2 years ago, my husband had back surgery and wasn’t able to get off the medication prescribed by his doctor. When I found BRS it seemed the perfect place. It was set up with older executives in mind and that is exactly what my husband is. He was able to get his own room which was pretty big issue for him. He didn’t want to share a room and he definitely didn’t want to be around a group of people he would consider kids with no real-life experiences beyond drug use. Another plus about BRS is that it doesn’t look or feel like a rehab at all. The building is an old lodge and the property it’s on is extremely beautiful and peaceful. Its location is extremely secluded and it makes the facility that much more desirable. My husband was treated with nothing but complete respect while he was there. The staff at BRS understand how easy it can be to get on prescription pain medication and how hard it can be to get off them regardless of how much you want to be off them. I’m a pretty nervous person in general and when my husband went to BRS I was in a state. I called all the time asking questions, checking on my husband’s progress, checking on his mental state and everything else you could imagine. The staff there were exceedingly patient with me. They answered all my questions and never brushed me off or treated my questions as an annoyance. They took the time to explain everything that my husband was going through until I could actually understand what it was like for him. My husband and I were able to talk more openly about what he was dealing with because I had a much better understanding of it. There is nothing generic about the program at BRS. My husband’s program was tailored to suit him and his needs and it undoubtedly helped more than any other program would have. In addition to getting my husband off the prescriptions he was on he was also about to take time out of his life just for himself. He needed that time for more than just getting off the medication. He’s been home for six months and it’s been years since I’ve seen him this happy and healthy.

When my siblings and I realized that our dad was struggling with alcoholism we started looking at treatment centers. We ended up choosing Behavioral Rehab Services. It really seemed like the best fit for our dad. In all the pictures we saw the place looked more like a mountain resort than a rehab and that held true for when I actually saw it in person. It's beautiful there. The place has this peaceful, serene atmosphere to it. The lodge is set up to be comfortable and I've never seen my dad look as relaxed as he did when I visited him there. My dad is extremely particular about certain things. He's older and didn't want to have to share a room with someone and he also wanted food that he was able to enjoy. Basically he was willing to go to rehab as long as it didn't feel like he was at a rehab. BRS gave him exactly that. I had dinner there with him when I visited and the food is pretty amazing. The chef came out and asked my dad how his meal was and my father actually complemented him. Which, for my dad to do is kind of amazing. I know at one point my dad wanted to leave. He had been there for 2 and half weeks and had convinced himself that he was better and that he didn't need the whole program. The counselors there weren't just able to convince him to stay. They were able to get him to see that he needed the rest of what his program had to offer and that he really needed to stay and finish. He did end up staying and finishing the entire program. When he came home I was so worried. I was fearful that he would relapse and I know my siblings were just as worried. My dad though has shown us time and again since he’s been home that he’s okay. He hasn’t had a drink since he’s been home and last week I watched him playing around and laughing with his grandchildren again. Something I wasn’t sure was ever going to happen before he went to BRS.

My sister has been at Behavioral Rehabilitation Services for 3 months now dealing with her alcoholism. It started 2 years ago, she lost her job and was having a hard time finding a new one. She started drinking more and more. 6 months before going to BRS it got really bad. She stopped even pretending that she was still looking for work, started drink earlier and earlier in the day and the amount she was drinking just continued to increase. Her drinking became an addiction that she couldn’t handle and didn’t she have much desire to do anything about it. 3 months ago, her husband told her that he’d divorce her if she didn’t go to rehab. They were high school sweethearts, have been married for over 20 years and they have 3 kids. Finally, the reality of what she was doing to herself and to her family started to sink in. She didn’t want to lose her husband and she knew that if they did get divorced it was very likely that she’d lose her kids. Thankfully, she decided to go to rehab and just as thankfully her husband found BRS to send her to. So far, it’s been a great place for her to be and she really enjoys it there. She likes the other clients there and absolutely loves the staff. She hasn’t had any problems staying there for as long as she needs to in order to get her program done right. Each client at BRS does their program at their own speed at it really can take as long as you want it to. There’s been clients who have stayed there for over a year because being there was still helping them and they liked it there so much. That’s not the normal amount of time most people spend there but just knowing that if my sister needed to be there for a year, she could, it makes me like the facility that much more. I went to BRS a couple weeks ago to visit her and I was really impressed with the facility. I can completely understand why someone would stay there for a year and why she’s had no problem being there for 3 months and will continue to stay for as long as she needs to. It doesn’t feel like a rehab there, it’s not institutional in any way. I had seen pictures of BRS on their website and I knew it was a nice place but I still though it would be run like an institution. It’s not and it’s nothing like what I expected. Everyone there, both the clients and the staff are happy being there. My sister’s in her 40’s which is the average age of the clients at BRS. There are no 18-year-old kids running around. Having everyone there being around her age has made it much easier for my sister to be there. She’d have hated having to do her program with a bunch of kids that are barely older than her own children. BRS is a comfortable place to be and they have a lot of additions that make it an even more enjoyable and relaxing place. There’s this meditation circle they have there that she loves. She’s never been someone who’s meditated before but she really likes going to this meditation circle. She started doing yoga, they bring in a masseuse for the clients and she can go get her nails done if she wants. There’s more there but, those are the things that she likes the best. They have weekly bonfires and every week they take the clients out to do something fun. Last weekend they went to an alpaca farm, which she was really excited about. The farm was having an alpaca palooza event and my sister spent the whole day doing all things alpaca. She’s never done anything like that before and she had a lot of fun there. It’s not just the fun things they do and the extras they have at BRS. My sister is doing a program that’s been tailored to her and her needs. She’s gotten a lot out of it and will continue to do so until she’s ready to come home. They’ve made it easy for my sister to stay as long as she needs to she that she doesn’t ever have to go back to rehab. BRS is the only rehab my sister’s ever been to but I’m really glad it’s the one her husband found, I think it’s the best one she could’ve gone to.

