Submitted by Jordan, Heroes in Recovery lead advocate
Chad Truitt has worked in the recovery field for a number of years. He has spent time working closely with patients in a residential treatment center, where he oversaw the day-to-day activities of the clients, supervised the daily activities of the residential counselors, and provided aftercare planning for patients leaving the residential treatment setting. He currently works with patients to help them find treatment in the most desperate times of their lives. He was gracious enough to spend some time discussing his experience with people in recovery with me.
What changes did you observe in patients you dealt with in residential treatment from the time they came into treatment until they left?
“Probably the best way to answer that is by giving a specific example of a patient I remember very well. He came into treatment and his drug of choice was heroin. He had been a veteran heroin addict, meaning he had been in and out of rehabs for the last ten to twelve years. When he first got into treatment he was resigned to the idea of having to go to treatment. I believe he knew he needed to be there. He wasn’t happy about it, but he wasn’t fighting the process. About three days into treatment, when he was in detox and started going through the deep withdrawal, he became very resistant and non-compliant. I think a lot of that was due to agitation and being irritable, all the negative things that go along with the detox process. It didn’t seem like all the one-on-one time or group therapy was reaching him at that point. A few days later, as his withdrawal symptoms started to diminish, he started coming up with excuses to leave. That was probably the key time for us to reach him because his rational thoughts were coming back to him as the heroin was leaving his system. He got into a few minor altercations and instead of releasing him, the staff was able to reach him in a way that helped him understand that this was the type of thing that had been, and would continue, to cause him to go back to using. He hadn’t learned a way to handle these things in a healthy manner. The staff was able to help him recognize that this was the type of behavior that led him to leaving the other treatment centers, which led him to relapse. A light bulb seemed to go off in his head, helping him recognize that he had been sabotaging his own chances at sobriety through his actions. After this, he started to have some good days of self-discovery. He was able to see that had to deal with some of his other issues, if he ever wanted to stay sober. He stayed in treatment around thirty-five days and made huge progress to the point that he was able to become a peer mentor to the other patients. I remember that patient in particular because of the way he was able to petition new patients coming into treatment to give the program a chance because of the changes he had made.“
What have you noticed is the biggest hurdle between people and seeking treatment?
“I would say it has to be fear of the unknown. A lot of people think, ‘What’s going to happen when I have to deal with my issues without the help of (whatever substance it is)’?”
What kind of feedback have you gotten from people who went into treatment after being timid at first?
“It wasn’t as bad as they had thought it would be. They had blown it out of proportion. They thought it was something they weren’t going to be able to handle, but they were able to pull it off.”
What advice would you give to someone who is on the fence about seeking treatment?
“My advice is to give it a try because that first step is the hardest. If you get that out of the way, then you tend to find it falls into place a lot easier than you anticipate. What are the pros and cons of doing what you’re doing right now? If you’re at that point, it’s obviously not going so great, so what harm is there in trying something new for a day or two? Literally take it one day at a time and concentrate on taking that first step in getting the help you need.”