Solutions For Issues

Recovery is not a quick fix for most. It is a commitment to life long sobriety.  With the commitment comes the external issues and the internal issues of life. 

EXTERNAL

We have identified at least three external issues those in recovery may face:

1. Homelessness:  persons who have chosen to procrastinate about sobriety tend to burn bridges with their families and friends, often leaving them with no resources for shelter.  Early recovery persons tend to take longer to build trust for returning home and even though they are sober may still be homeless.

Solution: Bethesda searches for safe residential openings for those who are homeless.  Although there are no homeless shelters at this time in Waycross GA, we have found shelters for many in nearby or surrounding towns. 

2. Education:  Some begin their path through drugs and alcohol early on in life, shortchanging their education.  Some have completed their high school but have relatively no general life skills.

Solution: Bethesda encourages peers to work towards completing at least the minimal requirements for GED and if they have not finished college provides opportunities to their clients to work on line to complete their studies.  

Life skills are taught to both residential and day services clients.

Employment:  Persons in early recovery may have legal issues to overcome before they can be ready to take a job.  Others have limited job skills or need refresher courses to update their office skills. 

Solution: Bethesda works with Labor Finders, Good Will, and several private businesses to help find beginning jobs for their clients.

INTERNAL ISSUES:

We have also identified three major internal issues most people in recovery experience. 

1. Communication:  Because manipulation has been a way of life in the old life, persons in early recovery need new communication skills. 

Solution: Bethesda holds groups and one on one support for learning skills in communication such as assertiveness, listening, and practice intentionally not knowing.

2.Identity: Over and over I hear people say "I don't know who I am."  The truth is the negativity of the former lifestyle robs a person of their true self.  

Solution:  When a person begins to be accepted as a human being, they learn their worth as a person. Bethesda assists with this by treating clients with respect, honoring differences and encouraging personal responsibility. We do this by asking questions which result in the client making choices for himself.