Doing the SMART Recovery program at Behavioral Rehabilitation Services changed everything for me. It was actually the perfect place for met to go. The whole atmosphere of the facility is amazing. Inside the building is very comfortable and it’s it such a pretty, secluded area. It’s relaxing and comfortable being there and so going through my program at BRS wasn’t a hardship for me at all. The SMART Recovery program is one that you could do yourself at home. Doing it at BRS for me though, was extremely helpful. I wouldn’t have gotten very far in the program without the help and guidance I received from the staff at BRS. Before going to BRS I didn’t think it was possible to get this kind of help. I didn’t think there was a program out there that could truly help me. I’ve been to rehab in the past and after each one I did manage to stay clean for a time. It wasn’t a true recovery though. Each time I was home after a rehab was a struggle. I would have these urges to use and they seemed to get stronger and stronger every day. I know that they were truly getting stronger, that in my mind I made them out to be bigger than they were. At the time though it felt that way and I didn’t have a way to cope with them so it didn’t much matter how strong the urge truly was. Before going to BRS I thought it was always going to be that way. That every time I was clean would be a struggle and I didn’t see how I could handle that for the rest of my life. . When I first started my program at BRS I had to sit down and figure some stuff out. Mostly what my life truly was like when I was using. What using was costing me on a personal and professional level. Then, what my life was like when I wasn’t using and how I wanted to live my life. After that, I had definitive goals to work towards. Getting and staying sober, while it was still difficult, wasn’t this completely unachievable thing to me anymore. I worked to identify my triggers and figure out which of those triggers were riskier than others. Just figuring that out helped me. I figured out what worked best for me when it came to my different triggers and the best way for me to deal with each one. Whether by avoidance, distraction and later dealing with the situation. Avoidance and distraction won’t work forever, in the beginning it’s what helped me the most but, since it won’t work forever I started working on how to handle myself in those situations that I couldn’t avoid. To that end, the role-playing part of the program really helped me. I learned how to really deal with the triggers and urges I had instead of just hoping they went away. I changed the way I thought and the way I acted or reacted to different situations in my life. I worked hard to make my life more balanced and it’s helped a lot since coming home. Keeping with the good habits and routines I started at BRS has helped me stay clean. I do still have the urge to use sometimes and sometimes those urges are pretty strong. But, by using the techniques I learned at BRS I am able to get through them without giving in. I’m doing well today because I went to BRS and did my program there.

