Surviving Addiction, Thriving in Leadership: Sara's Story from Drug Addiction to A Masters Degree

Welcome to our special episode featuring Sara Buckler, a true inspiration in the world of recovery. Sara's sobriety story is powerful.  As the Vice President of Public Relations for SLF Ripple Ranch Treatment Center, Sara has dedicated her life to helping others navigate the disease of addiction and guide them towards a brand new life. 

Sara's sobriety story is one marked by incredible challenges and triumphs. Having celebrated a decade of sobriety in December, Sara's resilience shines through her experiences of attending seven different treatment centers and surviving a traumatic shooting.  Despite the obstacles she faced, Sara emerged stronger and more determined than ever to live a life of purpose which includes earning a master's degree, being a daughter and celebrating her own role as a mom.  

Throughout our conversation, Sara talks candidly about the essential elements of long-term recovery. We discuss the importance of aftercare and the art of maintaining healthy boundaries, both crucial aspects of rebuilding trust and loyalty shattered by addiction. As a leader in her community, Sara talks about the dangers of fentanyl and explains the One Pill Can Kill campaign.

As our conversation continues, Sara shares the miracles that have woven through her journey of recovery. From the empowering "Language of Letting Go" app to the embrace of spirituality in daily life, Sara's transformation serves as a power of example for all those struggling with addiction. Her accomplishments, including earning a master's degree and giving back to the recovery community, are a testament to the boundless potentials that lay ahead of anyone willing to embrace recovery for themselves. 

Join us as we share Sara's remarkable story, and let her journey inspire you to believe that no matter the struggle, a life of sobriety and joy is within reach. Tune in, this is a conversation you will not want to miss.

To connect with Sara Buckler, visit, Website: | www.rippleranch.com
www.continuumoutpatient.com, call | 210.405.1645, or email: | sara@rippleranch.com. 

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Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:06

Welcome to the Sober Living Stories podcast. This podcast is dedicated to sharing stories of sobriety. We shine a spotlight on individuals who have faced the challenges of alcoholism and addiction and are today living out their best lives sober. Each guest has experienced incredible transformation and are here to share their story with you. I'm Jessica Stepanovic, your host. Join me each week as guests from all walks of life share their stories to inspire and provide hope to those who need it most.

Speaker 1: 0:55

Welcome to another episode of the Sober Living Stories podcast. Today we have a special guest, sarah. With 10 years of sobriety and a master's degree in healthcare administration, sarah serves as the vice president of professional relations at Ripple Ranch Recovery Center in Texas. Listen in today to hear Sarah's story on how she uses her own sobriety and higher education to be an advocate for others. Welcome, sarah. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Jessica. Well, welcome. I'm so glad you're here today. I know that you are immersed in recovery every day for your job, but I'd love to ask you about your personal story where it started, when that turning point in your life where you knew you needed to get help, and then what it looks like today.

Speaker 2: 1:43

Yeah, thank you so much. My journey to recovery is different from everyone's. I think that everybody has, like, a unique journey and that's why, like, recovery is so special and individualized for everyone. So I actually went to treatment seven times. I went to outpatient, I've done, I've tried everything, and this last time that I went to treatment in 2013 was definitely a unique experience. I called my mom and she was very much like you know what to do and helped me by just like telling me, really holding boundaries, because she was an Al-Anon and she was like I'll do just enough to where you have to help yourself. I think that was really a good thing for me, because I did know what to do. I'd done it before and I was more willing that way too, and so I went to treatment and I did 30 days and actually I had to wait for treatment, which was actually very good for me, because I went to a state-funded treatment program and they didn't have a bed right away, so I had to wait 10 days and I went to. It was 12, 17, 13,. That is my sobriety date, and that was a hard 10 days to wait for treatment. I had to go to treatment on 12, 26. And that was through the Christmas holiday and my family was very, they had a lot of good boundaries. That was also my birthday 12-21 is my birthday and so my family, I have a daughter that I had a CPS case with, and like a long time ago, even before that sobriety date, and so they made me do a UA and they had all these stipulations. So they did a really good job because they you know, we've done this scenario so many other times and so and I was on deferred adjudicated probation and so there's just a lot of differences that time for me, which is also this time, this current 10 years, which is amazing, a lot of just differences. But so I actually went to treatment, states over that 10 days waiting, so I feel like I was really willing and ready, which does make a difference when people, you know, go to treatment, and I so waited for the bed, got in a treatment, did a full 30 days.

