When I went to A Forever Recovery, I was ready to start a new life. I was completely ready to stop doing drugs and all the other things I was doing that were harmful to myself and others. When I first got to AFR, I was this weird mix of hopeful yet, not. I wanted to get off drugs more than anything but, I was convinced it was something I could really do. Just the fact that I wanted to get clean helped me while I was going through my program though. Because I did want to get clean, I was more receptive to the program I was doing and was more willing to really put in the work I needed to. During my program I learned how to navigate my life and my choices and how to keep myself from falling back into old habits. I completed my program 6 months ago, and I’m still sober today, I also a have a stability to my life I’ve desperately needed. I learned a lot about myself during my program. I learned why I’d been making the choices I’d been making, why I’d been doing the things I’d been doing and why I reacted to things the way that I did. I learned how and when to stop and take a breath if things were getting hard, how to take that step back, look at the problem differently, and deal with it, before I got to the point where I felt like using was the better option. One problem that I’ve always had when I got home from rehabs, was that I always had that thought in the back of my mind that every bad day would disappear, every problem I had would go away, every single thing that was wrong wouldn’t matter to me if I used. I knew the problems themselves wouldn’t go away but, I also knew that I wouldn’t care about them anymore and it was for me to get past that. So, while I was going through my program, I learned how to deal with things before I got to the point where I wanted or felt like I needed that escape. During my program I decided that I didn’t want to go home to my parent’s house. With what I was learning at AFR, I knew I could probably go home and stay sober. I also knew that it would be harder to go home, I had family in Colorado so decided that I’d ask to go there when I finished my program. Which is something I’ve never really done before. Asking for help has always been really hard for me. It always felt like asking for help was like admitting I’d fail if I tried by myself. So, I always tried to do everything on my own. It’s something that I’ve done with my sobriety before and while I was going through my program, I realized that not asking for help staying sober is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. Anyway, I decided to ask for help finally and asked my aunt and uncle if I could stay with them when I finished my program. They had rules for me but, agreed and have been really amazing. My uncle helped me find a job and I started working there 5 days after arriving here. Since starting my job, I have not been late once, and I haven’t missed a single day of work. This is the best record I’ve ever had with a job and it feels really nice to be doing this well. I’m also paying all my own bills and have generally started acting like the adult I’m supposed to be. Before going to AFR I would have thought this life was possible. As much as I wanted to get sober, I didn’t believe it was possible. Being around the people at AFR helped me to see that even though my life had been completed messed up by my addiction, I could get it back to rights. The counselors really helped me while I was there. Sometimes, it was being to talk to me or help me work through whatever issues I was having. Sometimes, it was calling me on my bull and not letting me get away with something. They didn’t let anything, whether it was me or something else, hinder my recovery. I’m so grateful for that, going to AFR was life changing for me. 6 months ago, it would have been impossible to imagine my life the way it is now.

How much is treatment at Acadiana Addiction Center?

My parents and I chose for me to go to A Forever Recovery because they offer the SMART Recovery program there. They do offer other programs but, I was only really interested in the SMART program. It’s one that I hadn’t done before and I was hoping it would help me more than the other programs I’ve done in the past. Doing the SMART program changed the way I looked at addiction and recovery. After using for 10 years and going through different rehabs throughout that time I wasn’t sure I’d ever get the kind of help that would help me to no ever go back to using. The SMART program worked so well for me because they don’t take the view that once you’re an addict, you’re always going to be an addict, whether or not you’re currently using drugs. Addiction and drug use is instead looked at as addictive behavior, which is something you can work towards changing. That distinction made a huge difference for me. In the first part of the SMART program you are made to take a realistic look at your life and the impact drugs have had on it. You look at every aspect of your life and you compare how things were before you used drugs to how they are now. What you’ve accomplished since your drug use started and what you had accomplished prior to it. You look at your work ethic, the relationships you have with other people, how you look at yourself, every. Every single part of your life is something that has a “before drugs” and an “after drugs” aspect to it and you compare it all. It forced me to see what drugs had done to my life and I wasn’t able to lie to myself about the fact that while I wasn’t doing great, I was doing okay. It also gave me the motivation I needed to get the program right so I could stay off drugs and make my life better. During the program I learned how to recognize my triggers. I figured out which ones were riskier than others, which triggers could or needed to be avoided and which ones I wouldn’t be able to avoid and had to deal with. Then I learned how to deal with those triggers. Avoiding triggers can be as simple as changing the channel or driving a new way home. With the triggers that I couldn’t avoid I learned exactly how I should deal with them and then was able to practice that. For that, the SMART program uses role-playing. Which was taken very seriously by the staff at AFR. Role-playing can be uncomfortable and embarrassing which a lot of people, myself included, would use humor to try to dispel that embarrassment. Which the staff taking it so seriously that wasn’t allowed and that was what enabled me to get the practice I needed in dealing with difficult situations I could find myself in. Which has helped me a lot since I’ve gotten home. Before going to AFR I’d used pills for 10 years. In that time I’ve been to a few different rehab programs and I always had a hard time staying clean when I got home. The biggest reason for that is there was no way for me to deal with the cravings I had. I’d try to grit my teeth through them but, eventually the cravings got to be to much and I’d give in and use. During the SMART program you figure out what works best for you as distractions for when you get the urge to use. It’s understood that you’ll continue to have the urge to use throughout your life. I learned that for me what worked best as a distraction when I have the urge to use was to either go running or doing something artistic. It’s different for each person but, each of use learn what works for us. It’s been really good for me since I’ve come home and the cravings that I have are easily ignored now. My life has become much more balanced since I went to AFR and I’ve done a lot of work to maintain that balance as it helps me stay clean. I’m eating healthier, exercising more and generally doing much better. There are times when I need help but, I’m not afraid to ask for that help now. I’m very happy I did the SMART program at AFR. It was exactly what I needed in my life.

