Sobriety is possible – if they can do it, so can you. In this series, Avenues Recovery presents true accounts of everyday heroes in recovery.
Hi! My name is Kelly, and this is my recovery story.
My clean date is 6/24/96, a date that emerged after a year in relapse. I was sober for 8 years before my relapse, and a few years in and out before that. I am deeply grateful to God for relieving my obsession to use when no human power could.
My journey to active addiction started at age 15 with marijuana and alcohol. Other drugs followed shortly after, which led to consequences in every area of my life. By the time I was age 18, I checked into my first treatment center thanks to an intervention by my mother. However, my awakening didn’t occur until after a relapse, another treatment center, and two halfway houses later.
Fortunately, while in my second halfway house (La Casa Di Amigos in Salina, Kansas) in 1985, I was encouraged to enroll in college while working as a waitress. I had a part-time job as Chemical Dependency Assistant (or BHT) at an adolescent treatment center at the time, and it was there I realized that I wanted to be an addiction counselor. So with the support of my sponsor, family, and friends in recovery, I finally got my BA in Addiction Counseling, and later my MA in Psychological Counseling. I’ve been a Licensed Addiction Counselor in the state of Louisiana since May of 2000.
I have had a passion for recovery ever since I realized that it was possible for an addict like me to stop using and discover a new way of life. It is so rewarding and spiritually fulfilling to help others find freedom from active addiction and embrace a new path in life. I am deeply grateful for my four children, one of whom is now 13 years sober. I am very grateful to now be of service here at Avenues Recovery Center, working with kindred spirits who are just as passionate and hopeful that others too can “find their way home.”