Speaker 2: 4:03

I had a counselor right when I got out. We did a lot of trauma work because I've experienced some trauma in my life, which I think a lot of us have. I always say like, if you that you go to treatment, like you either don't have any trauma or, excuse me, you get into an addiction like you've had trauma or you get out of addiction and you have trauma Like you either go into it with it or you come out with it, so you can't really like get around that a lot. I feel like that's something that I've noticed with people with addiction and mental health. So I really think that piece with a treatment center is important, which we have at Ripple Ranch, which is why it's very dear to me.

Speaker 2: 4:41

But so I went to treatment for 30 days. I got got out, I did a full intensive outpatient program. I went to sober living at Oxford, did 90 and 90 like I did the whole deal, and I think that that was something that was different for me and then, like, right when I got out, um, I um also kind of had a plan, but the counselor that I had was really important to me too.

Speaker 2: 5:03

Um, he like really did a lot of motivational interviewing with me, which I didn't know that at the time, but now that I had was really important to me too. He like really did a lot of motivational interviewing with me, which I didn't know that at the time, but now that I'm more, I'm more into the work, I'm like, wow, he was doing that to me, he was he was doing motivation.

Speaker 1: 5:14

What do you mean by motivational, like I?

Speaker 2: 5:16

asked questions. He would ask me, like, what do you want to do with your life? And I was like, well, I don't know, I can't really do anything. I have this. I'm not like a lot of like hard. I was very hard on myself and critical. And I'd be like, well, I can't do anything. And he'd be like, well, why not? And I'm like, well, I'm on probation and this and that and make excuses for myself. And he was like, well, why can't you do that and why can't you can?

Speaker 2: 5:37

do this or you can do that. And he motivated me to be better and would talk like do a lot of talk therapy with me, and I immediately was like, oh yeah, why can't I do that?

Speaker 1: 5:47

And.

Speaker 2: 5:48

Oh, let's do that. And he like I don't want to say it's like trickery, but I was like, oh, okay, and I started having good positive thinking patterns and I actually, when I got out of treatment, immediately we like started looking at going back to school and I like started. I had some debt that I needed to pay back to my school, but me and my mom worked it out so that I could pay and it was only like 300 or $500, but I was like very determined to go back to school. And I almost immediately, a month after, got back into school and I was like, okay, I'm, I think I might be a counselor.

Speaker 2: 6:20

So I did get my undergrad as a chemical dependency counselor and I actually didn't stop going to school. I got my undergrad, got my bachelor's and got my master's and just kind of followed the path that was like that was laid out for me and like talk to a lot of mentors about what I might want to do. And that's how I got my master's in health care. I thought I wanted to be a counselor, but that path kind of went a different direction through my work and like I ended up in business development. So I was like, okay, I'm probably not going to be a counselor, like that's not what, where this path and journey is taking me, but I have that in the event. I might want to do it, but it's just not where God has.

Speaker 1: 7:03

My God has led me you know Right, you had mentioned that, um, you went to treatment seven times and that this particular time was unique. What was the unique factor this time? Was it the boundaries that your mom had put in place? Um, or was it something that happened within the treatment center?

Speaker 2: 7:24

So I think it definitely was the fact that I was listening more and open minded to the ideas. But also I had a different crowd that I was around. I had all of the outside noise and vibrations were no longer around me. Um, I didn't have like any friends left in that negative world that I was in that I could go back to. Um, I also in my past had like a abusive boyfriend. Um wasn't, that wasn't an option anymore. Um also, um I, I was in a different place in my life. Um, like I was more willing and ready. Um, I don't. Like I think every time I went to treatment I had some willingness. It just never left.

Speaker 2: 8:23

I don't know if that makes sense because, like I, every time I went to treatment I was wanting it and I was ready, but like it stayed that 30 days. I think that, yes, like the counselors, and like that desire was just still there always. Because, like that, like I am made multiple times, I mean I am made sometimes like one time, the the day I got there, um, and I think, like the, the addiction was stronger than my willingness.

