Testimonials

On the first morning of Kids Camp, one of the boys, Carl, openly cried when talking about a wish for his family, expressing how they had all been separated due to both of his parents’ drug addictions. Adam, the boy sitting next to him, reached over in empathy and patted his shoulder. They had just met. These two boys from different backgrounds became fast friends and exchanged phone numbers at the end of the four-days. Each found comfort in realizing that they were not alone.

A newly sober mom came to the group filled with guilt and shame. She expressed to the other parents her worry that her young son, Trevor, would never forgive her for the damage done to the family while she was in her disease. But when Trevor sat across from her during the Saturday sharing process, his eyes filled with tears, ‘Mom, I was afraid I would lose you. Nobody could ever take your place. I want addiction to stay away from us.’ Both Mom and son embraced while surrounded by the support of the group. The healing process in their relationship had begun.

Kids Camp helps parents understand and learn about addiction and what it does to you and your family. It brings out your feelings and what can be done about them. My child has opened up to me without fear.

 In my family my Dad got trapped by addiction. My Dad got [Treatment and Recovery] to rescue him by saying ‘help’. And he held in his feelings, problems, and secrets for a very long time. I knew that he drank, but not this much. The person I trust my secrets to are the people who don’t get mad at me or blab. And that is my Mom and Ms. Christine, my counselor. I hope that I don’t have addiction like my Dad…

The program breaks down hurtful feelings that were buried inside. It helped my kids and me to express ourselves.

The program has taught me that my child can learn to express her feelings more. The group sessions with parent and child were especially helpful.

 In my family, my father was trapped by addiction. To be honest, I don’t know when it started, but I certainly do remember when I first found out that my dad was an alcoholic. We had gotten home from a Christmas party, and my brother walked into the house. “Dad’s drunk” “How do you know?” “He wasn’t driving well and he’s walking funny.” I waited for Dad to walk into the house, and, sure enough, he was drunk. I remember thinking, “What do [my stepbrother and sister] think?” I also remember crying myself to sleep that night. After that, I kept a close eye on my Dad, and started noticing his strange behavior during the night. I started noticing more and more that he was drink. I got to the point where I dreaded weekend nights, because I knew he would drink. My stepmom noticed too. Nobody could take it anymore. He would have to stay home from work sometimes. It hurt me that he wouldn’t stop. So that’s when he started T&R [Treatment and Recovery]. I don’t dread weekend, and I’m closer with him now. It really helped that for sure. I feel a lot safer now. I just want to thank all the people who helped him. Also, I would like to tell him how proud I am.

When a neighborhood friend told me ‘Word on the street is that your son is doing everything,’ I knew our family needed help and complacency wasn’t the answer. The Council’s professional evaluation of our handsome, smart, vibrant son was that he was past the experimenting stage and definitely abusing drugs and alcohol to cope with unwanted feelings and situations. Unbelievable. I just remember thinking, ‘Not on my watch am I going to let this happen!’ [My son] and I committed to going to weekly Parent Teen Risky Behavior group meetings. They were fascinating!! Crystal and her staff expertly showed us parents how important our role was in protecting and advocating for our teens’ pre-frontal cortex all the way until they were 25 years old and how we parents had such an opportunity in shaping our kids’ neuro-pathways that they would use for the rest of their lives. They gave us real evidence about what was going on in our teens’ lives and what was at stake. They gave us real tools for managing what felt like unmanageable situations…We are grateful for the Council!

I have been attending the Center for Recovering Families for over four months. Attending the Center has helped me tremendously deal with life and problems in a healthy way. They have provided me with space where I can learn and grow amongst other individuals. Being with people in the same journey provides a sense of belonging and support that I needed the most. I have learned many coping skills that I use in my daily life. My life has changed for the better. Each day I use the coping skills and solidify them by going to the Center for Recovering Families every week. Each week I learn something new about myself. I am forever grateful to the center and people I have connected with in the program as well as in the center for recovering families.”

I started my journey to recovery in August 2010 @ The Right Step. My counselor there recommended I do an Intensive Outpatient Program after my residential stay expired. I was scared to death! I knew I wanted to stay sober, I also knew that I’d do whatever it took to stay sober. My time in residential treatment was not enough for me. Money was tight, I do not have insurance and my parents came up with the money to pay for rehab. I was not about to ask for another couple thousand dollars for IOP. I prayed. I asked my counselor if there were any Intensive Outpatient Programs in Houston that provided partial and/or full scholarship funds. She mentioned that the Houston Council for Drug & Alcohol Abuse did. By the grace of GOD & the generosity of donations made to the center, I was able to receive a scholarship! I started and completed Healing Choices, an 8 week IOP. I am not who I was when I started Healing Choices. I believe that God puts certain situations and people in our lives for a specific reason. I am so grateful he placed The Council in my path. The people I met, the relationships formed and the emotional insight I gained from the program were life changing! I will forever cherish my time in Healing Choices & the tools I acquired to continue on my journey through sobriety!

The Council’s Center for Recovering Families will always have a special place in my heart. I am thankful for the program and all of the staff there who helped me through the most difficult time of my life. I went through The Council’s intensive outpatient program in November 2012 through April 2013. I knew as soon as I talked to their intake coordinator on the phone that this place was different and special. They actually seemed to care about me even though they hadn’t met me yet. I felt welcomed and at home the first time I walked through their door. The Council helped me stay sober from my intense and uncontrollable opioid and benzodiazapine abuse. Although I had wanted to stop using for quite some time, The Council actually introduced me to my very first taste of not only sobriety but my new life of Recovery. Their process groups along with education classes like DBT helped me learn new coping skills and how to deal with what life throws at me. My new life of Recovery has not always been unicorns and rainbows, but the skills I learned at The Center for Recovering Families helped me deal with issues in my life that were never addressed and the issues that seem to come along with new found sobriety. The Family of Origins work I did there along with one on one talk therapy skyrocketed my Recovery in ways I never even imagined. I am grateful for every single staff member there, but 4 in particular stand out and I feel I owe them something that I will never be able to payback. I owe these people and this program my life and all of the wonderful things that came about because of their help. Jana, Crystal, Jamie and Shelly have changed my life and I will be forever grateful and appreciative of all of them. Would I recommend The Council to other addicts and alcoholics? I already have. I would also recommend The Council to people who do not suffer from addiction. The work performed at this facility would be beneficial for every individual whether they suffer from an addictive personality or not.

I didn’t know what to expect from the Reconnecting Youth program and I didn’t know how the program could help me. My teacher informed me that this program was a prevention education program, designed to prevent students from abusing drugs and dropping out of school. I’m 19, I’m a senior and I’m almost out of school but I drink every now and then. With the help of this program and my group members I was able to set goals to work on that. Now instead of drinking to fit in, I am able to feel comfortable with myself of not fitting in, because the group I once felt that I needed to fit into, I now see I shouldn’t fit with them anyways…

The Reconnecting Youth program has helped me realize I need to worry about my grades more so I can do better in life. I also learned that drinking alcohol isn’t a very smart thing to do. I had my last drink at a New Year’s party. I set a goal in this program to not drink and so far I am 2 months clean. My classmates encourage me to not let the 2 months go to waste when I feel the urge to drink and I listen to them. I’ve been hanging around more positive people and focusing on my future. I think all schools should have this program to show students that are going through hard times that someone cares. No matter what happens in life you can make it better. Staring off small can lead to something big, it just takes time.

This program has helped me in controlling my stress. I believe that schools should allow this program because it can actually help students and prevent them from dropping out of school or committing suicide. Since this program I have been smoke free for 4 months. My next goal will be to stop drinking because I’ve heard it harms the brain cells.