I received so much help and support at Behavioral Rehabilitation Services and that’s something that I will always appreciate. BRS was the best rehab I’ve been to. The quality of care and service they provide, along with the program I did, the activities and amenities there and the staff working there, that’s what make it the best rehab. I like the way they approached addiction and recovery there. It was all about putting in the effort and getting the most out of it. After 5 years of addictions, rehabs and relapses I was more than willing to put in that effort. It doesn’t matter how long that takes at BRS, you’re there until you get it right. I was at BRS for 4 months and I worked harder there than at any of the rehabs I’ve been to before. The staff made sure of it. Which is something I needed. I needed someone to push me, to make sure I didn’t get lazy on my program. For me, it was all too easy to get lazy during rehab. I wouldn’t feel like doing much that day or I was missing home and so tried to breeze through something without giving it the attention it needed or deserved. The staff at BRS kept me on track and dedicated to my recovery through my whole program. It wasn’t that they told me how to handle something or what I should do, they were there, supportive of me but making sure I figured things out for myself. How I handled myself in certain situations, how I dealt with things, that was up to me to figure out and that worked really well for me. One thing I really liked about BRS was the sense of community there. Sure, the staff were there if I needed them and supportive but so were the other clients. We were all very supportive of each other and that made the whole process of going through rehab a much more enjoyable experience. The staff set up a lot of group activities which were always fun and brought us closer together. Things like having a cookout or going to an alpaca farms. Doing stuff like that with the other clients was something I really liked. No other rehab I’ve been to was like that and it was such a welcome difference. Going through my program at BRS was hard for me. It was a lot of work but the staff helped me through all of it. I wanted my life back and that’s exactly what I got from going to BRS. They helped me so much while I was there and since I’ve been home they’ve continued to help me. They’ve stayed on me, making sure I wasn’t getting lazy or complacent about my recovery. That I did the things I should be doing and staying away from the things I needed to. I’ve called whenever I need to and they help me nip whatever problem I have in the bud before it becomes something that could lead to a relapse. I’ve been dealing with my addiction problems for 5 years and I consider myself extremely lucky because my husband has stuck by through it all. That years of dealing with the problems and upsets addiction causes. Years of finding and sending me to rehab only to watch me relapse. Finally though, I’m clean, sober and honestly doing well. I’m happy. My marriage is much better as is every other part of my life. It’s because I went to BRS. I’d recommend this rehab for anyone and everyone looking to get help.

Behavioral Rehabilitaiton Services is a great treatment center. Going to BRS worked for my brother and I didn’t think he’d ever get sober. Before going to BRS my brother used crack cocaine for 10 years and in that time he’s been to a lot of different treatment centers. None of them were able to help him. The treatment he received at Behavioral Rehabilitation Services did help him though. A lot. There’s some big differences between BRS and the other centers he’s been to. At BRS they don’t take a one size fits all approach to treating addiction. They understand that each person is different and has different needs and they don’t have just one program there. They have different programs available and they worked with my brother to find the right one for him. He’s done a lot of 12-step programs and the last thing he needed was to do another one. They figured out which program was right for him and they helped him when no one else had been able to. He’s sober now because of that. He was also at BRS for 4 months. Most of the places he’s gone to have been 28 or 30 day programs. Which for my brother wasn’t enough time. From what I understand it doesn’t take that long to detox off crack. Detoxing though and feeling like a human being with rational thought is completely different and it would take my brother 2 or 3 weeks before he felt human and in a 4 week program that doesn’t leave that much time to be able to help him. It was great for my brother to be at BRS for 4 months. He was able to take all the time he needed and really do his program right. The way BRS works is that you’re there as long as you need. It doesn’t matter if that 30 days or over a year. The BRS center is also really nice. It’s beautiful there and they have some great amenities that make it easy to stay for as long as you need. The last thing that made such a difference with my brother and really the most important thing is the staff. They’re amazing. They’re very dedicated to helping people and always went out of their way to make sure my brother was doing okay and had everything he needed. Whether it had to do with his program or not. He did great there but I wasn’t convinced it would last, it wouldn’t have been the first time he’d come home from rehab, praising the center and relapse right away. I love my brother so much but I had basically written him off. With our family dealing with his addiction for the last 10 years I know I wasn’t the only one in our family who had. It was different this time though. He came home, continues to do good. He’s got a stable job. He’s still sober and he’s catching up with our family. It’s been 10 years and he missed a lot. He finally got to meet all his nieces and nephews. Which was a really big deal for all of us.

My sister’s had a problem with using drugs since she was a teenager. Except for the last 3 years I wouldn’t have ever called her a drug addict though. She would use periodically or she’d have stretches where she would use somewhat regularly but, she’d also have stretches where she didn’t use at all. She’d stop by herself and not use anything for 3 or 6 months. Until recently I didn’t consider her a drug addict. She did have a problem with drugs though and 3 years before going to BRS it did get to where I thought of her as an addict. She had a habit, was using daily and didn’t have any stretches where she would stop using. She had never used for more than 6 months before without stopping and this time she went 3 years. In the last 6 months before BRS she was arrested twice for possession. Which is something else that had never happened before. The second time she was arrested our parents got her agreement to go to rehab before they would bail her out of jail and she went to Behavioral Rehabilitation Services. BRS is the first rehab she’s been to and when our parents were deciding on where to send her they chose it for numerous reasons. They wanted her to be comfortable. They knew that she would work harder on herself and her program is she was and BRS was perfect for that. The place has the feel of a ski lodge, not a rehab. Another reason they chose BRS was the different programs there. Even though my sister had never been to rehab our parents have done tons of research on addiction and rehabs. There’s a lot of different programs out there and even with all that research they couldn’t know what program would work for her. With the different programs at BRS they didn’t have to try to figure it out. They could just get her there and let the professionals figure that out themselves. BRS also takes an holistic approach to treating addiction. They didn’t want to send her to a rehab that would put her on drugs to get her off drugs. At BRS they got her off everything and kept her that way. She took 6 months to do her program there which is the last main reason our parents chose it. They don’t have a time based program there. The people who go to BRS stay there for however long they need to. In the 6 months she was there she flourished. She became happier, much less jaded and easier to get along with. She became much more like the person she was when she was younger, before all the drug use started. She’s been home for 3 months now and she’s doing great. She’s a much better person since going to BRS. We have had stretches where she’s been clean this long before, it’s different this time though and I know that this stretch will last forever as long as she keeps doing what she’s been doing. It’s amazing what BRS did for her and I’m so happy she went there.