Speaker 1: 8:51

Sure, yeah, and I think, oh, that's great, and when it's your time, it's your time, and that's so true, and you know it's. It's so true what you say, because I believe I had willingness to, um, so why didn't I stay the first time or the you know the second time? And it doesn't mean that people can't make it on the first go, because they absolutely can.

Speaker 2: 9:16

And I did one time before make it like for like three years and I did one at that time. But I think I had some extensive trauma that I needed to work through and sometimes people can just get through to you better than other people. We've learned that and you have to learn to get better than other people.

Speaker 1: 9:39

The big key, I think, too, is, is not just getting sober, but staying sober. So how, how you know? Or so what would you? What would you say to listeners who are struggling right now with, yeah, I've gotten sober for a year, or I've gotten sober for six months, but how are they going to stay that way? Like, what did you do to stay this time?

Speaker 2: 9:58

The work, I say this a lot to people. I mean, I create, I've created and I've always try to like create a foundation for myself and my connections with people that like I can trust and I find like some loyalty with you know, that is really important to me because I think, like, like what we lose in addiction is that trust and honesty, and like people we can depend on is that trust and honesty and like people we can depend on. And so I think for me, like that's my personal experience, of course, but I do think that like we kind of lose that and then also like we need to, we need to stay plugged in and like somehow get through that shame and guilt, because that's what pulls us back in through that shame and guilt, because that's what pulls us back in.

Speaker 1: 10:50

Yeah, yeah, so I like that you just said shame and guilt, because I know for myself I was just, I wanted to get well, but I didn't know what was wrong with me, Right, and so I, I had tried everything you know endocrinologist, psychologist, psychiatrist and just heading in all the wrong directions. And because I was such a failure, I perceived myself as such a failure as getting myself well that I think that kept me out there and kept me being destructive longer, you know. But so this would be a great point to speak a little bit about. You know, it's not that you're a bad person. Great point to speak a little bit about. You know, it's not that you're a bad person, you're a sick person. So, speaking to the disease of alcoholism, like, what have you learned about the disease of alcoholism? Because that's really the crux of this.

Speaker 2: 11:36

Yeah. So I said this on another podcast I was on. I don't think anyone wants to be an addict or an alcoholic, like we didn't grow up and we're like, okay, that's what I want, you know. And I think that that like like we're just numbing to cover up like pain or something that's happened, or in like we really have to dig deep to find out what that is, and like it's hard, like I'm still kind of like, wow, I did that. What is that? Like what? And I'm like slowly revealing that every day and sometimes I find it something else.

Speaker 2: 12:09

Um, like there's multiple things, you know, and like, um, you know, it's just it. Sometimes it just starts with one drink, you know. And like you know, it's just, sometimes it just starts with one drink, you know, and then you have two and then three, and then it spirals, you know. And so I think that the science of it all can be very difficult to understand. You know what I mean. And so we really just have to be like patient with ourself and understanding and just like we say, just take it one day at a time and not rush into it, and just, yeah, just kind of be understanding and patient. Yeah, that's like the best way I can.

Speaker 1: 12:56

I can describe it, yeah, yeah. So, um, after you went to treatment and then you got out, you know, I think they say it's like a 50% increase in staying sober. If you immediately get out of detox or a treatment facility and you seek help that day, and it sounds to me like you found a really good counselor fairly quickly that helped you navigate those first couple months that are so difficult, right? So could you talk a little bit about that and how important that is or was for you? Yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 13:33

I think aftercare is so important for individuals when they get out of treatment. I think continuum of care is important. I actually like we say in, like our community here in Austin, like it takes a village, and that means like everybody working together to help the families and the clients. And I believe that like that starts with like the inpatient. If you're an inpatient, like like for the case managers and counselors to help you to continue your care, like we don't just you're not done and then you're just finished, we need to help plug you into aftercare resources. And I think that means like an intensive outpatient program, partial hospitalization, at least a counselor at most, whatever that may be.

