Brianna:

I didn’t know I had a problem because I was functional.

I didn’t know that I had a problem. I thought that I was a social drinker. Until it got to the point where I was drinking almost every day. I used my career in healthcare as an excuse where I thought, “Well if I’m helping other people, I’m ok”. I can continue to function, go to work, and then I can leave work, and I can drink.

I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I’d have my scrubs on, and here I am; I can help you, but I can’t help myself. It was an everyday thing, putting anything into my body to get outside myself. I didn’t even know who I was anymore.

I knew I needed help but didn’t know where to begin.

I had gone to a facility, and they had made a couple of phone calls. This was the first place that they called (Granite Recovery Centers). They brought me here a couple of days later, and I didn’t know what I was signing myself up for because I was so used to constantly taking care of other people. That was my life, and here I am in a van going to the mountain (Green Mountain Treatment Center), not knowing what I’m setting myself up for. Little do I know my life is about to change dramatically and for the better.

They picked me up and put me back together

It was the most intense experience of my life, but it was the most amazing experience because they just picked me apart and put me back together. I walked out of there and took a breath of fresh air, which is the only way I can put it. There were things that I was just blocking out before. Now, I take pictures of the sunset. Before, I didn’t even want to see the light. I look at trees, and they’re so beautiful to me. It’s crazy. All those things I was missing before. Recovery has taught me that in any situation that I get put in, I don’t need a substance to calm me down, to make me feel ok. I can be ok just being me. I can be ok being uncomfortable because that’s life. It’s a beautiful thing that I can do that without a drink.

Watch Brianna’s Addiction Recovery Story:If you or a loved one is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction, please call our helpline at (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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Colin:

Trying to Fill the Void

If I look back at my life and I’m honest with myself, even though I was raised in a healthy home and I was always taught right from wrong, good from bad, I seemed to always have this void internally, and I’ve always tried to fill it. And I didn’t even realize that until my disease, my illness took me to some pretty dark places.

Just a frail shell of a person

I can remember sitting in my house, being up for the third or fourth day in a row calling out of work, and I walked past my mirror and it was like something grabbed me and pulled me back in front of the mirror. I stood there by myself looking into the mirror. There was just no life in my eyes. I was just this frail shell of a person. I finally had this sense of truth that I’m powerlessness over drugs and alcohol. I can’t stop even when I want to stop. It controls my life regardless of the substance. I’m going to end up dead or in jail.

I had finally realized that I was an alcoholic and a drug addict

I reached out to my mother and I finally said, “Mom, I’m ready. I need help. And although I was fearful of making that statement, as soon as I did, it was like there was this deep breath. I had finally realized that I was an alcoholic and a drug addict.

I thought maybe this does work…

Once I was at Green Mountain, I had total willingness to trust that maybe this does work. I very quickly began to sense a change about me. Even early on, in my first month of sobriety, I wanted to help others, I wanted to spend my time doing this work so that I could be free of this.

And now…

Now, I have more purpose, fulfillment, contentment. Now, I have more motivation to live a beautiful life and to help others than I ever had in the prior 23 years of my life. Helping others gives me a better feeling than drugs and alcohol ever did. I wouldn’t trade this life for anything at this point. Watch the full video:If you or a loved one is struggling with a drug or alcohol addiction, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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Josh: I’m just a normal person. There’s nothing tough about me. If it wasn’t for God, and for doing the work to get through addiction and recovery, and the relationships I have with my friends; I wouldn’t be here. That’s huge.

Reestablishing Family Connections

I was solo for a long time. Some of that was my disease just keeping me isolated. And the other part was the fact nobody wanted to be around me. Honestly, looking back, I don’t blame them, but the ability to be there for my mother, the ability to help my father into treatment and visit him is amazing to me now.

Happiness I never knew existed

My grandmother passed away probably about a year ago, and from the time I got sober until she passed away, I was able to go spend weekends with her, go places with her, just go hang out for the day. I could rebuild those relationships that I had walked away from at fourteen years old. I wouldn’t have been able to do that if I hadn’t gotten sober. That happiness and joy is something that I didn’t even know existed.

