Assisted Recovery Centers of America | Alcoholism and Drug Addiction Treatment Testamonials

Testimonials
Assisted Recovery has treated many clients
and their families from different backgrounds.
These are testimonies of their experiences
in their own words.
After reading the brief descriptions, please click on any that you can relate to.

Patti (47 y/o): "...I had to wonder if I really was an alcoholic?"
Rich (58 y/o): "...this program is helping me to not only physically save my life, but give me a quality life."
Julie (67 y/o): "I was desperate!!"
Pam (45 y/o): "...I was looking for help to get free from methadone and it’s restrictions on my life."
Mike (50y/o): "I had been through inpatient, outpatient programs as well as 1000's of AA meetings."
Joan (59y/0): "I abused alcohol for more than 25 years, thinking I needed to drink to relax and have fun..."
Arnold: "I am a mental health professional who, over time, became more and more under the influence of alcohol"
Tish: "If you are suffering from addiction or want to help someone you care for .....THERE IS! THERE IS A WAY OUT!!! I IMPLORE you to contact ARCA and find happiness without your present chemical deity. Thank you, ARCA Staff, from the bottom of my sober heart!!!"

Family Testimonials
Addiction affects not only the person afflicted, but their family as well. We have been fortunate to develop relationships with our clients and their families. Recovery not only has a healing affect on clients, but also their families as well. Here are some of the testimonials from family members of our clients.

Katie: I wanted to thank you so, so much for helping my dad... also, he being sober is why I’m able to be involved in so many activities.

Bo: "...not only has my relationship with Mom strengthened, but also my individual strength has been bolstered"

Katie (daughter of a client)
I wanted to thank you so, so much for helping my dad. You saved our family. Because of you, my life is so much better. You helped my dad get over his addiction, and I will be eternally grateful to you because of that.

My dad went tried tons of stuff to help him recover (AA was one thing), but you were really the one thing that helped him. My mom and I love my dad with all our hearts; we think you’re the reason why my dad isn’t drinking in a motel right now and my mom and I aren’t living in an apartment complex. Also, he being sober is why I’m able to be involved in so many activities.
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Patti (47 y/o)
I happened upon it one day while reading the newspaper. A new way to help people with alcohol problems. Then I had to wonder if I really was an alcoholic? What else could I be? I knew that I drank too much, every night, sometimes during the day, particularly during the week. I liked to sleep on the weekends and rest up for the next week’s binge. Then again, why not just drink throughout the weekend; nap it off an start again? I had made many other feeble attempts at sobriety throughout my lifetime. Since I was thirteen.

I had achieved other levels of sobriety before, for the mot part, on my own. I was proud that I no longer used cocaine, after all those years. I was proud too that I had left the vodka behind and only drank beer. How could I really be an addict if it was only beer? Doesn’t all of America drink beer?

I decided that I had nothing to lose. What’s a phone call? I was curious and deep down inside, I really wanted to achieve sobriety, because I did not want to have another car accident, which could have killed my child. I didn’t want to black out parts of my life that should be rewarding to me and to my child. I wanted to stop carrying a cooler everywhere I went, including church. Yes, I had to agree, I was an addict. And I knew from previous attempts at sobriety, that I needed to reach for total sobriety, not partial.

Why else would I have stopped drinking for 18 months, in recent years? I knew that I needed to. I was challenging myself and proving that I was able to do anything I wanted to do. I also was proving myself to others who were certain that I could not do it. But I was not able to sustain the success alone.

I called ARCA, met with a doctor who told me about this pill called naltrexone. It blocks the craving for the alcohol. Within a week of starting to take the pill my cravings were gone. That was June of 2002. I learned so much through the personal counseling sessions, that I had never learned in many years of therapy. Here, you get to the reasons why and figure out what you need to do to overcome your obstacles. These people are experienced at what they are talking about. They are just like you and me. They are living, walking proof! They are enlightening, encouraging, and empowering US.

What a breakthrough. Thank God and the good staff of ARCA. This is how life is meant to be lived. And oh, they are so patient and kind. It is amazing work that they do. I think that we are their rewards. But they gave me my reward.

Don’t hesitate. Just GO! Join. You too will be glad that you did. It’s a winning proposition.

Rich (58 y/o)
To put it simply; this program is helping me to not only physically save my life, but give me a quality life.

Physical problems may arise that are completely out of my control. As with any human being, a person may do everything in their power to live a healthy life but still have no control over falling prey to a horrible disease.

To me the most important benefit of being in the ARCA program is the ability to start making informed, sober decisions. This does not mean that all of my decisions will have the best results, but at least I can live with them, knowing that at the time I felt they were the right thing to do.

