Finding Empowerment

Before I did the Narconon program, I felt broken and defeated. My life was out of control and I felt powerless to do anything about it. I am what is know as a “chronic relapser.” I would be doing great and then have a horrible relapse and lose everything; jobs, relationships, as well as the trust and respect of my family. I would then work hard to put it all back together only to slip again some time in either the near or distant future. The only thing worse than having to say, “I blew it” is having to say “I blew it, AGAIN.”

That pattern eroded my self-confidence and self-esteem over the years and I had nearly given up.

The Narconon program not only helped me get clean and sober but helped me find out the reason this pattern of self-sabotage and self-destruction kept repeating. I ultimately became empowered to become cause over my life and my future.

Other previous rehabilitation centers I had been, employed methodologies that rendered me feeling powerless or victimized. They asserted I had a disease and there was no cure. That belief never quite resonated with me. The drugs resulted from conditions in my life which I created and that ultimately I can change. There is hope!

How did the Narconon program do this? From the well-rounded and thorough program which consists of:

• The New Life Detoxification Program (Sauna) which rid my body of the toxins and drugs that had wreaked havoc on my drive and energy level. I had formerly been an avid runner but had given up on that following my last relapse. Following the Sauna, I found my energy restored and I have been running nearly every day since!

• Objectives, which helped me process many problems or traumas that were occupying all of my attention, whether I knew it or not! It is a unique process that enables you to bring those issues into view where you can process them and look at them “objectively” rather than subjectively. Viewing them objectively, I was able to see them as they really happened and not tainted by the emotional charge and reactive irrationality that is often present following some real hurt or situation. I found that following many of those situations my outlook changed on how I viewed myself and others and it was not always for the better. Looking at things in the ‘here and now’ helped me to be more present, more connected to myself, others and my environment and to feel more secure, grounded and safe.

• The Life Skills Courses were life-altering, to say the least. I accumulated so much guilt from my actions over the years due to the harm I had caused myself, my family, my friends, my co-workers and my community that I no longer felt just guilt, I felt shame. The difference? Guilt tells you that you have done something wrong, shame tells you, “you” are wrong.” Big difference. The pain I felt was so severe I had lost the ability to confront my past. The inability to confront and deal with the baggage is what kept me using. I may not have been talking about it, but it was always there waiting to resurface. Just being around my family at times restimulated many of those past transgressions whether they knew it or not. I was always on the defensive. It interfered with all of my relationships and my self-worth or integrity. Being able to literally look at and “own my stuff” by taking full responsibility for it was liberating, to say the least. I was no longer hiding parts of me from myself or others. I feel more comfortable in my own skin and it cleared the air by and between those I care about.

You may say, “that all sounds good in theory, but what about real life?” Well, I can tell you I have had the opportunity to apply all of this. We do not just come to treatment and everything just gets better. No, real life awaits and that entails real life problems; but in the final stages of the Narconon program, you start tackling those problems that present themselves as you go through reintegration back into your family, job and society. You are not just “turned out” after completion. The staff will help you work through the obstacles you will be facing and give you the opportunity to apply all you have learned.

I had a very serious legal issue present itself and must tell you that the life skills, tools, new outlook and belief in myself helped me confront that issue, handle it, and now my future looks very bright! Please give this gift to yourself—by overcoming not only drugs and alcohol but by living the life you were meant to live.