My brother started using cocaine almost 10 years ago. For the first 7 years of his addiction he would binge. He’d use only over a weekend or if he was off work for a week or more he’d go on a bender. Because of the way he used though he had somewhat normal life. He had a house, his job was never in jeopardy and his bills were always paid on time. I always believed he needed to go to rehab. Most people though, our parents included, had the opinion that he was just partying sometimes and he’d would settle down eventually. 2 ½ years ago he stopped using only on the weekends and started using every day. I don’t know what changed in his life or got him using every day but, that made it so that he didn’t have that almost normal life anymore. He stopped paying all his bills, was close to losing his house and 6 months after he started using every day he was arrested. This turned out to be a great thing for him. It made it so both him and our parents couldn’t deny that he needed rehab anymore. When he called from jail our parents agreed to bail him out only if he’d go to rehab straight from jail. Which he agreed to. The first rehab he went to wasn’t the best for him. Which was mostly my brother’s fault. He went into rehab thinking that by going to rehab he could go back to using occasionally like he had before. It’s ridiculous that he thought that but, he was a drug addict. After finishing that first rehab he started using again that same day. After that rehab though he realized that he couldn’t do that and that he needed to go through rehab and do it the right way. The rest of the rehabs he went to he did do better at them. Every time he’d get home though he’d start using again after a week, sometimes two. He’d gone to 5 rehabs over a 2 year period and he wasn’t doing any better after all of them. I was really excited about A Forever Recovery after our parents showed me the website and told me a bit of what the counselor told them. We started talking to him about it and he agreed to go to AFR 5 months ago. AFR was good for him because first, he was able to choose his own program out of the multiple programs they have there. The other thing that worked out well for him was that they have staff members there who understand drug addiction and what it’s like. Not because they went to school for it but, because they have their own histories and experiences with addiction. Not everyone working at AFR was a drug addict. Enough though that my brother felt he had people to talk to who understood him and what he was going through. He had an easier talking to them because of those similar experiences. He’s been home from AFR for 3 months and he’s still sober. This is the longest he’s stayed continually sober since he started using almost 10 years ago. I’m so very glad our parents found A Forever Recovery and sent my brother there. A Forever Recovery was an amazing place and did really great things for him.