Speaker 2: 14:22

And everybody is very unique, like their own individual stories and what's going on with them, and so we really have to find what's a good fit for them. You know, every right now, like in the world, I just feel like it's it's very individualized, it's not a one size fits all, and so we really have to look at each person on an individual basis and like what they may need, um, like personally, financially, in their area, work situation, like what, what may be best for them. And you have to stay plugged in to a community and you have to have some sort of support group, and so, like at Ripple, we have an alumni group that we're trying to grow and keep them plugged in with, and that's really what we're focused on right now with their aftercare, along with outpatient counseling now with their aftercare, along with outpatient counseling.

Speaker 1: 15:19

Yeah, yeah, I think something interesting you said was you spoke about your mom and how she had boundaries and she had been Al-Anon, or may still be.

Speaker 2: 15:24

My mom and my dad have great boundaries.

Speaker 1: 15:26

Yeah, your mom and dad. Yeah, I feel like a lot of parents that may be listening, or people in recovery who are listening have parents that have either had to do the tough love which is so difficult I couldn't imagine, but it usually warrants the best results and then or the other is just being loving and enabling and giving too much where there's nothing happening.

Speaker 2: 15:53

There's no change coming.

Speaker 1: 15:55

And so that's a difficult position for parents to be in, and probably quite heart wrenching and scary also, you know. But um, it seems to me like when your parents put down those boundaries you responded really well. So can you speak to that a little bit?

Speaker 2: 16:11

I can. So, speaking from my personal story, it took my family a long time to get boundaries, and it also my. My mom was in Al-Anon a long time and then my father had custody of my daughter, so I think that he had like a good foundation, like he was able to put up those boundaries a little easier and faster. And then you know, moms and dads like everyone has like a different, a different, like they're a different authority figure in like kids' lives too, so like they may have different boundaries already set in place with their kids. But I think that you know everybody's going to be different with their children and they're going to like need to do whatever they feel is best in their heart and whatever they can live with at the end of the day, and Al-Anon is a great place to start. I also think, like for people in recovery that are working with people like CODA is a great place for us. I do that a lot. Like I read the app on the language of love I think that's what it's called.

Speaker 1: 17:14

Language of letting go.

Speaker 2: 17:15

It also is for love.

Speaker 1: 17:16

I think that's what it's called.

Speaker 2: 17:17

It also is for love. I think that is for loved ones. I should say I think that is really good, like when you work with people in business development or you work with people in in like an admissions on a daily basis. Like that app is like so good to start your day with. Um, it really I'm glad you referenced that.

Speaker 1: 17:34

Probably almost 20 years ago, I read parts of that every morning. I remember it to this day and just recently I said I have to get that again. I have to get that again. So now I will.

Speaker 2: 17:54

Right there.

Speaker 1: 17:54

Yeah, that's a great reference for people. That's Language of.

Speaker 2: 17:56

Letting Go by Melody. Yeah, it's still good. Yeah, I love that one. I think it's good too if you're like in a relationship with someone that you know is also in recovery. It's good just because you're both in recovery. Yeah, I love that.

Speaker 1: 18:08

I love that app Podcasts. We talk so much about taking like a harmful habit and removing it and replacing it with something better. You know that just made us made our lives like happen again. And so what are some of the things that you do today that you were not doing 10 years ago, that have enhanced your life?

Speaker 2: 18:29

I definitely didn't read the Bible 10 years ago and I do that every morning. Didn't read the Bible 10 years ago and I do that every morning. I pause when I speak. I probably didn't do that last year. Um, for the year before, yeah, I give a second thought. I um, I mean there's so many things I do. I. I do fun things. I go on walks, I ride bikes. I have a family Like I didn't. I don't even have, I didn't have a relationship with my daughter. I have a relationship with my daughter now. She's in college. I pay my mortgage.

Speaker 2: 19:05

Like there's simple things in life. I have my own bank account. I mean there's like that's the thing about a gratitude list that I write today. There's like that's the thing about a gratitude list that I write today. There's like simple things in life that like, like people do that I didn't do. I know how to pay a bill. I have a college degree. Like there's just things that I never thought I'd have, that I have. We talked. I mean, right before we got on, I was like putting my dogs away because they were I mean, I never even had a dog. Sure, you know what I mean. Like I had a cat, but with my mom. Yeah, I mean, I know how to like talk to a friend and be a friend. Yeah, you know, or at least I hope. I hope they'd say that too. But yeah, it's like the simple things in life that I took for granted that I have now mm-hmm.