I am no longer experiencing the mental and physical roller coaster that my life had become. I am starting to experience a soothing calm taking over my life. This feeling of inner peace is something I've not experienced in a very long time.

The biggest benefit ARCA is having on my life is simply giving me a life!

Julie (67 y/o)
I was desperate!!

I truly believed that there was no successful recovery from my addiction until I called Assisted Recovery on a bleak Sunday afternoon. To my overwhelming surprise, a "real" voice answered the phone and invited me to visit their website (for enlightenment on their program and education on the use of anti-craving medications) as well as an invitation to visit their facility, with no obligation.

Truly a message from my "Higher Power" to seek and find a new beginning.

To date (March 5, 2003) I am 62 days sober and I am committed to this therapeutic program that will ensure my sobriety forever. Do I have to work at it - of course - the prescribed medication is not a cure-all, but it has reduced my daily cravings so that I can make faster progress through my relapse prevention therapy. By attending the one on one weekly counseling as well as weekly group therapy sessions, I am committed to a new lifestyle - a new freedom! I could not have done this alone - I am now and forever grateful to this program, to ARCA's staff, and to my fellow group members.

Pam (45 y/o)
In 1991, I became addicted to my first opiate. Vicodin controlled physical pain and to my delight emotional pain. I had been recently divorced and was working a new job. Depression was a problem with all the changes in my life. After several months, my abuse of this drug had increased from four a day to sixteen a day. I was now obtaining them illegally. My body had such a tolerance that I no longer was having a “high” but was medicating not to be sick. My new plan was to find stronger drugs. I sought out the person that I knew could help me find my high again, thus my introduction to heroin. One year and an overdose later, I heard at a “shooting gallery” about a drug called methadone. It seemed too good to be true, something that would keep me from getting sick, and have a little buzz too. The day I started at the methadone clinic, I used my last 2 bags of heroin. That was January 20, 1994.

Methadone did everything I hoped it would – in the beginning. No more withdrawals, cravings, or drug seeking behavior. My life took on an order of its own. Dose in the morning, feel good for a few hours then be lazy all day. I had quit my job early in my addiction, now I had my methadone and lots of time. I believe the drug has its purposes. Short term use to Detox is one, but in my case I was encouraged to take higher doses. I maintained a low dose for six years. The last three years my dose was almost tripled. Increasing doses were needed to feel better until stabilized on the higher dose again.

In 2002, I looked closely at my life. I was not happy with what I saw. Although I had started a part time job I was not meeting my potential.

My first call to ARCA was October 2002 after finding them on the internet. I was looking for help to get free from methadone and it’s restrictions on my life. After my first conversation I knew that I was where I would get the help I needed. Rapid Detox was too expensive and too uncertain. I could not Detox myself – previous efforts had left me too sick and uncomfortable too long. It was suggested that I decrease my dosage gradually over time, making the actually medical Detox I was to have in the hospital easier.

January, 2003 my Detox began. To my surprise the medications given worked quite well. I had no withdrawal symptoms, only some insomnia the last couple days in the hospital. My recovery is going very well.

An important aspect of my recovery is that naltrexone has eliminated all cravings; I have no desire to use any drug. I do believe without it I might not do as well as I have. Another important factor for me is having the support I need in someone to talk to 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, if I need to, combined with individual and group therapy weekly.

After profound weakness the first 2 weeks out of the hospital, I noticed my strength returning the third week. Daily I was stronger, my appetite increasing. I began doing yoga. Exercise increased my energy and sense of well being. The downside was that I was unable to sleep more than 3 or 4 hours a night for several weeks. Normal sleep patterns are retuning now and my energy level is almost back to normal.

My favorite thing about this whole experience is the way I feel now. My senses are sharper, my taste, smell, and touch are more acute. My interest in everything around me is accelerating. I’m no longer in an apathetic state of numbness. My emotions are deeper, I welcome good and not so good. The fact that I feel so deeply now is exciting. I truly did not know what I was missing until I was free from the drugs I thought I loved.

I am forever grateful.

Mike (50y/o)
I was more than a little skeptical when I first contacted ARCA. I had been through inpatient, outpatient programs as well as 1000's of AA meetings. I would have some sobriety for a few days or weeks but would always return to drinking. I could not get past the cravings I would get.

The naltrexone gave me a chance to overcome these cravings. I found myself getting 30 days without a great deal of problems. Things steadily got easier and better as time went on. I currently have over 14 months of sobriety.

ARCA was a Godsend for me. The counseling program and medication proved to be the prescription I dearly needed.

I would strongly recommend this program to others who suffer from alcohol or drug dependency.

Joan (59y/o)
In February 2003, at the suggestion of my daughter, I came to ARCA. I have now been alcohol free for 4 months or more. It has changed my life to clear thinking and physical will being.