I’d been using heroin for 9 years when my dad had his heart attack 5 years ago. When I went to visit him after his surgery he begged me to go to rehab. He told me he didn’t want me dying before him and that when he did die he wanted to know that I was sober and would be okay. That’s when I started caring about myself again and wanting to get sober. I also realized that I didn’t have forever to fix things with him and that if I wanted to have a relationship with him again, I needed to get clean. I went to A Forever Recovery and after doing the program there I did okay for 6 months. I didn’t have an easy time staying sober and right at 6 months, I relapsed. I hid it from my dad for a while but eventually he realized I was using again and confronted me about it. We talked and I agreed that I needed to go back to rehab. My dad had found a different rehab for me to go to and I agreed with him about trying something different. After relapsing after that program and 2 more he and I decided that going back to AFR would probably be the best thing for me. Going back to AFR made me nervous. There were 2 years between the first time I went and the second time. I knew going back to AFR was the right thing but I still worried that it would be different there or that the staff would be disappointed in my relapse. It wasn’t like that though. They have staff at AFR who have dealt with addiction themselves and the staff who haven’t been addicts have been around addicts and rehabs for a long time and they understand how hard it can be to get and stay clean. The staff working at AFR made it easy to be there. I got along with all the staff and the other clients so staying there for however long I needed to be there was fine with me. The counselors at AFR are amazing. They will push you to work really hard on your program but when you have free time they do a lot to make sure you have fun there. They were always planning activities and outings for us and I always had a really good time. Having people who understood me so well made going through the program easier. Because of my counselor’s past I knew I could talk to him about anything and everything. I knew that whatever response he had, whatever advice he gave me, it came from experience. He was just repeating something he’d read or heard. He had found what worked for him and he helped me find what would work for me. My counselor helped me a lot with my dad too. He talked to my dad a lot while I was going through the program. He’d keep my dad informed on what I was doing on my program, where in my program I was at and how I was doing with everything. He also helped my dad understand my addiction a lot better than I ever could and he worked with my dad and I to help us start fixing our relationship. I graduated from AFR 18 months ago and I’m still sober. I love it, I love being sober, I love how great my life is now that I’m not using. My relationship with my dad is better than ever and since I’ve come home he’s become the person I go to when I need help. If I have a bad day or something happens that makes it harder to stay sober, I go to my dad and it’s been amazing having that support. I went to treatment 5 years ago because I wanted a relationship with my dad again. I have that now and so much more. I’m really glad my dad can see me sober for this long and know that I’ll stay sober.

My parents bulldozed me into going to A Forever Recovery and it ended up being the greatest thing I could do for myself. I’ve gone to my parents a lot over the years when I needed help and it’s always amazed how willing they are to help me get into treatment. It doesn’t matter to them how many times I’ve gone to rehab and how many times I’ve messed up. If I asked them to help me get to a rehab, they do. I’ve been trying to get sober ever since I started using and so I’ve been to rehab many, many times. Some of those rehabs helped me a bit and some didn’t help me at all. In the beginning I was pretty optimistic about my recovery. As time went on and as I relapsed after more and more rehabs, that optimism waned until it didn’t exist at all anymore. By the time my parents told me about AFR and asked me to go, I had no interest in it. I was at a point in my life where I just wanted to give up. I wasn’t suicidal but I was extremely tired of living the way I was living and I wasn’t that far away from wanting to kill myself. So when my parents told me about AFR and asked me to go I told them no. The way I figured it was, I’d hurt my parents enough. Every time I relapsed after they helped me get into treatment I was hurting them. Every time I could get or keep myself clean I was hurting them and I didn’t want them wasting anymore time or money on something I considered a lost cause. I figured it would be easier on them to be disappointed that I didn’t want to go to treatment than it would be to go to treatment and have it not work again. They kept pestering me about going to AFR though and eventually I gave in. I went with the attitude that I’d show them it wouldn’t work than actually wanting to get help but, the reason I agreed to go didn’t matter. I got to AFR 8 months ago and I loved it there. Being at AFR was a lot easier than I expected. The staff in detox were great and they made my detox easier to get through. Most people who work in drug rehabs do so because they want to help people. The problem I’ve always had is that while those people have good intentions and what they are doing is commendable, they have no experience with drugs themselves and it creates a divide. At least it felt that way to me They have staff at AFR who have been addicted to drugs though so they do have that experience. Having someone I could talk to who’d been through it all before and knew exactly how hard of a time I was having, that’s what helped me through my detox and opened my eyes to the fact that this place might just be able to help me. They have the SMART program at AFR and it’s the first time I’ve done that program. They do offer other programs at AFR but I have done enough 12-step programs to know that they weren’t for me. I did like that about AFR. The fact that each person got to choose the program they did. I wasn’t stuck doing a 12-step program that I knew wouldn’t work. I could do a program that interested me and every person there was able to do a program that interested them. Another thing that helped a lot was that I stayed there for 2 months. I’ve done longer program before and relapsed right after but, the combination of staying there that long, the program I did and the staff there, it made going to AFR the best and most beneficial experience I’ve had when working to get sober. It’s amazing to me how much going to AFR helped. I went 8 months ago, stayed for 2 months and got home 6 months ago. Since coming home I haven’t touched a single substance. The best thing I learned at AFR was how to deal with the cravings I had. It’s easy enough to push those cravings aside when you’re in rehab but, when you’re home it’s a completely different thing and learning how to not give in to those cravings is a big reason why I’ve stayed sober.

