Many clients come to our program after a traumatic event has pushed them to their limits.
They may have lost a loved one to illness or an accident. A friend or relative may have overdosed. And it's many times not only that single event that pushed them to seek help. They may have also had an accident. Or been arrested. Lost a job or apartment because of their drug habit.
Whatever the event - or combination of events - that brought them here, it can be a turning point in their lives. It can be the moment that lets them start making moves in a positive direction. Or it can be the event in their lives from which they're unable to return before undergoing lengthy therapy.
Often newcomers tell me their sad narrative when they arrive. And when they finish, I congratulate them. That's when they look at me like I'm crazy or as if I weren't listening to them. That I somehow missed their description of the terrible events that brought them here.
Usually I have to explain that their pain can be the catalyst for change. The beginning of a new life if they'll only listen to the lessons life is teaching them.
If I walk through our campus I guarantee I won't encounter anyone who was having a wonderful life before they came to us. None of them stopped the party and said "Gee, I'm having too much fun, I better get into treatment."
No, it was always the painful stuff that brought them here. But it's the kind of pain that can heal if we only allow it to work for us.
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