And what we ask of them is pretty simple:
-Submit to drug and alcohol screening.
-Work and pay $110 a week service fee.
-Clean their rooms and do chores around the house.
-Break no laws.
-Attend house meetings as well as 12-step meetings.
-No violence or threats.
-No chronic bad attitude.
-No sex on the property.
These are simple rules. Many of them the same things the average citizen does.
Yet, after a while, some clients find them hard to follow. They start treating the program like it's a buffet - just taking the parts they like.
It's kind of like they say "I want help and here's the kind of help I want." Once they start feeling better and gain a few pounds they forget why they came to us.
We've actually had clients say "I'm a grown-ass man and no one's going to tell me what to do." Yet, in reality, that's what clients pay us for - to tell them how to re-direct their lives.
And when they get this resistant attitude that's when problems start.
And it's always resolved the same way: clients either become compliant or else we send them to find someone who'll do things their way.
And if they don't find anyone who'll do it their way we'll give them another chance. But this time on our terms.
