A Mother Reflects on Her Daughter’s Addiction, Part 2
by Cathy Taughinbaugh, Parent Recovery and Life Coach and Founder of Treatment Talk
In Part 1 of this post I shared what led up to my daughter’s addiction to crystal meth. I will now share how she made her way to recovery.
I flew back to Colorado to see what I could do to help my daughter and find out what was going on. After a few days, she finally admitted to me that she was addicted to crystal meth.
She made a good choice that summer morning in Colorado, she made the choice to come home with me. Her instincts told her it was time to make a change and find a better way to live.
Within one week she was on a plane to Utah to attend a Wilderness program for five weeks, and then on to Southern California where she was in treatment for another three months. She then lived in a sober living home for six months.
Her program included getting a job and/or attending college. She did both and graduated from a local state university in 2009. A part time job in a grocery store helped pay expenses while going back to school.
After leaving the program, she remained in southern California and has lived in apartments with amazing young women from her program. Several remain close friends.
She worked full time at the store until she found her present job in advertising. She is now ready to come home to live closer to her family. She has come full circle.
Being addicted is not what any mom dreams for her child. This is the last thing I expected. The emotional exhaustion sends you down a devastating path. It is a challenge to find your way back. The financial costs took my breath away.
As a parent, we had the weekly calls from the wilderness camp and received the weekly reports from her treatment center. I tried counseling, Alanon and Naranon in my efforts to find support.
I thought about who I would tell and felt the shame of addiction. I also felt guilty, frustrated, angry and afraid.
Now as a young adult, my daughter has come full circle. She is mature beyond her years. She is insightful and has embraced a spiritual component to her life. In some ways, my daughter’s past is invisible.
She has moved on with her life and doesn’t discuss her addiction often. She knows, however that life can be hard due to poor choices and the disease of addiction. She also knows that there is always hope.
She realized that her life could change when she was ready to dig deep, overcome her fear and take on the challenge to begin again.
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Cathy Taughinbaugh is one of three Bay Area moms writing Parent to Parent ~ a blog sharing concerns about substance abuse. Lisa Frederiksen, Author Speaker Consultant and Founder of BreakingTheCycles.com and Shelley Richanbach, Certified Addictions Specialist, Peer Facilitator and Founder of Next Steps for Women, round out the Parent to Parent team. Check back every Wednesday as one of these moms will share their expertise and personal experiences with substance use, abuse, addiction and recovery. And if you find yourself in any one of their stories, consider attending their March 3, 2013, Substance Abuse Workshop for Parents.