Speaker 1: 19:54

yeah, it's kind of like, you know, when you're in active alcoholism or addiction, there's like this haze around you where you're not really interacting and being a part of your life as you should like. The responsibilities are gone. Like, and I can remember sitting on a beach in Cape May, New Jersey, and I was sober and it was the first year I was sober and I remember sitting there and I looked up and the sky was so blue and I was like, wow, does it always look like that? And the clouds were so white, you know, and I could feel the sand and I saw the dunes. I was like, wow, you know, this is like, this is what everybody has seen, but I have missed, you know.

Speaker 2: 20:38

and now, I get to see it, it was really yeah. I can remember that I totally relate to that Like in the summer in Texas when everyone's like oh my God, it's so hot Cause I don't do cold. I actually said that on my last podcast Um I, um. I sit outside and I put on the music in the morning and just drink a cup of coffee and I'm like this is the life I love it.

Speaker 1: 21:01

Yeah, it's just so meaningful I guess, because it was almost not there, and so there's such a gratitude and just such deep meaning, because it almost wasn't.

Speaker 2: 21:15

We didn't do those things. We were busy I mean for me, I was busy just trying to find money to get my next fix.

Speaker 1: 21:24

Yeah, and so a lot of times we talk about how, when people aren't drinking or they're using drugs or they're immersed in a bad habit that they can't get away from, that is all there is. Everything else is happening around them, but the only thing that they could focus on.

Speaker 1: 21:41

is that? So they talk about it being such a selfish, self-centered part of the disease because you just can't get past it to get to those you love or events, or back into your life or talents. So it's really incredible that you know you went to seven treatment centers but you're sitting here today working in one with a master's degree.

Speaker 2: 22:07

It is. Don't make me cry, Jessica.

Speaker 1: 22:12

No, or do I know?

Speaker 2: 22:14

it is is it's too late, I can't do that yeah, and if I can do it, anyone can do it I.

Speaker 1: 22:21

It is no joke, I'm serious sure I was bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom, bottom, with barrel, for real yeah, you talked about miracles in the beginning and I can relate to that. I talk about how I never looked for them because I thought they were never meant for me. And when I got sober, I realized that that was not true and that they were meant for me. So what have you seen you talk about? Your spirituality has grown as a result of this new way of life.

Speaker 1: 22:55

So what have you seen? You know you talk about. Your spirituality has grown as a result of this new way of life. So what? What have you seen that you know has anything? Is there anything big that happened to you? That was evidence that made your faith grow, that you could share.

Speaker 2: 23:07

Yes, so, um 18 years ago, in October of 2000 and um wait, october of of 2005, I actually was in a drive-by shooting and I was shot in the head and another person with me died, and so I should actually not be here. But God saved me in that shooting and I believe that I was meant for more and, like, although that I stayed sober a couple of years after that, um, I believe that I was meant for more and that I'm doing what I was, I'm on my way to do whatever that is and I'm listening to his voice and and believing in the things that he's, you know, speaking to me and yeah, you're fulfilling his purpose for your life.

Speaker 2: 23:58

I am, and you know I mean early on, like with the. That's why I was speaking about trauma in.

Speaker 2: 24:05

you know I had some some mishaps on my way to get to my journey. But you know and I had a CPS case, like I said, and you know, sometimes things don't always work out the way that you think they're going to work out. But you, I really just believe that you have to continue to work on yourself and connect the connection with people and and really just work through those things to get to where you're supposed to.

Speaker 1: 24:29

That is a huge, that's a huge miracle yeah, you were that you were saved from that.

Speaker 2: 24:37

I know I'm I agree, I didn't know that then and I had some you know, uh, you know, I felt like a victim for a while and survivor's remorse and things like that, and I didn't even recognize what those things meant until I spoke to the right people, but I just continued to push through, and I hate to use the word push.

Speaker 1: 24:58

What did recovery look like for an injury like that?