My whole life had been a lie

In treatment, I finally learned I’m not that badass, not one bit. I’m actually pretty sensitive when you get down to it. It’s just crazy that person that I brought in was fake. And it took about two years, and then I was driving in my car and I just realized, “My whole life, up until like right now… was a lie.” That was huge.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, please call (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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Russell Beebe: I always felt, at varying degrees, an inner discomfort in my life, whether it was fear or resentment. I always kind of felt uneasy in my own skin, awkward. Middle school was a terrible time for me. It is for most people, but I just did not get through that very well. As soon as alcohol and drugs came along, all that went away. I got sober in 2009 and my son, who is now 10, was born in April of 2008. So as you can imagine, when he was first born and was an infant, I was not doing very well, to say the least. There was a period of time when I was in his life, but I was in treatment, so I wasn’t around. I had to live in a sober house, before I could come back and be a good dad.

Being Comfortable in My Own Skin

What recovery has done for me is allowed me to not just be sober, but to be comfortable in my own skin. It also allows me to walk through the times when I feel uncomfortable, and know that it’s not going to last forever. When I get uncomfortable now, I know that it’s going to pass at some point.

Owning Inner Peace

Now, I feel like I have a certain degree of inner peace. I always knew that that was possible, and always wanted that in my life, but I was never able to achieve that before treatment. Now I have that. I show up to work every day. Now, when I get upset, I might even yell at my kids, I know I need to make that right. I tell them, “It wasn’t you; I just got upset and I’m sorry I said that,”. My hope is that they’ll grow up having some of those qualities. I’m really, really grateful to be in my children’s life. They’re absolutely blessings in my life and it’s been amazing watching them grow; something I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to experience if I hadn’t sought recovery.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one is struggling with a drug addiction, please call (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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Kristina: So as a person who struggled with drug addiction for a really long time, I was in and out of treatment centers. I just could never get a grasp on what it was that I was supposed to do to get well. But then I did, at Granite Recovery Centers. After finally being able to get my feet on the ground with that (getting well) and getting some sobriety under my belt, the opportunity to come back and share that experience with clients arrived. Now, I get to show them that there is hope, there is a solution; it’s amazing.

Fighting the Epidemic and Making a Difference

I love being part of a team that’s working to combat this epidemic. I love being able to do my best, do my part to make a difference in the world and in what’s going on with addiction and alcoholism. It’s really not getting better out there. More and more people are affected by this disease. More and more people are seeking help for it. We offer a solution that a lot of other centers don’t. Other facilities will sort of touch on the steps, but they don’t actually do any work through them. They’ll tell people that there is a solution, but then, they won’t get show them how to get there.

We provide a step-by-step solution, unlike other centers

And the more our reputation spreads as being a center that actually helps achieve that, the more people are interested in coming in the doors. The key to ending this epidemic–or at least making a dent in it–is awareness. It’s sharing that we do have a solution, and getting it out there, getting it known. The more we spread that, the more the world becomes aware, the more we work to fight against the stigma, and the better chances that we have in making a difference in the fight against the drug epidemic.

Watch the full story:If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. We can help. 

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Bill Statires:

If you wanna get better, and get sober, you gotta put the work in.

Green Mountain Treatment Center, Granite House, all of Granite Recovery Centers, they instilled this faith in me. And just having the support of all the community and the support of my family as well is amazing.

Changing your life beyond 30 days

When you go to other treatment centers and your thirty days are over, they just send you back home, and you’re right back into your old lifestyle. But at GRC, they provide support after that 30 or so days. When I went to The Granite House, they just really emphasized the importance of aftercare and changing your whole life.

I’m just learning how to become an adult…

What they’re selling here it works. About 90% of all the employees were in recovery themselves. Today, they, we are happy. We can have a full-time job. We show up for our families. We’re responsible. We save money. We pay our bills. I had never done that before. I’m 29 years old, and I’m just learning how to become an adult. If it wasn’t for Green Mountain Treatment Center and The Granite House, I don’t know where I’d be. I think about the amount of stress that I put on my parents when they didn’t know if they were ever gonna get that phone call saying, “Your son has passed” or, “Your son’s in jail”. Just knowing that my parents are sleeping at night, and not having to stress about me; just that is worth it.

Trying to get sober before GRC…

When I was trying to get sober in the past, I would say the right things to them, to everyone, excuses, apologies, promises. But my actions would not follow suit. But now, I have a new job. I have a car. I have relationships. I have friendships. And people can trust me. The Granite House, and the people I went through the house with made me want to be a better person. It made me realize that there is so much to life out there. The gifts of sobriety are endless.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one is struggling with a drug addiction, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. We can help. The gifts of sobriety are truly endless.

