse, adolescent addiction, teen behavior, or other
related matters. If you would prefer, please fill out
our short form and one of our counselors will respond.
Toll free teen addiction treatment center helpline:
1-888-757-6237
or e-mail
us.
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