So here is my “client success” story. I’m going to start a little bit before I got into West Sound Treatment Center.
While still in active addiction, I was very abusive to my ex. To be completely honest, I tried to kill her. I got arrested, went to jail, and was looking at prison time. I opted for residential Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA) instead of prison time because I wanted to try to get clean and sober.
DOSA sent me to American Behavioral Health Systems (ABHS) in Spokane for 3 months. They are a co-occurring inpatient treatment. While I was there, I learned a lot about myself and what I didn’t want to be anymore, and that was the beginning of the next chapter of my life sober.
I graduated ABHS inpatient treatment November 2021, did my assessment with West Sound Treatment Center, was accepted into WSTC housing, and moved in that day. That’s when my journey really began to get me to where I am today. So it wasn’t easy, and I messed up quite a bit — I relapsed twice — but I came out on the top.
When I first started attending West Sound Treatment Center, I was only going because DOSA required me to. My ex was still in her active addiction and continued to call WSTC and my DOSA officer saying that I was harassing her and all kinds of stories — whatever they might have been. Since I was in treatment and trying to change my life, I held myself accountable when my DOSA officer asked me if I had contact with her. I admitted to staying with her before I got into WSTC housing. So they took me into custody.
I spent 14 days in the Kitsap County Jail for a DOSA violation, and when I got out, I no longer had a place to live in WSTC housing. At that point, I began staying with my oldest daughter who was and still is in active addiction (she smokes pot and drinks). I was hanging out with people who were in active use. I think, at that point, going to jail and getting kicked out of housing, I just figured, “f*** it. I f***** it all up anyways, so I might as well just carry on about my life.”
I still continued to go to outpatient treatment and to check in with my DOSA officer, though, and I started to get back on the right track.
My daughter and I ended up getting into an argument. She kicked me out and threw all my stuff out in the pouring rain. At that point, I was staying with people who were using my drug of choice. When I got paid, I checked into a hotel to get away from that for a couple of days and ended up letting my niece and her husband stay with me there. [A substance] was put in my drink (my coffee to be exact) without my knowledge, but if I hadn’t been hanging out with people in active use, I never would have had to worry about that. I did a UA test for WSTC and came out positive, so in March of 2022, I was taken into custody again by my DOSA officer.
I was in jail for 3 months. They revoked my DOSA, and I was headed to prison. At this point my addictive thinking had taken over again: “I f*** everything up, I can’t do anything right, and it’s pointless for me to continue to try this clean and sober thing.”
I was transferred to prison in May of 2022. I sat in a cell and had nothing but time to think about all the things that I f***** up in my life. I was alone for the first time: mentally, physically, and emotionally alone. And that’s where I made the conscious decision to change my life. By the time I left prison three months later, I was OK with being alone for the first time in my life.
I was able to get out into an Oxford House, and I went back to WSTC to re-enroll in outpatient. From that point on, I hid absolutely nothing from my counselor. Coming out of prison, automatically I had DOC [probation] for a year, but the want and desire to be clean and sober and work a program was based solely on my own decision, not because I had to for DOC.
So as my treatment went on, I paid a lot more attention and grabbed up the tools and the suggestions that were given to me in groups as well as my one-on-ones with my counselor. I also got enrolled for mental health treatment through WSTC.
Taking on my trauma and my mental health was a big step for me. Working with Ken allowed me to dig up all of my past trauma – all the secrets that were keeping me sick and keeping me in my addiction. Between SUD treatment with Kelley and mental health treatment with Ken, I totally changed my life around.
For the first time in my life, I actually had people who believed in me even when I didn’t believe in myself. I dug in deep. I figured that if I truly wanted to continue a life in recovery, that I had to pull out of the pit of my soul what was keeping me in my addiction. That’s exactly what I did. Piece by piece, I pulled all these things — these traumas, this sickness — out. Working with Ken and Kelley, I was able to process, accept, and forgive myself for a lot of the past things that I’ve done. I was able to face my trauma head-on with people I trusted in a safe environment. In doing this, I learned who I am.
I’m finding who I am and what my purpose is. I was able to gain my integrity, my self-respect, and my self-esteem back that had been lost for so long. I learned that when things are going well in my life, I have a habit of self-sabotaging because before I came to WSTC, for the longest time I didn’t believe I was capable of having great things or doing great things in life. Going through the co-occurring treatment at WSTC has given me my value back. It has also brought me to a point in my life that I know that I am worthy, and I am capable of being successful and living a happy, healthy life.
Going through the co-occurring treatment at WSTC has given me my value back.
I live in Oxford, and Oxford has taught me how to be accountable. I’ve learned how to be responsible again. I have an amazing support group through West Sound Treatment Center, through my Oxford group, and through Narcotics Anonymous. I’m able to trust people again. I’m able to have relationships with my children and now grandchildren. Being an almost graduate from WSTC, I am leaving with my head held high, with my tool belt packed full of tools, and with a plan for the next chapter of my life. I can’t say enough good things about WSTC and the things that they have done for me as they have done for many others.
Most importantly, I wouldn’t be where I am today if it hadn’t been for Kelley and Ken believing in me until I was capable of believing in myself. For that, I will be forever grateful.
