New Life Community Services of Santa Cruz

I've been to a couple other treatment programs, before this one and also a couple years ago - and never have I encountered individuals who KNEW WHAT ADDICTION WAS like these counselors did at this facility. They really got it in a way that most people, even addicts, don't .... and they just made it okay to be struggling, and taught us how to cope with that fact, instead of trying to just "make it all better" when it wasn't going to be better for awhile. It's a good program, and I could use one. Interesting that this was the survey I received today, I was just thinking for the first time in a couple years that maybe I should actually consider going to rehab again .... They're not codependent and won't buy into your BS and let you manipulate the program and the staff, like most programs will. They actually work to treat addiction, not just to get through the day as an addiction counselor. It was dirt cheap, for one thing. Less than 800 a month, for room and board and treatment costs. It's a program where you have to work really hard to succeed, but by the time you leave, if you make it, you know that you want to be sober more than anything else you've ever wanted in the world, and would do anything to stay that way. We all worked full-time and paid for our expenses that way (except for the prison-funded people) I stayed clean for 3 years .... I just stopped doing what I learned to do .... I felt like I was ready to be back out in the world, I had been there 4 1/2 months and was transitioning to a sober living house about a mile away. I continued to go to meetings, and had a sponsor, a local job, was going to school, and was working the 12 Steps. I was in treatment voluntarily, so didn't have to "finish" the program for any particular reason, so I just transitioned smoothly out when it seemed right to.