Going to A Forever Recovery was the most beneficial experience of my life. I started using opiates when I was 19. It started with pain pills, moved to heroin, I added Xanax and by then, I’d take just about anything I could. My parents convinced me to get help when I was 23. They found a rehab for me and I went. At that rehab I was put on Suboxone to help me through detox and was weaned off Suboxone. At that time Suboxone felt like a miracle drug to me. Taking it allowed me to feel normal again, when I was on Suboxone I wasn’t high and didn’t have the urge to get high. So, when I finished that rehab and relapsed, I went to a doctor and asked to be put on Suboxone. Which I stayed on for the next 4 years. In that time my life improved a lot. By taking Suboxone things in my life were as close to normal as I’d ever had. I was working, had a steady job; I could go out with friends without the worry that I’d end up getting high. I couldn’t and didn’t want to stay on Suboxone forever though, so I decided that it was time for me to get off it. Which was hard, harder than I had anticipated. I thought that because I was coming off Suboxone and a very small dose of Suboxone that it would be easier for me to get through the withdrawals. It wasn’t easier and I ended up taking Percocet to ease the withdrawal symptoms. Percocet has a much shorter half-life than Suboxone has and so my plan was to take the Percocet until the Suboxone was completely out of my system and then stop taking the Percocet. I couldn’t do it, couldn’t get off the Suboxone and by taking the Percocet I ended up right back where I started, addicted to pain pills. I started looking into rehab centers and when I found A Forever Recovery, I talked to my parents and they agreed to help me go there. I was determined to get my life back and I felt that AFR was the best chance I had to do that. The staff helped me a lot. In the beginning of my program it as really hard for me to be there. Most drug addicts are very good at manipulating people and situations to get their way and I was no different. The staff at AFR didn’t allow any of that. Plus, there are staff at AFR that have gone through the program themselves, so they really knew when I was trying to manipulate them because they’d have done the same thing. I needed that, needed people who didn’t allow me to get away with anything. My parents knew I was on Suboxone, they knew that it wasn’t good for me to be on it for that long but, I’d convinced them that rehab wouldn’t work and that it was either me staying on Suboxone or going back to heroin. So, they paid for my Suboxone and doctor appointments. Hell, when I was trying to get off Suboxone by myself, the Percocet that I took came from my parents. They knew that it was wrong but, it goes to show you just how manipulative a drug addict can be. The approach that AFR takes with rehab made a big difference for me. The different program they have meant that I was doing a program that worked for me. The counselors at AFR helped me find the program that fit for me and that was the SMART program. I’ve changed a lot since going to AFR. I went in November of 2018 and I stayed for just over 10 weeks. I got home in January and I’ve stayed sober. Being at rehab during the holidays isn’t something I wanted to do but, the staff at AFR made it as nice as they could, and it was worth it. Yesterday was the first Christmas I’ve spent with my parents, completely sober since I was 19. I can’t thank the staff at AFR enough for what they’ve helped me do. I have over 12 months sober and it’s because of the hard work that the staff made sure I did. Going to AFR wasn’t easy, it was worth it though and I’m so glad I went there.

I don’t know where my daughter would be or what she’d be doing right now if she hadn’t gone to A Forever Recovery for treatment. It wouldn’t be anywhere or anything good though. When my husband and I first talked with an intake counselor from AFR our daughter wasn’t willing to get help and at that time we weren’t sure, when, if ever, she would agree to get help. The intake counselor was great though. He was willing to talk to my husband and I whenever we called, and he was instrumental in helping us get our daughter to agree to get treatment for her addiction. He helped us understand why our daughter refused to even talk to us about getting help, he helped us understand why she wouldn’t want to get help, he coached us on the best way to speak with our daughter when we brought up treatment so that the discussion stayed on track and so we didn’t put our daughter on the defensive. He called us weekly for 6 months, asking after us and asking after our daughter. He gave us some really great advice and he helped her dad and I cope with our daughter being a drug addict. He also helped us set everything up so that as soon as we did have our daughter’s agreement, she was on a plane and heading to AFR before she had the chance to change her mind and back out. The best decision we’ve ever made was sending our daughter to AFR because it was the perfect place for her. When she got to AFR, it didn’t take long for us to notice the changes in her. For starters, I hadn’t had a single phone call with her in over 5 years that didn’t end with her asking for money and us getting into a fight because I wouldn’t give her any. When she finished detox and called home, I was able to talk to her without her asking for money or having any kind of disagreement at all. It was such a nice change. Then, her dad and I went to visit her after she’d been at AFR for 3 weeks and the physical changes that she’d gone through were amazing. The drugs she’d been using and the diet she’d kept because of her addiction had caused her to lose a lot of weight and when she first got to AFR she was