The voice on the phone was tiny, hesitant, and seemed far away.
Even though she'd left several months ago in a fit of anger and relapsed, she realized that the one place she'd gotten help was at TLC. And she'd stayed sober and clean longer with us then she had at any other period of her life. And because she'd gone home and relapsed she was reaching out once more.
Sometimes when situations like this arise with a client who's relapsed and been problematic and wants to return it's tempting to say no. It’s easy to suggest that they go somewhere else because we know they might bring the same issues when they return.
But the flip side is that we've turned clients away because of their history with us. Then we hear they died of a drug overdose in a field or an alley. And in our sadness we wonder if letting them come back one more time might have made a difference. We'll never know.
But who wants to take the chance when we can always discharge them again if they're unmanageable? It's not an easy call. But where we usually draw the line with bad behavior is if the behavior is affecting the other clients to the point where it interferes with their recovery.
Hopefully this client will do better this time.