Last year I was in an accident and my doctor gave me a prescription for pain medication. Now, I’m a total wuss at heart. I don’t handle pain well at all so I stayed on the meds for much longer than I should have or would have if I had a normal pain tolerance. When I got to the point where my pain was manageable for me and I could have gotten off the meds, I wasn’t able to because I couldn’t deal with the withdrawal symptoms. I ended up lying to my doctor so he’d continue to refill my prescription. 6 months ago, I went to my husband because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get off them myself and I knew it would only get worse if I stayed on them. I didn’t think I needed a full rehab and I might not have but, we decided that I’d do one because it’s better to do a full rehab without needing it than to do a short detox and it not be enough. My husband chose Behavioral Rehab Services for me and I really liked it there. He found a place where I’d be comfortable but, also a place where I’d really have to do the work. I was surprised by how much I liked it there. Well, liked it once I got through detox. I hated detox. I couldn’t have been more miserable going through it. Though, as I’ve said before I am a total wuss. The detox staff were attentive and willing to help me with whatever I needed. They also handled my tantrums. Every day when I was in detox I tried to leave, cried and was ridiculously dramatic about it all and they dealt with it and with me and got me through it. Things got better for me once I was through with detox. I am glad I did the whole program at BRS. Just staying there for longer than the 2 weeks of detox helped me. It was almost 4 weeks of being there before I started like my normal self again. The facility was great and the staff working there were as well. The staff did a lot to ensure that we were all happy. They set up activities for us to do. Both inside and outside the facility. Plus, every weekend we’d get to go out and do our own shopping. Which doesn’t really sound like such a big deal but, after I’d been there for 3 weeks, picking out my own snacks became a bigger deal than you would think. Plus, I was able to have my electronics. It wasn’t all the time but, I was able to get my laptop and go online to order something if I needed it. At the end of it all, I’m really glad my husband and I decided I’d go to BRS and that I’d do the whole program there. Going to BRS helped me with a lot more than just getting me off the pain meds. Since going to BRS I’m communicating better with my husband. I’ve been more open and honest with him which has strengthened our marriage. My control over my emotions are better. I’m better at handling my problems as the come up instead of pushing them aside. I’m extremely happy with the results I got from going to BRS.

My sister went to Behavioral Rehabilitation Services and this rehab is great. There’s quite a bit about BRS that made it such a good fit for my sister. It’s a really pretty place and the buildings feel more like a lodge than they do a rehab. They certainly don’t have that institutional feel that most rehabs she’s been to have. BRS seemed to be designed with the client’s comfort and security in mind. One thing that I appreciated about BRS was that I could take my son to visit his aunt there. The place is so nice, that it didn’t feel weird or wrong to bring him with me to visit her. I have never taken him with me to visit before and it was nice to be able to do that at BRS. They also had tons of stuff to do there when we went up there. They have an air hockey table, a pool table, a theater room and a ton of open space around the facility where he could run around with his aunt. He’s rarely spent time with her. She’s been on drugs for most of his life so being able to let him get to know his aunt in a nice, safe environment was great. Before I went to visit my sister the first time at BRS I had heard a bit about it from my parents. They were really excited about sending her there and when I went to see the place myself I understood why. There’s a lot about BRS that just worked for my sister. There are two main reasons why BRS was so great for her and that’s the fact that they have multiple programs available there and that the clients can take their time doing them. The programs she’s been to in the past have all been rehabs that only had one program available and usually they were 30 day programs. There’s no way of knowing if the one program that a rehab offers will work for the addict. You have to hope that it helps. Going to BRS, she got to choose the program she’d be doing and that helped her a lot. She was excited to do the program, happy to try something different and her attitude about being in rehab and doing a program was a lot better. She meant that she was happier at BRS and much more inclined to do the work she needed to do in order to get and keep herself sober. With the way they have BRS set up each person takes as much time as they need. A client could be there for a month or a year. It all depends on the person and the program they’re doing. My sister spent 9 months working through her program at BRS and that is a major reason she’s still sober today. My sister spent so many years using drugs, unable or unwilling to get sober that she didn’t really know how to live when she wasn’t using. Spending that long at BRS gave her the time she needed to learn how to live as a sober person. The whole family went up to BRS when my sister had her graduation ceremony and I was really impressed when I saw that each person graduating had this quiet confidence about them. Every one of them spoke with a knowledge of what they needed to do and the desire to stay sober. They knew it wouldn’t be easy but, they were willing to do the work because they were determined to stay sober. My sister got home from BRS 3 months ago. The time she spent at BRS has made things, mainly staying sober but, other things too, much easier for her. She’s not struggling so much anymore. She’s living her life, still working to get everything in her life sorted out but, she’s actually living her life again. I know her going to BRS and not another rehab has a lot to do with why she’s sober today and I’m very happy she went there.