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Giving Up Everything for One Thing

I don’t think I can ever repay what’s been so freely given to me. The person sitting here talking to you right now is not the person I was six years ago. I used to give up everything for one thing to get out of myself, to get high or black out, get boozy. I used to give up everything for that one thing and now I’ve given up one thing for everything and anything, and it’s wide open. I get to share that with these women, the people who come in (into inpatient drug rehab). I remember thinking as I was getting sober myself, “I’m never gonna have fun again”, but of course, you do. They get to see me laughing and being silly it gives them something to look forward to. It gave me something to look forward to when I saw the people that came before me.

This is life and death…

This is life and death. That’s what fuels my fire. It’s not just a paycheck. You come to work and it’s magic. Instantly, I have love for the women that I work with on a daily basis. We have that transmission line. As the days go on, the weeks go on, watching that light come back on in their eyes. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world to me.

It’s witnessing miracles

They come up to me and they can’t wait to tell me, what step they’re on and how well they’re doing. It’s amazing. It’s witnessing miracles. There’s no other really word to say it but miracles. I knew it wasn’t a state secret that I had a problem with drugs and alcohol. I didn’t know at first the extent of what I had, but I remember it being so hard to reach out for help. But it was the best thing that I ever did. So just do it. Pick up the phone. It’s going to be heavy at first, but just do it, let us love you until you can love yourself.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one of struggling with a drug addiction, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. It’s going to be heavy, but we can help.

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Jesse Carillo: People often ask me… “Doesn’t this feel really great? Doesn’t this feel amazing to do?” Obviously, it does, but what is truly amazing is when it happens. It doesn’t happen on the day that people enter into treatment. It’s a transformation occurring over the course of months, sometimes years.

From Hopeless to Hopeful

I am fortunate that I still go to meetings. I get to witness people both at the beginning of recovery and then later, after they have gotten better. I remember in this one instance, I looked at this individual and I thought, “Wow, I remember how utterly hopeless and depressed and anxious and just fear-driven that this person was upon entering treatment”. And now, here they are, fast-forward fifty some-odd days later, in this meeting, sharing their experience.

From Closed-Off to Wanting More from Life

All of a sudden I can begin to see the light go off in their heads. I can see the hope in their eyes. I can hear them talking about wanting to be better, wanting to be better for their family and for themselves. They start talking about a higher power, which again, thirty/forty days ago? Non-existent. They were completely closed-off to this idea of a spiritual life, of a spiritual program. And now they’re alive.

This is something real…

This isn’t lip service is either. These people aren’t just saying these things; they believe them. I can easily tell when someone pays me lip service. This is something different. This is something real. There are things happening here that are just amazing, every day, for so many people–people like me. I personally can count on one hand the amount of times I made a decision in my life that was going to truly alter my future. In first place, is my decision to walk into treatment, and try to make myself better.

There’s always a solution

There’s always a million reasons not to do something. Someone that’s still struggling with a drug addiction has got their brain most likely pulling them in a thousand different directions. But what I would say to them is that, “there is always a solution”.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one needs help from a drug addiction, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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Marissa: If you would have told me a year ago, I’d be able to help people in recovery… Before I went into recovery, I couldn’t even get dressed most days. Or take a shower. But, the fact that I can now relate to people and help them with their daily struggles, it’s amazing. And not only do they get something out of it, but it helps in my own recovery. It is one of the most amazing feelings in the world.

How to be human again

I’m forever grateful for this program. This program taught me in my own eyes, how to be human again. It taught:

• how to show people love and compassion
• how to hold them accountable
• how to have true friendships
• how to have true relationships with people in my life again
• that I can maintain a job
• that I can pay my bills
• that I can live a life regardless of the hand I was dealt

Regardless of the past, you have the future…

Yesterday is in the past, and tomorrow is the future. I literally have these twenty-four hours to think about, and if I can’t take twenty-four hours, I’ll go down to milliseconds if I need to. The worry that I put my family through is just a good reminder of how far I’ve come. I’ve never had a very good relationship with my mother, and my sobriety date was the worst day of my life. She had me arrested, and it was the best thing she ever did for me, because she loved me enough to put me through that, in order to show me that she cared about me. Now, I have tremendous relationships with my mother, my father, my step-father.

Now, It’s all just working itself out

Over time, it is all just working itself out (my life). It is still incredible to believe, that I’m sitting here in this chair, doing what I do to help others. They told me, a fire would be lit under me when I started doing this work, and it just hasn’t gone out. It hasn’t stopped. I am still overwhelmed every day by how grateful and thankful I am to be here, recovered, and doing what I do to help people, who are going through what I went through.

Watch the full video:If you or a loved one is struggling with an addiction to drugs or alcohol, please call our admissions specialists at (855) 712-7784. We can help.

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