really underweight. She had started gaining back that weight and she looked so much better because of it. Her skin was also starting to clear up and she was much happier. As a parent, you worry about your kids constantly. Having one of your kids start to use drugs is horrible. Watching as that kid becomes completely dependent on a drug like heroin, when there’s nothing that they’ll let you do to help, and knowing that while it might not be that simple, they are more or less choosing to continue using drugs, knowing that they are hurting themselves and you know that until they make the decision to get help, there’s not much that you can do. Having that kid finally get the help they’ve been needing and watching them come back to themselves and start acting like the person you love again, it’s amazing. Because my daughter went to A Forever Recover, because of the help my husband and I received before our daughter had even agreed to go there, she’s now off everything, she’s completely sober and has been for 5 months now. Since my daughter’s come home, she’s been great about doing her aftercare program. She speaks with the aftercare counselor pretty regularly, though it’s tapered off some the longer she’s been home. She understands that just because she went to treatment and is sober now, that doesn’t mean that her dad and I instantly started trusting her again and she’s working hard to earn our trust back. 2 months ago, she started a new job. Her dad and I knew that she needed to be doing something during the day, that she needed to be productive but, we were really worried about what having her own money would do. She knew that it was something we worried about and because of that, she worked out a system with her dad where he’s in charge of most of her money, she brings home receipts for every bit of money she spends. It’s done a lot to ease our minds and the consideration she’s shown by doing this for her dad and I shows just how far she’s come since going to AFR.

The first time I saw something about A Forever Recovery was maybe 7 years ago. I was looking into rehabs for my son and when I first came across AFR it had seemed like a nice place that would be good for him. Before calling them, I started reading some of the reviews and posts about AFR and I changed my mind about sending him there. There were too many posts and reviews saying that AFR was nothing more than a recruitment center for a cult and I was not okay with sending my son to a place like that. My son spent the next 6 years in and out of rehabs and every time he relapsed, I’d start looking for a new place for him and I’d come across the ads for A Forever Recovery and after 6 years of my son making absolutely no improvement, I started to wonder if it would be easier to send him there to get clean and then get him out of a cult. Obviously, that’s not a normal thought to have but, I was at the end of my rope. That thought did give me the idea to call and just talk to them. I wanted to hear what they said about all those reviews and I found out that AFR isn’t affiliated with that cult anymore. Which made the decision to send my son there very easy. I really loved the way AFR is set-up and the more I heard about it, the more excited I was to have my son going there. AFR doesn’t have a one size fits all mentality with treatment, each client is able to choose their own path and I thought that, more than anything, would be what helped my son the most. Before calling AFR and talking to someone there, it had never occurred to me that my son wasn’t the only problem. That the programs he’d been doing weren’t right for him. Whenever my son relapsed, I blamed him. I thought he didn’t care enough or that he wasn’t trying hard enough but, I’d always sent him to 12-step programs. They’ve been around forever, and the 12-step program is the only program that I know anything about. So, my son had only gone to 12-step programs and when I sent him to AFR I learned that was also part of the program. My son chose a program that he felt comfortable doing and when he chose the SMART program his attitude about his recovery changed. He put more effort into doing that program because he’d finally found something that made sense to him. The clients at AFR are also moved forward on their programs based on individual progress. As I’ve said, they don’t have a one size fits all mentality at AFR, so the clients choose their program but, they also stay at AFR for however long it takes them to get it right. When my son first started at AFR, he did so like he’d started every rehab program before, Which was a bit annoyed that he had to go back to rehab to appease me, planning to just ride out the program without putting much effort into. After going through detox, seeing the different program that they have and spending time figuring out what he wanted to do, his whole attitude changed about being there. It stopped being something he had to do and became something that he wanted to do. He stayed at AFR for 18 weeks because he wanted to stay for that long. He knew that being at AFR was helping him and he felt that the program he was doing was something that would really help him stay sober, so he put everything into doing the program right. Going to A Forever Recovery gave my son a much better chance to stay sober and I’m so glad that I finally called them and gave AFR a chance. My son got home last week, and I’ve never seen this kind of determination from him to stay sober. I’ve never seen him do everything that he’s supposed to do without complaint. Sending my son to AFR didn’t just improve his own life but, also improved the lives of our family. I’m grateful for everything AFR did for my son while he was there and everything they’ve continued to do for him since he’s been home.