Outcomes
Occasionally someone will contact NCWC wanting to know what our success rates are. That’s an interesting question. On one hand, I firmly believe that those participating in our programs will have an opportunity to engage in a holistic range of therapeutic ideas and healing practices. Anyone who is ready for change, can explore a variety of resources to re-create themselves through our services; clients will have to work very hard to remain the same at NCWC.
On the other hand, sometimes our best efforts to assist others fail to produce the kind of change we hope for…or does it?
Years ago we worked with a young man (lets call him Bob). Bob was addicted to meth and was arrested for felony possession of the drug. Bob’s addiction left him broke, unemployed, isolated and incarcerated. Bob was a first-time, non-violent offender so he as eligible for drug diversion programming; he was ‘sentenced’ to treatment at NCWC. Bob was angry, resistant, and ashamed. He continued to use while in treatment, denied the positive results of his drug screens, complained bitterly to staff and probation, enlisted the support of his enabling mother, and eventually dropped out of the program.
Bob vanished for six years, then one day re-appeared at the reception desk asking for me – I was informed that a man was in the lobby and wanted to talk to me. Bob introduced himself (I remembered) then he broke into tears of gratitude wanting to thank me for the profound difference IOP made in his eventual recovery. He had eventually found sobriety, relationship, fatherhood, and meaning in life, though not in the short time he spent at NCWC. Somewhere in Bob’s evolution, he remembered a tough-love approach that confronted the reality of his situation. Bob also remembered a reference attributed to Yoda;
Go figure. Bob’s journey through NCWC (along with numerous other influential other people, places, things, and Star War catch phrases) transformed him from a human being fused to meth and fear to a spirited human being, capable of repairing relationships, generating functional new ones, and experiencing hope and joy.
‘You can’t step into the same river twice’; life is dynamic, change is a certainty, and also a mystery. Unpredictable and paradoxical at times, change has its own timeline; not dictated by managed care, the criminal justice system, treatment centers, therapists, or family members. Bob’s story is not unique. Human beings constantly evolve and transform into better versions of themselves. When people tap into their own innate healing potential, this kind of transformative change is not just possible, it is probable.
-John