I abused alcohol for more than 25 years, thinking I needed to drink to relax and have fun. I now know, thanks to the ARCA program, that a quality life is possible without alcohol.

Since my road to recovery, I find my relationships with family and friends has opened up. Not only relationships have improved but my physical health has changed. I no longer take blood pressure medication and my appetite has increased and sleeping is natural, not alcohol induced.

The staff and therapist have been very supportive and always have an encouraging word. They are always available to answer questions and meet each individual’s needs. Unlike other programs there are no labels or stigmatisms.

I am pleased with my progress and continue to have a alcohol free life with the support and affirmations offered through ARCA. I encourage all who are looking for a more quality, alcohol free life, to contact ARCA. They will open many new doors for changes in your life.

Arnold

I am writing to thank Assisted Recovery Centers of America for their help and support in my effort to overcome my alcohol use disorder. I am a mental health professional who, over time, became more and more under the influence of alcohol until I was using daily, starting in the early morning and continuing until I went to bed at night. I was fortunate to have avoided any legal entanglements (DUI, etc.) during my career as a drinker. I cannot say what the impact on my professional career has been. I have never lost a job (at least directly) over drinking, but I have been told, on occasion, that I smelled of alcohol in the work setting. I told my spouse, at one point, that if I were unable to overcome my drinking disorder on my own, I would enter treatment. This was, of course, after repeated promises to myself, my spouse and others that I would quit drinking. Due to my profession, I was very skeptical about most approaches to substance abuse treatment and even more skeptical about the dominant model for sobriety maintenance (12 step programs). My sister, a nurse, found ARCA through the internet and I agreed to enter their program in St. Louis.

While this is my first effort in treatment and I have only been sober for 4 months, I can say that the approach at ARCA, a combination of Naltrexone and supportive therapy has been nothing short of an eye-opener, both figuratively and literally. The medication has made abstinence “easy” and the accepting, nurturing and non-dogmatic approach to therapy and support have been very useful to me. I happen to live some distance from the treatment site and have effectively utilized the resources of ARCA via telephone and monthly visits to support my non-drinking lifestyle. The staff of the program have been quite flexible in accommodating to my particular needs.

I understand that I fit the profile for the successful use of Naltrexone as an ancillary weapon in treating substance abuse disorders in that I was highly motivated when I entered treatment. I have been fortunate in that I have not experienced any notable side effects from the medication. However, I have also observed a sizable cohort of others who are benefiting from the combination of Naltrexone and therapy offered by ARCA. Is this a one size fits all treatment package? No, but contrary to many other approaches, they don’t pretend to be. The “harm reduction” model espoused by the treatment team at ARCA seems to me, through my experience providing mental health and, yes, substance abuse treatment services, to be a more likely approach to hooking those with lesser motivation than mine into a healthier relationship with alcohol, either complete abstinence which is my choice of goals or a stable use pattern which minimizes the social and physical costs of alcohol disorders.

Thank you to ARCA and thank you to my family who stuck with me and remain supportive of me as I reinvent myself and my life.

Tish, 44 y/o
“Constitutionally incapable…” Hopeless, in other words. That is undoubtedly how many of the 12 step programmers have seen me throughout the years, as I failed time after time to “get it”. Thirty years of drinking. Twenty years of struggling not to. Three inpatient and two outpatient treatments in two different hospitals. An emergency detox in yet another hospital. Five months in “Rational Recovery” (the group broke up). One near death incident vomiting a copious volume of blood one fine evening. Another during withdrawal after a four or five year period of non-stop drinking (“worst detox I’ve ever seen”, I heard my C.D. doctor comment). Over four years ago I attended my last AA meeting and vowed never to return again. I was sick of pat answers, weary of pitying looks, smug knowing looks while inside I screamed “NO!!! You DON’T know me! It’s something in my BRAIN! It’s SOMETHING in my BRAIN!!! Nobody ever discussed the very real changes in my brain chemistry that had occurred after years of drinking and were hindering my recovery more and more with every attempt at sobriety. Nobody listened. The failure was all mine, thank you. I finally set my sights on just struggling to stay alive until my daughter was grown (just drinking more carefully and so forth) and left it at that. A part of me knew that physically I would never make it that long and I would wake up at night in horrible anxiety over this. I just drank away the horror or it all.

Fortunately, my despairing mother had, as a last ditch effort, handed me (or did she fling it at me? I can’t remember) a large manila envelope containing literature from many treatment programs, newspaper articles, even a video tape (she’s not controlling, tho’). After reading a couple sentences from her accompanying letter to me, I angrily buried the whole nasty bundle in my desk drawer. On an occasion of particularly intense misery a few days later, I retrieved it and looked through the literature (avoiding the letter, of course). It was then that I learned about A.R.C.A. It sounded like a much different approach and I let myself see a glimmer of hope.