Speaker 2: 25:02

I actually was only in the hospital for 10 days and I was up walking around and I didn't know I had a bullet in my head and then, when, when I started to bleed, like through my nose, I realized that there was probably something wrong when we were on the way to the hospital, and so the bullet actually was lodged in my sagittal sinus, where your blood flows, and so they decided to leave it in. My dad made that decision, which was a wise decision, and it stayed there for a couple of years after and it worked its out like a foreign object does, and you know a place it's not supposed to be, and it fell out a couple of years later and I don't have a bullet in my head anymore, I just have a little hole. Yes, that's what I mean by miracles. Yeah, and that is just one miracle of many miracles in my life.

Speaker 1: 25:45

Incredible.

Speaker 2: 25:46

Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, I know.

Speaker 1: 25:50

I know, I know it's not expecting you to say that.

Speaker 2: 26:01

Everyone says that, and so, yeah, yeah, I don't even expect it when I'm saying it, and I only recently started sharing that it took a long time. Well, what a gift. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 26:06

Yeah, so I'm so grateful that you did that. That takes a lot of courage to talk about something that big. But what a gift you are, then you know like what, what a gift you are to other people just from being here saying that and then working in the field that you're working in, with a story like that, like a testimony, like that, it's incredible. I'm so glad you're still here. Me too. How has your relationship with your daughter changed? She?

Speaker 2: 26:32

she is so supportive. She loves that I'm in recovery. She like blasts it, she hearts it.

Speaker 1: 26:43

She tells me I was like proud of me that she is, she's amazing. When did you start working?

Speaker 2: 26:44

at the Ripple Ranch Recovery Center. I actually started there in December of 2017.

Speaker 1: 26:48

December is like a big month for me.

Speaker 2: 26:50

My birthday is my. Yeah, I started December of 2017. So I've been there six years.

Speaker 1: 26:57

So how many clients do they have there?

Speaker 2: 26:59

Is it something where people can stay, or yeah, we have 35 total patients that we could have at one time. We're on 25 acres and it's an inpatient treatment center. We do detox substance abuse residential and mental health residential and we're an in-network provider so we take all insurances, except right now we don't take Medicaid and Medicare. You know, just like I've seen so many people have success and they haven't, you know they haven't been back, they just stay in our alumni program but then again, like relapse is a part of my story, so it is a part of other people's stories and we're there to catch them when they fall and help them get through that as well.

Speaker 1: 27:39

Being in the business that you're in, I know there's different drugs and things that come in and out you know there's, there was the opioid epidemic and, and before that it was you know like math, and then you know now everybody's smoking and like so there's just all these waves of like what's going on, and so I don't know if one is more harmful than another?

Speaker 1: 28:06

Do they all kind of play the same when, in excess, anything is terrible and it's not good? Yes, that's a great question. I mean, I think, in general, anything is terrible and it's not good. Yes, that's a great question.

Speaker 2: 28:12

I mean, I think in general, like drugs are bad right, I mean like just say that but I think fentanyl is extremely harmful because you can do barely any and you could die. And like one pill kills is like a huge campaign right now and I absolutely agree with that. I think, too, like fentanyl can be laced in anything and no one know, and that's the danger of fentanyl, I think. But I also I mean I fentanyl is just terrible. Like kids, young kids, like young, young, adolescent kids are getting a pill from a friend and it's laced and they're dying and they didn't even know it and that's, that's not okay.

Speaker 1: 28:51

Yeah. So what is that campaign? I've heard of it, but it could you talk about that for.

Speaker 2: 28:56

Yeah, one Kill, kill. So I live in Hayes County so it's big here and it's on all like billboards and stuff and I've known, you know, some families that have been like impacted by that um with deaths and just like addiction, and so it's really something I care about and also I'm a part of the Austin tap board here and like we're going to have a big campaign at our, at our symposium that we're doing in May. So but one pill kills is simply saying that like you cannot just take one pill, like if you take one pill you could die. And it's absolutely true and that's what the mothers are trying to say and the families, even the dads, but really mothers are leading that campaign. A lot of kids will play like that bowl game where you put a pill in the bowl and then you just put your hand in it and take it out and take the pill, and that's not a game that we should be playing anymore.

Speaker 1: 29:53

Yeah, it's over, it's like rolling a revolver.

