Another Graduate

Last night I witnessed one of the miracles of our program. A longtime resident, a Hard Six client, graduated from the 18 month program last night at our Roosevelt facility.

I use the term "miracle" because at one time his chances for successfully completing anything seemed dim. During aftercare groups he'd sit, arms crossed defensively across his chest, red-faced, looking at the floor and not saying much. When he did express himself, he was a volcano of anger, spewing frustration. His emotions were predictable: anger, frustration, denial, always looking at someone else as the source of his problems.

But over time, because he didn't run away and drink again, this man began healing. Where at one time he was on serious medication to control his mood, he eventually weaned himself off of medication. While this is not something we get involved with or recommend - his decision to get off of the medication seemed to have a salutary effect upon his behavior and his recovery.

In time he became the manager of one of our outlying facilities and works at that job today. Is he now a totally rational human being? Is he a man who has it all together? Does he always make the right decisions? Of course not. At times he's still a pain in the butt. But he's an example of the kind of changes we like to see in TLC clients.

I often mention in aftercare groups that it took most of us years to screw up our lives to the point where we came to a halfway house. So the idea that, all of a sudden, we undergo a dramatic change and become "normal" is unreasonable. For many of us it took years to get into the totally demoralized mess that we became before we arrived here. Therefore, it is fantasy to expect that a few months' sobriety will reverse the damage.

But when clients stick around a while, and make reasonable efforts to change, we get to see them graduate.