Letter from CEO

For most alcoholics and addicts the core issues center around three main areas; thoughts, emotions and actions. On average a person will have around 4,000 distinct thoughts per day. Most are innocuous, mundane and are forgotten right after they pop up. But with an alcoholic or addict their brain is no longer their own. Bio-Chemical hijacking will focus the mind on several key topics; finding the resources needed to purchase the alcohol or drug, physically acquiring the alcohol or drug and consuming the alcohol or drug. If lying assists in that process then ethics and morals be damned. Those who act in way contrary to their beliefs are practicing ego-dystonic behaviors. The fact is very few addicts are able to maintain their core beliefs and carry on an active addiction. This conflict between belief and behavior renders a person feeling helpless, confused and worthless. Their self-esteem suffers, their finances suffer and they can hardly believe how difficult life has become. They have difficulty in correlating addiction with suffering. In their mind the alcohol or drugs are their medicine for alleviating personal suffering. An addict’s thinking eventually becomes so distorted they can hardly discern what is true from what is false. “I need this,” is one of the most common thoughts of an addict or alcoholic. Active alcoholics and drug addicts will always give up what they really want (family, happiness, money, etc.) for what they want (alcohol, drugs, relief) right now. They have become victims of their own thoughts and emotions. They have lost the power of choice and will take this lifestyle to the bitter end without help. The first step in beginning a new life is admitting there is a problem. The next step is asking for help. At our facilities we recognize the difficulty people have with that process. We know what it’s like because we have been there. We are not a hospital or a clinic we are an alcohol detox and alcohol rehab determined to help our brothers and sisters overcome a seemingly hopeless state of mind and body. We believe in what we do because we know it works. We know it works because it is working in our lives each and every day. I wish we could help everyone find what we have found. Sobriety is a gift for an alcoholic, because it means that person has overcome not only drinking but the mental obsessions that precede that first drink. Those feelings of helplessness, confusion and worthlessness are eradicated from our psyche. We have found a way to live life on life’s terms. I wish that everyone who reads this statement can receive the gift of life that I have been given. I owe my recovery to the many men and women who shared their experience, strength and hope with me. Those people who cared for me when I was unable to care for myself. To those unselfish mentors, I have the utmost respect and appreciation.

Sincerely, Kenneth John Nersten