Service Spotlight

Laarni McCarver has been promoted to Residential Manager at ARC. Laarni also obtained her CARES certification in October and is Team ARC’s newest Certified Peer Specialist in Addictive Disease.

Congratulations on both counts, Laarni!

As ARC continues to grow, we are fortunate to continue to attract quality staff.
Please help us welcome our two new Residential Assistants:

Jay Humphries

Tim Lawrence

Soon after our residents get here, before they can advance from Stabilization to Phase One, they write a Goodbye Letter to their addiction. Each month we will share one of those letters with you.

To: My Addiction

When we met you brought joy and happiness into my life. But after some time I became miserable and unhappy. You were there for good times and bad times. You made me feel good, you took away my pain at times. You made me feel relaxed. And sometimes you made me feel strong and courageous, only to later bring me to my knees and make me weak. I was confident, but I became doubtful. So much was taken from me when we stayed together. We have been apart for [more than] a year now. I have got a lot back and I continue meeting goals. Its been hard and I have struggled with a lot, but I am glad you’re not a part of my life anymore. I’m happy again, not miserable. I feel good! I’m positive and focused and I have good people in my life that don’t drag me down or try to #*%! me over. I sleep better and look forward to each day and what its going to bring me. If I should run into you again I will turn my back to you because there is no room for you in my life. You are no good for me. Goodbye and good riddance.

The resident that wrote the Goodbye Letter above came to ARC over a year ago and like most people who come into recovery, he was experiencing a good deal of ambivalence. Making the transition from active addiction into recovery causes these mixed feelings, these contradictory ideas: I want something different, but I don’t think I can do it. Or, this is killing me, I need to stop, but maybe I can control it better if I try harder. When he came into ARC, he said, ” I can never, ever use methamphetamine again, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to have a beer or two every once in a while. “

This resident experienced all that ambivalence during his first six months in treatment. He even tried having “a beer or two” when he went home on a pass early on, but found that wasn’t something he wanted. In some recovery groups, one might hear that a return to using, or a relapse, is the jarring experience that breaks through the ambivalence of early recovery. And this seems to be the case for this resident.

In the months following that brief return to drinking alcohol, his attitude has turned around completely, he’s focused on his recovery and what will best serve him in the future, and he’s recently stated that “being able to have a beer or two every once in a while” isn’t something he wants any longer, and in fact is not something he believes will ever keep him moving in the direction he wishes to move.

From a relationship he had to let go to the mending of other relationships he wasn’t sure could ever be restored, this resident continues to learn how to live life as it shows up. He has decided to stay close to ARC when he graduates, to stay close to his recovery network, and to give himself even more time to build upon the foundation he has been solidly constructing for the past year and a half.

That’s recovery!

We would like to thank Reign Streiter of Team Reign for his most generous donations raised on behalf of Acceptance Recovery Center through the Give Back Real Estate program. ARC continues to be blessed by the Athens-area community!

Click here to learn more about the Give Back Real Estate program.