hi all. seems one am is becoming my new favorite blog time. home from work and wide awake. full of inspiration. emotions. thoughts. let me start by saying that i now work with adolescents with substance abuse problems. so tonite i am working and have the opportunity to hear not one but three very powerful stories. the sad thing about these stories is that they are all starting to blur together for me. i remember the first time a young person told me their trauma story and i just sat there...listening. eyes welling up. feeling weak for not being able to be more...clinical. that story and the many that have followed generally follow the same sad and predictable trajectory.
all of these young people mistreated by the adults who were supposed to be taking care of them. i know and dont need to be reminded that many of these girls are and were victimized by parents or other adults who themselves were victims. one big giant cycle of pain.
i am forced to ask myself and you...when will this cycle stop? and who will stop it? i for one would like to be part of this stopping. in my class i learned that right now only one third of individuals treated for substance abuse actually recover and stay recovered. i think i was/am supposed to be excited about this statistic...needless to say that i am not. this is 2010. we understand the brain. we understand brain chemistry. mental health. we understand cycles of violence. stages of change. attachment theory. we understand big and heavy stuff. yet the sum of the parts has not yet equalled the whole.
we need to get it. and these young people need to be part of us getting it. we need to work together to start the healing and our expectations need to be better then one third. the time is now. we can do this. we just need to want to and we need to work together. we have of all of the answers we need. committed, sober, and healthy adults can not be content with having their own recovery. this gift of recovery needs to be shared and we need young people all over this country to be connected to and repeatedly exposed to adults who care and are living sober, healthy lives.
one young girl tonite said it just right...she said...all i needed was someone at home to love me. in a world full of problems that have no solutions--how can we be content to not attack a problem like this. a problem that so clearly has a solution. love. our very own free and natural resource. those of us that have it should not be content to keep it to ourselves. are you with me? i'd love to hear from you. maybe together we can make a difference. xx
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