Residential Program
Opioid Substitution Treatment
I was born and raised in Listowel, Ontario. As far back as 12 years old, I have always wanted to escape my feelings. Drugs and alcohol were my answers.
At the age of 17, I found myself constantly in trouble with the law and up on charges that were sure to land me in jail. Instead of dealing with my problems, I ran from them. For the next 17 years I ran all over Western Canada, trying to escape my problems; always on the lookout for a fresh start. Everywhere I went, I thought “It will be different this time.”
At the age of 35, for the first time in my life, suicide was looking like the answer for my next escape. At this point, I decided that long term treatment was necessary. It took me 6 months to get into Stonehenge. I was on Methadone so there weren’t many options for me to get long-term treatment. I had to wait.
Once I arrived at Stonehenge, I met Cheri – my group counsellor. She was the first person that believed in me. She helped me to understand that I was a good person who had made bad choices. For the first time in my life I felt like I had hope for my future. The way Cheri communicated with me made me feel like an equal to her. This meant the world to me because I had always looked down on myself, and never felt like I deserved good things in my life. How could I with what I did to support my addiction?
It has been 9 years since I first stepped foot onto STC property, and I now believe that I am a good person!! This hasn’t kept me clean for 9 years but I do work hard every day to stay clean. It has been over 2 years since my last relapse. I found that it takes more than 6 months to get healthy and that Stonehenge is only the start of an amazing journey called life!!
I’d like to thank all the staff at STC for helping save my life!!
