Don’t Let Addiction Overcome Your Life. Recovery Is Possible
Here at The Dunes we are proud to have many successful addiction recovery stories. These are real stories from people who have struggled with drug addiction or alcohol addiction and found life in recovery.
Below Are Real Alcohol Recovery Stories:
I wanted to thank you for providing me with a life-changing experience at The Dunes. I arrived to The Dunes – a very frightened and spiritually bankrupt alcoholic and addict. From my very first experience with speaking to Denise over the phone to my first warm welcome to the house, I was surrounded by comfort and safety.
Slowly but surely, I began to partake in the activities and meetings that your facility introduced me to – your staff’s encouragement led me to the rooms of AA, where I have since remained now for eight months. I learned about my feelings and to trust with the help of equine therapy. Meditation, once a foreign concept to me, began to shift my focus to the present moment and finding peace with God. Art therapy taught me that when sober, my creativity is even more prevalent. Hypnotherapy helped to alleviate my anxiety so that I could breathe and live more freely day by day. Yoga helped me to combine my physical, spiritual and mental self together as one. Acupuncture was a very cleansing experience. I found the DBT therapy most helpful, as it taught me how to interact as a human being once again. The spiritual guidance I received from Steve was priceless – I was fortunate enough to have a spiritual awakening at The Dunes, which was a real miracle. Everyone from the counselors to the techs to the chefs was kind and each person helped me along my road to recovery in their own special way.
I left The Dunes with a strong foundation to continue building my program of recovery on. Just as importantly, I left The Dunes with a desire to live – something that I have not felt since I was a child. I am eternally grateful to you and your tremendous staff.
— A.S.
My experience at this facility saved my life. I am a professional with high level of education, although I had been struggling with alcoholism and addiction for over 20 years. I was a patient at over 10 facilities in the past 10 years, with no improvement. Everyone in my life had given up on me, including myself. People who knew me thought, “he is highly educated and professional, why can’t he just stop?!” At The Dunes, I was exposed to an approach I had never seen at any other facility. The professionals who worked with broke down my life into several different areas including: growing up in an alcoholic family, trauma caused by my past, my mental outlook on things and my underlying anxiety and depression. I was shown that yes, I had many issues, but the conclusion was that I have a disease called alcoholism and I needed to treat that disease. The Dunes showed me a way to finally look at myself and not the external factors in my life that always seemed to lead me to another drink. The Dunes continuing support after my departure has kept me accountable for my continuing recovery with the support of professionals and a sober community to help me get through the day.
— K.L.
After visiting four treatment centers starting in 2003 and having had several relapses, I found The Dunes. It was in the beautiful setting, the serene environment, and the world-class care that I discovered myself and began my journey of recovery. The first class cuisine, the comfortable setting, the kind and caring professional staff all provided me with the opportunity to get well and heal. As I come up on 10 months clean and sober, my heart is filled with gratitude for the gift that the dunes has given me. My life is filled with joy, laughter, and peace which I thought was forever removed from my life. I am no stranger to tragedy. My brothers death, my parents’ divorce. These all paved the way for me to begin using drugs at a young age. Hospital visits, debt, destroyed relationships, and a shattered self-esteem led me once again to seek treatment in 2012.
I will be forever grateful to The Dunes for helping me make my life what it is today. I could not have done this without them.
— M.
I came to the Dunes in March of 2011 after almost drinking myself to death, and a two-week stay in New York hospitals intensive care unit. I had been relapsing for almost a decade and had been in treatment in over a dozen facilities. I was hopeless and as lost as I’ve ever been. As I approach my 2nd anniversary, I am once again living a sober life with purpose, meaning and direction. The Dunes succeeded in providing me with a sense of dignity and self-respect I’ve never experienced in my life. I owe a debt of thanks and gratitude beyond measure to the Dunes. They succeeded through an enlightened approach and a variety of treatment options in returning me to a purposeful life.
— JR
“You have a wonderful team. The Dunes came into our lives at the right time…our son has adapted tremendously well and seems to have embraced sobriety under your guidance. And thank you for the many, many family counseling sessions and giving us the tools to cope. My wife and I are better people today than we were when we first met with the Dunes staff 5 months ago. Thank you…the Dunes will be a memorable part of my life as will your staff and the wonderful service that they are providing. This scourge, this illness… needs your continued service. If we can be of any help, kindly let us know.”
— R.S. (The father of a 23 year old Dunes client)
Staying at The Dunes was the greatest experience of my life. The staff is so caring and your programs are wonderful. Everyone was always there for me. Thanks for giving me my life back. I’m so happy!
— D.M.