Growing up in Prince George I really didn’t have much to complain about. There was alcohol involved in the family, some more than with others, but overall a pretty decent upbringing. My father was a big believer in ‘fate’ – “God has a plan for you, don’t ruin it!” I never fully understood at the time what he meant, so I conveniently discarded that wisdom. I had my first drink at the age of six, going around after a party my parents had - total black out & alcohol poisoning. When I was 12 or 13, raiding my Parents liquor cabinet – more or less experimenting with my buddies and doing this for a few years, along with smoking Pot. All through High School I played Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer and Track and worked for my Dad, leaving little time for drinking. But when I did drink, look out! The pattern was set for when I attended University for five years, and later in my career – binge drinking was ‘manageable’. As time progressed my binges of course became more intense, drinking just to be normal became a necessity. Eventually, my hard drinking led to medical problems (which introduced me to Morphine, Demerol and Valium) that interfered with my drinking, so drugs became a more natural fit if I wanted to keep avoiding life in a state of oblivion. The usual pattern became – drink, start feeling physical pain, add Pot, Morphine, and Valium, drink more and go to hospital. Family, work, relationships with women and friends obviously were retarded or ceased to exist. Spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically I knew I was done. I came to Innervisions knowing full well that this was it – I was beat. With this in mind I saw that I wasn’t going to be doing this my way – staff made this very clear. The fact that I am at where I am at is a miracle in itself, the fact that I am able to do as is suggested to me is another miracle but most of all the fact that ‘fate’, as my father saw it, is now starting to make some sense in my life. I work with Tri-City Education as a group facilitator, doing one on one counseling and working as the Program Coordinator of the S.A.F.E. Program. One of my greatest assets in this arena is the fact that I am a recovering addict. Return to S.A.F.E. page

The Residential Treatment Program of InnerVisions has been accredited by CARF