My Life – A Story of Recovery

A story with a dark beginning, a troubled middle, and now, with light and hope for the future.

Robert H., a recent client at Crestwood Wellness and Recovery Center in Redding, successfully completed his program and has now moved on, a changed and healthier man.

A Dark and Troubled Past
Robert had experienced many hardships in his life. His childhood was rife with abuse and neglect by the people he depended upon. He stated that he was abused and molested from the time he was an infant. His mother committed suicide by drowning when he was 8 years old, and his father died of a drug overdose when he was seventeen. Robert began living on the streets as an adolescent, and his substance abuse started in childhood. He stated that the drugs helped him to cope with the fact that no one wanted him.

Robert felt that no one in his life cared about him, and he was frequently kicked out to the streets to fend for himself. He only finished the 10th grade and then dropped out due to drugs and being homeless. Robert stated that he never trusted anyone, because when he trusted people in the past, it was used against him.

Searching For Help
He stated that he had been in over 10 hospitals / mental health facilities, and he had been arrested multiple times. His arrests were due to breaking into places to find shelter and be warm, and he specifically recalls being arrested at gunpoint by several police officers and thinking he was going to die. He voiced that being incarcerated was a relief from homelessness, stating that at least in jail, and in the hospitals, he was safe and “got three hots and a cot”.

The Problem
Robert had been scared by an abusive life, never had a positive role model who could have shown him a better way of living, and had been on a progressive downward and destructive spiral for many years.

Upon meeting Robert he could have been described as anxious, guarded, and paranoid with impulsive behaviors. He even reported hearing voices that only he could understand. He didn’t like himself, felt unfairly judged, and possessed extremely low self-esteem.

The Beginning of Recover and Hope
However, once admitted to the Redding Crestwood facility, Robert’s life had begun a transformation. He was warmly greeting by the staff and treated like an individual with respect and dignity. He recalls this being an unusual and foreign feeling, especially since he didn’t see himself as a person worthy of respect and dignity. After receiving a tour of the facility and introduction to a variety of staff and clients, immediately work began forming a comprehensive and individualized program tailored to meet and treat his unique desires and needs.

The initial focus of treatment was to establish a friendship while building trust. With the participation of Robert, and at a speed that he was comfortable with, an extensive assessment and evaluation was completed that established specific client-centered goals.

He now found himself eating a balanced diet, having daily exercise, learning about his strengths, as well as some weaknesses, making friends, consistently sleeping well, and healing from the inside out.

He felt safe at Crestwood, and while feeling safe, he began to loosen his defenses and lower his guard, allowing others to become close to him. Although feeling vulnerable at times, he also felt the care and compassion of the people around him. It was this love and care that began to nourish him and to instill hope.

He began to feel better about himself and about the people that surrounded him. The bad memories didn’t go away, but he was able to see that there was much more to life than just the bad memories. He was able to begin to see the choices in life and the potential that he possessed.

Each day at the wellness center there was a balance of therapy, recreation, education, and rest. Cognitive therapy helped Robert to understand his thoughts and emotions at a much deeper level, assisted him to identify his triggers, yet also helped him develop a plan of action that would reprogram his learned unhealthy reactions. He began to identify his uniqueness, his special talents and abilities, and even began to notice that other people wanted to become his friend. His perception of himself began to change and for the first time ever, he felt that he had a purpose and that life could be something more than painful and full of despair.

He had a second chance in life and with the help of the treatment team at the facility he now realized that he was capable of making a new life for himself. The other clients at the facility now looked up to Robert and he had transformed from a wounded man struggling to just get through the day, to a man who assisted and inspired others to journey the road of recovery along with him.

As Robert gained further strength and insight into his emotion burdens, he was challenged to continually go deeper and deeper dealing with the core issues that had shackled him and prevented him from living a healthy life. With each self-revelation obtained through guided therapy and counseling, Robert was building confidence, and establishing a foundation of wellness.

It wasn’t long and Robert was ready to step back into the “Real” world. He had gained all he needed from the wellness center and had equipped himself with an arsenal of new wellness tools. Robert, who only a few months previously saw nothing but darkness in the world, could now see light, hope, and a future.

The Plan
Robert’s plan to stay well was to practice the recovery and the life that he learned while at Crestwood. He now knew that with any illness, his illness needed to be watched and cared for.

Life with Hope
So many people in the world have been dealt lives with different degrees of darkness and travesty. Some have been given medical and emotional situations that are of a daily concern. Yet, with just the right help, given when needed the most, almost anyone can overcome life’s crisis and see a greater purpose still ahead.

Crestwood Wellness and Recovery Center in Redding has become that oasis of health for so many people. It is the people that recover, but it is the facility and caring staff that create the atmosphere and the energy that is the catalyst for that innate ability to recovery, that ability each of us poses as humans.

Life is about having hope, enduring trials, growing, healing, forgiving, and making a difference.