Speaker 2: 29:55

You know, sure, sure, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 1: 30:00

That's a really good analogy because, wow, that that's what it is. That's what it is. Yeah, those are. Those are hard but really necessary conversations that we need to have with our kids. And how young would you say to have that conversation as a health care administrator? How young would you?

Speaker 2: 30:18

say Teenager.

Speaker 1: 30:19

Teenager.

Speaker 2: 30:20

Yeah, I mean, I think everyone that's what I'm going to do. I mean, I've already had those conversations with my daughter, which is a benefit to you know the things she's already seen and been exposed to it. Yeah, so, but I have a four-year-old son as well, and we'll be talking about that when he hits teenager, maybe even 12.

Speaker 1: 30:39

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 30:39

But that's personal. I mean, I think every family can decide on their own. But that's what I would suggest, being in this industry.

Speaker 1: 30:46

Here's. Here's a big myth or illusion that disillusion that I had that literally delayed my recovery. I can recall sitting on the back porch steps of my brother's house. This was when there was like phone books and I knew somewhere inside of me. I knew that I needed help.

Speaker 1: 31:07

I opened it and I thought you know what, maybe I'll go to a treatment center, that's what I could use. And I remember sitting there opening that book. But then I closed it and I said to myself it's too expensive, nevermind. And so I never went and I didn't get help for years after that. Now I didn't ask for help from anybody.

Speaker 1: 31:31

I could have walked in that house and told my family that I needed help and they would have bent over backwards and sold homes to get me help. I mean, they just would have done that, but I didn't have the words to ask and I thought treatment is way too expensive, I'm never going to be able to go, so I just took it off the table. Is that true? Or where and how can people get help if they feel like they don't have the resource or the financial stability to get to where you're offering help?

Speaker 2: 32:00

That is a great question. So treatment is a wide range, so you don't have to have insurance to get into treatment. And then it's definitely a sliding scale depending upon where you're going. There are some that are less and there are some that are more. It really depends on, like, what type of amenities you're looking for, and even then, some of the ones with amenities offer like sliding scale or scholarships.

Speaker 2: 32:25

It's kind of also a little bit about like who knows who and like who you're calling. So I would always suggest picking up the phone and start making the calls. I I just suggest always trying and picking up the phone or talking to a family, yeah, reaching out, um, exactly, um, but I understand that that's scary. Um, but if they don't know you, then it doesn't't really matter. You know what I mean. Like there's no harm in trying if they don't.

Speaker 2: 32:54

Everything is confidential. Like nobody, nobody knows who you are. If you're just giving your name, you know. And if you run insurance or something, no one your insurance doesn't actually know that you're running the insurance. We've gotten people who don't have insurance and, like I still call them and we figure out where to put them or we get get them in contact of who can help them. So I would just suggest not giving up and reaching out and trying to find placement if you need it. It's unbelievable how the community like helps, like everyone, and calls and tries to find resources and goes to great lengths we'll say like we say in the book, and all to find help for people Like I was so ashamed I just didn't call anyone for a long time when I did finally make the call, it was like immediate.

Speaker 1: 33:40

Yeah, help was immediate, it was right there the whole time.

Speaker 2: 33:45

That is a good piece in here to say there are so many people willing and ready to help you.

Speaker 1: 33:52

Well, could you share with us just where we can find you and if anyone wanted to connect or reach out in particular with you?

Speaker 2: 33:57

Absolutely. Ripple Ranch Recovery Center. Our phone number is 210-405-1645. If you wanted to check out our website, it's wwwrippleranchcom, and we will be ready to help anyone. Like I said, it doesn't matter if you have insurance or not. We'll get you connected with the resources.

Speaker 1: 34:18

Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate you sharing your story and your hope. I appreciate you Thank you.

Speaker 2: 34:26

It was, it was a blast, it was a blast.

Speaker 1: 34:33

Thank you for tuning into the Sober Living Stories podcast. If you have been inspired, consider subscribing and sharing with anyone who could use hope in their lives. Remember to stay tuned for more inspiring stories in the episodes to come. To view our featured author of the month or to become a guest yourself, visit wwwjessicastephanoviccom.