TESTIMONIALS

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.

........................................................................................... 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 adolescents. 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!

........................................................................ David R.'s Parents