The Rehab to Recovery Path

The Rehab to Recovery Path is the Exception

People have been fooled. They think the Rehab to Recovery journey looks like this:

Stand back and watch as the person endures repeated failed attempts at recovery.

Tell yourself he didn’t make it because he didn’t want it bad enough. Tell yourself, eventually he will hit bottom and want it.

He will experience sudden consequence induced clarity. He will go to detox to rehab to meetings.

Live Forever in Recovery

This rehab to recovery path is the exception not the rule.

This may be Rich Jones’ path. But unlike so many others, I do NOT think my experience speaks for all 7 billion people on the planet earth.

My experience has nothing to do with the universal laws of recovery. It’s simply my experience.

Reality:

• Let’s go from hospital emergency room to a bed at detox
• Back to the emergency room.
• Then to be stabilized back to detox to safely finish withdrawal …
• Out to a recovery house to initiate recovery.
• Kicked out of the recovery house due to a recurrence…
• Back to homeless shelter using off and on.
• Back to meetings/groups back to more regular use back to full out relapse…
• Months, years go by. Jail. Trauma. Jail. Trauma. More Trauma. Trauma. Trauma.

Now the issues run deeper. Now the addiction is more intractable.

Eventually he cycles: emergency room to detox back to emergency room for stabilization back to detox out of detox back to emergency department…

Compassionate people in the health system get tired of him.

Quality of Care

Quality of care goes down.

Physical health issues escalate. Inpatient in the hospital for long stretch.

Eventually he goes from detox to “rehab” out of rehab to recovery house and puts together 3 months solid …

However, “he screws up” and is kicked out of recovery house due to recurrence.

Family was told by some “expert” to cut all ties so they won’t take his call despite his 90 days.

He’s soon be back to using full time….

Let’s do this for the next 10 years. Because “an addict has to want it”… that sounds like a rational approach.

We need something that goes way beyond a “warm hand off”…. warm hand off is a start.

But recovery is a long term process.

FUND ASSERTIVE LONG TERM ENGAGEMENT

Fund assertive long-term engagement provided by community based assertive engagement organizations.

Judge each organization individually and let us bid on contracts.

Some organizations are really good. Some are really questionable.

Most would struggle with long term engagement as they have been conditioned to promote acute care and many gravitate toward the “willing client only model”…

However, the effectiveness of long term engagement will prove so effective that replication is inevitable.

Word to my Mother.
God bless America.
God save the Queen.