“My son says there’re drugs all over the place. And now you’re going to put him on the streets for being dirty?”
She kept ranting for a while until her anger wore down, allowing our manager to ask a question.
“Did your son happen to mention that he left the property without permission? That he purchased heroin and brought it back and shared it with two other clients?”
The angry mom didn't have a lot to say after that because she hadn't heard that part of the story.
And, of course, her story is similar to many who can’t accept the fact that the little darling they brought home from the hospital so many years ago has morphed into an unrecognizable mess of an addict.
And part of that denial is that they still believe their addict offspring is the way he is because of what others have done. They treated him poorly. They didn’t love him enough. They didn’t give the poor boy a chance. He didn't have the same opportunities as others. On and on.
While many of these things may have occurred, that doesn’t change the fact that today his life is a mess. A mess that she obviously can’t deal with because she sent him to us for help.
Hopefully, she’ll back off and let us do our job.