When my sister became addicted to opiates she needed help and went to Behavioral Rehabilitation Services. Which was a wonderful place for her. There’s been so much talk about the opioid crisis but I didn’t realize how bad it actually was until I found out that my sister, who happens to be the most competent, put together person I know, had become addicted to Vicodin. Her story is scarily similar to so many others that you hear. She had never had a problem with drugs in her life until she broke her wrist. She needed surgery and afterwards her doctor prescribed Vicodin. That was all it took her to become addicted. Within a week after the surgery she was using more than the recommended dosage and within a moth she was using it because she had to use it to feel normal. When she came to our mom and I to ask for help she did so because her girlfriend had left her. They’d been together for 7 years so it was a big deal that left my sister heartbroken. When she told us that her girlfriend had left because of her addiction it shocked me. I understand that it’s not that uncommon anymore to hear of someone who becomes addicted to pain meds after a doctor prescribes it for a legitimate reason. I didn’t think it’d happen to someone like my sister though. Our mom, my sister and I started looking into rehabs that she could go to and we realized very quickly that we were in way over our heads. There are so many rehabs and programs and it was really confusing and overwhelming to us. We didn’t know what would work for her so our mom called a referral service for help and that’s how we found out about BRS. Her going to BRS was the best solution for us. It’s a state away from us so it was close enough to visit but far enough away from home that it would be a bit harder to leave if she’d wanted to. There are different programs there so none of us had to figure out what the best program would be for her. She was also able to take as much time as she needed there. The clients are moved through the program at BRS based on their progress and not moved along to follow some timetable. The hardest thing for my sister was her detox. Which is totally understandable. I watched a few videos of people detoxing off opiates because I wanted to have some idea of what my sister was dealing with and I was horrified at how awful detoxing off opiates was. They use Suboxone for their detoxes at BRS so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. It wasn’t easy for her though and the staff in detox at BRS did what they had to do to get my sister through her detox. She started enjoying BRS once she was through detox. The staff and the other clients were people that she got along with fairly well. Most of the other clients were people her own age or a bit older. They had families, careers and lives that they needed to get back to which helped my sister feel more comfortable there. She was at BRS for 6 months and being there for that amount of time gave her the time and space she needed to get off opiates and feel like her normal self again. She started talking to and working things out with her girlfriend and they decided to give their relationship another try when she got home from BRS. Going to BRS gave her the second chance she needed in a lot of different areas of her life which she has absolutely made the most of. I know it hasn’t been super easy for her since coming home. It’d be super easy to get a new prescription if she wanted to. The fact that she hasn’t, that she’s working so hard to stay clean and fix everything that got messed up when she was abusing her prescription is something I’m super proud of her for.

