(music). Today we're continuing our 12-part series
Reclaim Your Life. The road to recovery is difficult for any addict, and it doesn't stop
when treatment ends as I found out when I visited Transformations Drug and Alcohol Treatment
Center in Delray Beach, Florida and met the people behind their Alumni Program.
When somebody comes to Transformations Treatment Center, they have hit rock bottom, whatever
that means to them. Some people live on the street. Some people may have lost their children,
and they come here to get help. And 30 days is just the start of their new life. This
is kind of an artificial world to them. When they get out in the real world, they're going
to have to use the tools that they learned here out there. You know, they're going to
have to use coping skills. We have a holistic program. When they leave here, we give them
each discharge pins for their individual treatment, and if we can continue to guide them and encourage
them to stay on that track, they'll be able to continue their sobriety. Whatever encouragement
they need to stay away from a drug or a drink, we're going to do that. Helana Cabral is no
stranger to the lives of those entering and leaving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction.
As the Alumni Director for Transformations Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center in Delray
Beach, Florida, she oversees a staff of workers who are all former patients themselves. And
that's what makes the Alumni Program here so successful.
Not a lot of people understand addiction, so having somebody as close to us as the Alumni
Department is great. They understand, you know, what we go through, the loss of not
being able to get high, the loss of family, all the emotions that come back with not getting
high anymore. And they're just always there to listen.
Helana, why is it so important that people who work here in the Alumni Department were
once patients themselves? Everybody in my department is an alumni of
Transformations. We all have over a year sobriety, and we not just are able to tell them what
they need to do, we can talk the talk because we walk the walk. We encourage them to continue
in their sobriety. We can guide them. We can give them suggestions to be able to tell them
other people have done it. You can, too. So, how do you stay in contact with someone
who leaves Transformations Treatment Center? I'm sure many of them leave the state or maybe
just go back home. We follow up with them just like if they stayed
local. We call them, email them, stay in contact constantly. And then we also have social media
websites, Facebook is very big as being able to stay in contact with people. I'm very open
with them about my own recovery. So, I'm posting pictures of what's going on in my personal
life, showing them that you can have fun in sobriety because that's one of the number
one things that you hear from the alumni that they're afraid that they're not going to have
fun because they don't know what to do next. So, we're there to help them and show them
that you can have fun. There is things to do without being messed up.
Besides offering a lifeline of support to anyone who has graduated from treatment, the
Alumni Department has created an active and fun program for alumni to stay connected and
focused on their road to recovery, including backyard BBQs, movies, team events, and sports
outings, as well as an Alumni Meeting every Wednesday night in which awards are handed
out for sobriety. And we have a friend of theirs give it to
them because each month that they get in sobriety in their first year is a huge accomplishment,
and we want to make sure that they know that. Just doing things that are fun and getting
them to laugh and enjoy life because they're not going to continue on the path if they
don't enjoy life. Now, Helana, a lot of the clients here after
they leave, they leave with the best intentions to stay sober and to not fall again into that
addiction. But let's be honest, there is a lot of relapse. What do you do to make sure
your client stays on that road to recovery? I want to make sure that every client knows
that we're there for them and that we are also in recovery. So, we can help them. We
can give them suggestions, and we're going to do whatever we need to to make sure that
they stay on the right path. Helana, you've seen so many people leave here
and move on with their life, and obviously your wish is that they stay sober and that
they never become an addict again. When that happens, how does it make you feel?
It is very rewarding. It's fulfilling, and it just continues to give me hope and encouragement
to keep growing the Alumni Department at Transformations so I can change more people's lives.
For me, it's just a reminder that this program does work if you put in the foot work. I carry
it with me everywhere. I have a better understanding of what life is today, and it's one of the
greatest feelings ever. It's a lifelong journey of recovery even after
the treatment ends, but the alumni of Transformations is there to help every step of the way.
We hope you'll join us again in our Reclaim Your Life series as we show you how Transformations
Drug and Alcohol Treatment Center continues to help those in addiction on the road to
recovery. Next time, we're going to see how their housing program helps teach patients
the life skills needed in recovery. Remember, for more information, you can go to TransformationsTreatment.Center
or our website, TheBalancingAct.com. (music).