HG Newsletter Issue: # 58

In This Edition:

I dabbled with jobs like fishing and freezing works but my world revolved around the opening hours of the chemist and growing dope. I had ample opportunities to turn my life around, but the usual consequences were not enough. I didn’t respond to jail – it was a normal part of my family life.

After my last prison sentence I met my now-partner and mother to our child. For two years I was slipping in and out of recovery, desperately trying to stay clean alone. Deep in my heart I knew that some brutal honesty and becoming humble was my only option.

When I truly wanted to have a life to be part of, everything happened to get me there. Higher Ground was not like my previous six treatments. It offered the security and safety I needed along with support that was often delivered in disguise. The protocol, rules and structure I was used to, being institutionalised. Having had a lot of therapy since I was a child meant I needed an intensive environment with encouragement to reflect and process. I needed to be confronted with love and care.