2 months ago, my mom checked herself in at Behavioral Rehabilitation Services and what they’ve been able to accomplish in regards to her treatment is amazing. My mom’s had a drinking problem for a really long time now. All my life, she’s been a petty heavy drinker but while my brothers’ and I were still growing up and living with her it was different. She didn’t drink as often or as much and it wasn’t as noticeable that she had a problem. It was only when the three of us had all moved out that her drinking got as bad as it did. It was like, once we were out of the house and not reliant on her she stopped trying to keep any sort of handle on her drinking. It’s only been in the past few years that she’s recognized that she had a problem and started wanting to get sober. Which has been so much harder than any of us thought it would be. Over the years my mom has checked herself into a number of detoxes and rehabs. BRS is the only treatment center she’s been to where she actually made it through detox. It was really hard for her. She wanted to get sober so she’d check herself into a rehab or a detox but within a day or two she would have a sort of panic attack about it all and she’d decide she couldn’t do it so would start the process to check herself out. Because our mom was checking herself in and paying for it herself there wasn’t a whole lot my brothers’ or I could do to get her to stay. We’d beg her to stay but she always checked herself out. Then, it would be months before she would even think about getting sober and trying again. My older brother found BRS after the last time our mom checked herself out of rehab and all 3 of her children spent months trying to convince her to go. 2 months ago, she finally decided to give BRS a chance and checked herself in. BRS was the first rehab my mom’s been to that we knew about before she checked herself in and all of us had talked to the intake counselor so they knew about and were a bit more prepared to handle our mom wanting to leave after a day or two. Even with knowing that she’d want to leave, I still don’t know what they said or did to convince her to stay but whatever it was, it worked and she stuck it out and got through detox. She’s still at BRS and she’s been sober for 2 months now. Her being sober for this long is something that has never happened in my life. My mom’s planning to stay at BRS for a long time. The programs they have there are based on progress, not time. So, my mom can stay for however long she needs or wants to. Now that she’s sober she’s told all of us kids that she doesn’t ever want to go through detox again and the best way to ensure that is to stay at BRS until she’s positive that she’ll never pick up a drink again. It wasn’t only in detox that my mom wanted to give up. There have been quite a few times since she got to BRS that she wanted to quit. The staff at BRS have been awesome with how they handle her and whatever problem she’s having. Now that she’s been there for 2 months it doesn’t really happen anymore but, in the beginning of her stay, her wanting to leave was a pretty regular occurrence. Her emotions are more level now and she’s become more involved in her kid’s and grandkid’s lives. Growing up she was always a pretty awesome mom. Always loving and supportive. It hurt all of us so much when her drinking got so bad that she stopped being that person. It hurt my older brother the most because he has kids of his own now and he knows just what his kids are missing in their grandma because of her drinking. She’s really doing great now and I’m pretty excited to see how much more she improves while she’s at BRS. I know that she won’t leave there until she’s ready so I know that once she does come home, she’ll do great.

My daughter was in a car accident 2 years ago. During it, she broke her leg in two places and it required surgery. My daughter hadn’t ever had any kind of substance abuse problems before that point. After that accident, she was prescribed pain medication and became addicted. I wasn’t aware of this until 7 months ago, when she came to me asking for help. She’d been trying to deal with it herself before then but wasn’t having any success. I started doing research because I had no idea what kind of treatment she would need. She and I talked about it and we decided that she’d go to a 2 week detox but that if the detox didn’t work for her, she go to a long term inpatient treatment center. I had found a detox center close to us and helped her get checked in there. Even though I made her agree to do an inpatient program if the detox didn’t work, I actually thought the detox would be all she needed. With my understanding of her addiction at the time I thought that because she didn’t want to use, once she was detoxed and off the pain medication, she just wouldn’t use. The detox didn’t work at all. Not one bit, in fact it actually made things worse. When she relapsed after the detox she started using even more than she’d used before going there. When her and I talked about her addiction she told me that she didn’t want to use, had absolutely no desire to have that in her life but that her cravings were so bad, it felt like using was almost a necessity for her sanity. Then, when she started using again, she stopped caring about putting a limit on herself. I didn’t really understand that at the time, I understand it a bit better now but, I think it’s something you have to experience to fully grasp. I started looking into inpatient rehab centers for her and I went back and forth about sending her to Behavioral Rehabilitation Services. It’s a few states away from us and I wasn’t sure if sending her that far would be good for her or not. There were a few things that sold me on BRS. First, I wanted my daughter to be comfortable while she was going through rehab and I felt that BRS would be good for that. Then, what really sold me on BRS was talking to the intake counselor. I understand it’s his job to sell the program but, he actually helped me a lot. He explained my daughter’s addiction and what she’d need for her recovery and he explained things well enough that I finally felt like I had a good grasp of what was happening and what needed to happen for her. He also spoke with my daughter and his talking to her really helped her. She’s been really upset about this whole thing. She became addicted to someone because a doctor that she trusted gave her a prescription, she took it as instructed, then couldn’t get off them. The intake counselor got her to understand that it was a pretty common way for someone to get addicted to pain medication and made her feel better about the fact that needed treatment for it. 5 months ago, my daughter went to BRS and she came home just last weekend. I wasn’t able to get out there to visit her while she was at BRS. It’s not against their rules or anything, I just couldn’t make it out there. So, I didn’t see the progress she was making while there. When I did finally see the changes in her I was floored. Prior to her addiction she always took really good care of herself. She worked out, ate well and didn’t drink very often. When she got in the accident she wasn’t able to work out and by the time she could again she was addicted to the pain medication and didn’t want to. She started working out again while she was at BRS and eating well again. Physically, she looked so much better. She was also happier. She’d become pretty depressed before going there so it was nice to see her back to her bubbly self again. Going to BRS changed her a lot, all of it for the better and those changes are because of the place she went. I’m very happy with my choice to send her to BRS.