I contacted ARCA on a Saturday and spoke to their President. He listened compassionately to my tale of woe and invited me to come downtown and visit that very day. I was too much of a mess that day and I set my sites on Monday. He sounded like such a kind and gentle man so I vowed to make that visit and did. On Tuesday I officially enrolled in the program. I was evaluated by the doctor. Gave him my booze history and in the process, informed him that I would drink myself to death before I would attend AA again and he didn’t fall off his chair or anything but informed me in turn that many of the patients were not AA and that was just fine! I was relieved and dropped my defensiveness. He was easy to talk to and I could relate to him; he was in recovery himself! I was also given a physical exam and a blood test to determine liver functioning and so forth. I received prescription vitamins and something for my blood pressure. I had already begun tapering off but was not off alcohol and was given medication to help me through detox.

I was evaluated by the counselor, who I found to be very easy to talk to; he was also in recovery. It was a very cathartic session for me; I could be completely honest with this guy! No worries about being judged or having any of my opinions shot down. I could tell that time that I was going to be a real member of my own “treatment team”. My treatment would be individualized, tailored to my needs. Designer Recovery! COOL!!

Thursday was my first day of total sobriety and it was then that I was given naltrexone. I experienced no side effects and noticed a reduction in my craving almost immediately. That was three months ago to the day and it has been the happiest period of sobriety I’ve ever experienced! Always before in other attempts at sobriety, I had somehow felt like an impostor going through the motions of a program that I simply did not have faith in because of conflicts with my basic belief system. I was an excellent imposter, of course, but that never bought me what I have now! I had rarely made it past two months because of the on-going war in my head with my cravings. The three longest periods of sobriety up to now have been because of pregnancies. Can’t stay pregnant forever!

The individual counseling is very helpful to me in addressing my own unique issues, such as losses, a history of clinical depression, and my present relationships. The group sessions offered four times a week have also been invaluable. I can talk about anything that affects my sobriety and be honest about it. I can voice any feelings without anyone telling me I’m “on the pity pot” or “not working the program” or referring me to the “Big Book”. I can get feedback if desired, concrete suggestions on how to cope with life on its own terms without using. On how to live my life more fully. Nobody drones on with the same old empty suggestions without thinking for themselves. Real people not pre-programmed robots! I have also taken advantage of the family counseling sessions offered at ARCA to adjust my new life in terms of my relationship with my significant other. Another added bonus of ARCA!

I am very confident in my sober future now, more so than I have ever been in prior attempts at ridding myself of this devastating disorder. All of the staff members from the Program Administrator on up to the President of this unique organization have been extremely helpful to me in achieving my goal. Also, the medication naltrexone has been a Godsend! It is a double-edged sword in defending my sobriety that I have not had on my side until now. Not only does it practically eradicate my cravings; it would reduce the effect of alcohol (or other chemicals) should I use again, making the “high not a whole lot of fun. As long as I take it, it is the closest to foolproof that I can get. Probably as close as any other fools could get as well! If I don’t take it, I know that I am setting myself up to use and would need to talk to the counselor about it, but truthfully that has not come up yet; I take it religiously at present and am glad to take it! Even when I stop taking it regularly as it is decided by the staff and myself, I will keep a reserve of the naltrexone for any future cravings that may come up in future troubled times in my life.

I guess nobody reading this long-winded testimonial (can’t praise it enough!) for ARCA, can doubt my sincerity about what this organization has meant to me. I believe that it has saved my life and saved my loved ones much grief and anguish.

If you are suffering from addiction or want to help someone you care for out of the nightmare that is addiction, if you or another is helplessly serving the god of a chemical choice and see no way out, guess what? THERE IS! THERE IS A WAY OUT!!! I IMPLORE you to contact ARCA and find happiness without your present chemical deity. I would drag people in off the street if I could to give them what I have right now because I found ARCA (thanks, Mom) and am so excited about it. Thank you, ARCA Staff, from the bottom of my sober heart!!!

Bo:
For more than 20 years, Mom has battled the alcoholism monster. ARCA's unique program --- combining therapy with FDA approved medication --- has been the most successful to date... and a non-trivial success at that. The "fear" of calling Mom at home in the evenings has all but disappeared. Mom's outlook on life has changed from one of despair, resignation and destruction to one of hope, responsibility and affirmation. As a result, not only has my relationship with Mom strengthened, but also my individual strength has been bolstered; in effect, her demonstrated strength has become mine.

ARCA's sophisticated methodology, combined with Mom's dedication and resolve, have resulted in Mom's return to being a mother (not just my mother), role model and dearest friend.