I remember when I was a little girl and the dreams of the life I would live as an adult were colorful brush strokes painted in a rainbow display upon a world without limits, in which I would become whoever and whatever I wanted to be.
Growing up to become a hopeless junkie, was not part of the picture.
I know that I can’t change anything that occurred along the journey of my life that led me down the path of self-destruction and into the cesspool of addiction. But I can share of my journey back to life and the hope that is available to those that suffer from an addiction to alcohol or drugs.
An addiction to alcohol or drugs is oftentimes misunderstood as merely a physical problem, by both the person addicted as well as friends and family of the person addicted. But through my own personal challenges in finding freedom from my own addiction, I have come to understand that a chemical dependency of any kind goes much further then the very obvious physical aspects.
People like myself that face an addiction today are more fortunate then those of the past. As the rate of addiction had increased throughout the years, the treatment methods have also broadened to elaborate on new and better ways to address this problem.
The Canyon a California drug rehab, is licensed residential chemical dependency treatment facility that specializes in treating substance abuse as well as the co-occurring mental health conditions that more often than not, affect a person with an addiction of any kind.
Based on the Foundations dual diagnosis addiction treatment model, they offer treatment, not only for the chemical dependency; but also integrate treatment to help recognize the other mental health aspects that exist along with the addiction. Individualized treatment programs are designed for each person, allowing for the road to recovery to be tailored made to each persons unique experience in the process of recovery.
A dual diagnosis is a condition when a person is affected by both a chemical dependency and an emotional/psychiatric disorder or illness. For those with a dual diagnosis, treatment should address both conditions equally in order to ensure recovery from both.
Treatment focuses on the mental, spiritual and physical well-being of each person, through group/individual therapy, healthy food and exercise programs, relapse prevention programs and after care support and management.
The concept behind The Canyon’s treatment program…
“…was to provide the best clinical practices for integrative treatment of co-occurring disorders and blending those treatment practices with the best of a holistic mind, body and spirit approach.”
I have and always will be a strong advocate of drug treatment and alcohol treatment, for I know through my own personal experience that at the end of my road I needed the help of qualified professionals in order to begin my journey into the process of recovery.
Recognizing drug addiction is often the biggest challenge that a person with an addiction can face. To accept the full ramifications of a drug or alcohol problem is often the hardest part of an addiction. For myself I had to become fully and completely aware that if I continued the way that I was going, I would die.
My road to recovery began with the admission that I needed help.
It became glaringly obvious that what I knew about living life amounted to nothing more then the sad pathetic reality of my life at that time. When I understood that I was defeated, I became willing to ask or help. It is so important to understand that there is help available, that an addiction of any kind is not a hopeless state in which one has to endure like a life sentence.
Hope is available to those that seek it’s rewards…and freedom is that reward.
My mind is a storehouse for events of the past; of memories that could be considered both good and bad. I do my best on a daily basis to allow the good to overflow, but when the bad tends to surface I also take a moment to pull what positive aspects I can from it.
What began as 