My sister and I sent our mom to Behavioral Rehabilitation Services and she’s doing great there. It took my sister and I a long time to realize that our mom had a drinking problem. It probably took us too long to realize it, but she never had a problem when we were growing up and now that we’re both adults with families of our own, we weren’t around as much as we didn’t pay attention to how much she was drinking all the time. I never would have that she was spending all day, everyday drinking. We started looking more closely at how much she was drinking 3 years ago because she got a DUI. Which was a surprise for us. Our mom’s in her 60’s and before that DUI she hadn’t been in an accident and hadn’t gotten a ticket in over 20 years. We were worried about her, but it didn’t even occur to us that she’d become an alcoholic. My sister and I both thought it was a one-off thing. That she didn’t realize how much she’d had to drink before getting behind the wheel. Though, we did start watching her a bit more closely after that DUI. Both of us were thinking more along the lines of Alzheimer’s instead of alcoholism when we started paying such close attention to our mom. When our mom realized we were watching her that closely she started hiding how much she was drinking. When we started finding bottles hidden around her house, that’s when we knew exactly what was going on, that she had a real problem and needed some real help. Finding a treatment center for our mom has been a challenge. I’ve known that a lot of younger people become addicted to drugs and need treatment. It wasn’t until I started looking for places for my mom that I realized how filled with rehabs are with those younger people. It didn’t matter how nice a rehab was, we were having a lot of trouble finding a place for our mom because it made her uncomfortable to be in a place filled with people that she basically considered children. My mom is an alcoholic in her 60’s and she was getting put in a room with a heroin addict in her 20’s. She absolutely hated it and wouldn’t stay very long at a rehab because of it. She usually left after a couple days, and I know that some of it was due to wanting a drink, but a lot of it was also because of how uncomfortable she felt. BRS was great for our mom because the have an age restriction. I’m not completely positive of the age, but I believe you have to be at least 25 to be admitted there. Which is still pretty young, but there’s a big difference between 18 and 25. Plus, from what I understand having someone as young as 25 at BRS was a rarity. Most of their patients are older and that really helped my mom start to feel comfortable there. We were also able to get our mom a private room. It’s more expensive but was the right thing for our mom. It’s been 40 years since she shared a room with anyone besides her husband and since he died 5 years ago, she hasn’t needed to share a room with anybody. For her, having her own space was necessary. The staff at BRS have been really great with my mom. They’ve helped her a lot in coming to terms with the fact that she really did have a drinking problem, that she absolutely needed help and that staying at BRS for a while was the best thing for her. When she first got to BRS there were some hiccups with her wanting to leave. The staff were great about handling that and they convinced her to stay. Now, she’s happy there and has no intention of coming home until she’s convinced that she’s ready. It took my sister and I a long to find a place that worked for our mom. I’m happy that we found BRS because it’s been exactly what she needed. She’s still at BRS and has no plans to come home anytime soon. She’s planning to stay for a while longer until she knows that she won’t go back to drinking. Since she’s still there I can’t say what life will be like for her when she gets home. I’m not worried about it though, she’s strong and determined so I know she’ll do great and I know that in the future she’ll ask for help before she picks up a bottle.

Going to BRS gave me the time and space that I needed to figure out my life. Going through the program here let me see patterns with myself and my behavior that I had never noticed before. I was able to evaluate life while gaining the tools that I needed to live a better, sober life. At BRS there isn’t one standard form of treatment and that was important for me. I was able to decide what I wanted to do, which tracks interested me and because of that I was more engaged with my program and my recovery. The program I did was geared towards me, my needs as a person, figuring out what the underlying reasons for why I started using and I started working on dealing with those issues. It’s a lot easier to go to rehab when the program you’re doing makes sense to you and is something that you feel will help you. Generally, a rehab center will have one program that they offer to their clients. I’ve been to a few of those rehabs and with rehabs like that, unless you get lucky and a rehab has that one program that works for you, you’re stuck there for however long that program is, doing something that doesn’t feel right. I could always tell pretty early on whether a program would be able to help me or not. I still tried to make it work but, finding a program that just feels right is a completely different experience. I’d always thought that I started using drugs because of boredom and opportunity. My childhood was great. I have amazing parents who were always loving and supportive. I did well in school and started working when I graduated high school to give myself more time to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. It was all very normal and yet, I started using drugs. While I was going through my program I had to really look and evaluate my life and my decisions in a completely different light, and by doing that I was able to figure out the real reasons of why I started using drugs. Without the staff at BRS pushing me to work harder and without the time I was able to stay at BRS I would have never figured it out and I would have continued using for a lot longer. One thing about BRS that helps a lot is that you can stay there for however long you need to. I’ve never thought 30 days was enough time to stay in rehab but, when you’re doing a program that you don’t care about, 30 days is more than enough time to figure out that it’s not working for you. At BRS I was able to find a program that worked for me and I was able to stay there enough time for it to make a difference. When I left BRS after completing my program I knew that I wasn’t going to go right back to using drugs. Since getting home I’ve been working on my aftercare program as I should, and I can honestly say that my life has never been better. Because I have a purpose now. I know what I want to do with my life, and I’ve been working towards that goal. The people at BRS helped me so much. Not just the staff there but, the other clients as well. The whole atmosphere at BRS is one of support and understanding. Everyone there, staff and clients both, understand how hard things can get and we all did whatever we could to help each other out. While I was at BRS I decided I wanted to be a counselor of some kind. Not sure exactly what yet but, I know that I want to help people and I’ve decided that becoming a counselor is the way I want to help. So, I’ve started taking classes at the local community college here and I’ll continue going to school till I get my degree. I’m not happy that I started using drugs but, I am happy that my life has a purpose. Going to BRS got me off drugs and it helped me figure out how I want to live the rest of my life.

I went through the program at BRS and it was a surprising nice experience. In the last few years I have gone to a few different rehabs and BRS is by far the nicest one. In order to get clean and sober, I would have put up with almost anything. All I wanted in life by the time I went to BRS was to get off the pain medication that I’d become addicted to. Instead, I went to BRS, didn’t have to put up with anything and it turned out to be great there. Alright so with anything there are pros and cons to BRS. The cons are minimal but, here they are. The first is that BRS is in central Michigan. Now, it’s beautiful there, don’t get me wrong but, if you’re going in the winter then expect to be a step past freezing when you go outside. The second thing is the food. The food there is actually really good but, from the pictures on the BRS website I was expecting something a bit different. The last con, which doesn’t actually impact the clients is that there doesn’t seem to be enough staff working there. The people that work at BRS are incredibly dedicated and amazing at their jobs but, they were run a bit ragged sometimes. Now, the pros. The building you stay in is really nice. BRS as a whole seems more like a ski lodge than a rehab. Plus, it doesn’t have that institutional feel that most rehabs have. You’re also allowed to smoke at BRS. Personally, I’ve never been to rehab where you can’t smoke but, I heard a couple horrors stories about someone checking themselves into treatment and having their cigarettes taken away. Which is why I’ve always checked before going to a rehab. I’d hate to have to quit smoking while going through detox and rehab. It seems pretty horrible to me. Though, I guess if you don’t smoke that would be a con. They offer different programs at BRS. Every client is able to find a program that feels right to them. The first rehab I went to only offered the 12-step program. Now, I know it works for some people and I’ve talked to a few who swear by it. For me, it felt weird to do. It didn’t with me or my personality and honestly, until I went to BRS I thought that was normal. Having gone to BRS and found a program that worked for me I realized that wasn’t the case and that having the right program was just as important as someone doing that program willingly. So, having different programs available at BRS was really a huge benefit. The staff at BRS are perfect for their jobs. Some of the most compassionate and understanding people I’ve ever met work at BRS. Something that really stood out to me was that to the staff at BRS I wasn’t an addict, just a person who needed some help. They took the time to get to know me, to understand why I’d become addicted to pain meds and when I told them how I’d become addicted, they understood. With other people I’ve talked to about my addiction, it felt like once they found out I was having problems with drugs, they stopped caring and I became just an addict in their eyes. They didn’t care how it happened. They didn’t care that I started taking pills because my doctor prescribed them and that every pill, I took was from a prescription the doctor gave me. The only thing that mattered was that I didn’t stop taking the pills when I didn’t need them anymore. Which made me an addict and that was all that mattered to them. It wasn’t like that at BRS. The took the time to understand me and that helped me feel like a normal human being again. That attitude was very refreshing and was something I appreciated a lot. The last pro I have is that you can stay at BRS for as long as you need to. I was there for 4 months but while I was there someone came and went in a month and another person had been there for almost a year. Going to BRS turned out to be a great experience for me and one that resulted in me being clean, sober and able to stay this way. I haven’t run into any trouble since getting home and that because I’m able to use what I learned at BRS.