I Yelled at the Sky for God to Give Me an Answer. That Answer was Narconon.

I tried over and over again to get and stay clean. I became a regular at detox centers. I did 30-day in-patient. I did IOP. I did meetings. None of those things worked for me. I thought to myself, why isn’t there a treatment center that does things holistically? Why are folks telling me I’m going to be an alcoholic forever? It was like being set up for failure. Narconon was the answer to those questions. Instead of doing therapy where I found myself being evaluated, a Narconon staff member taught me how to dig deep within myself to work things out. A mindset that is stuck in the past will give you depression and a mindset that’s stuck in the future will give you anxiety. Both things are triggers to use drugs and alcohol. Group therapy didn’t work for me because it was like one big pity party. Using what I was taught, I was able to find out who I actually was underneath the alcohol. It didn’t require years of therapy. 

Another aspect of the program that was amazing was drug-free withdrawal. They had me see a doctor upon arrival who came to the conclusion that it would be the best thing if I spent a few days at a detox facility because I was a seizure risk. So, I did that. Looking back at the time, it was painful. Kicking anything your body is addicted to is not going to be pretty. The staff made sure I was comfortable. I was treated with care. I had tremors to the point I couldn’t even hold a utensil to feed myself. For 2 weeks, one of the staff would feed me. I’ll be forever grateful for that.

“The staff made sure I was comfortable. I was treated with care. I had tremors to the point I couldn’t even hold a utensil to feed myself. For 2 weeks, one of the staff would feed me. I’ll be forever grateful for that.” 

I had trouble sleeping. I was used to drinking to the point of passing out. They gave me natural sleep aids rather than giving me prescriptions. Another thing that really helped reset my body was the sauna. After a couple of weeks of being in sauna, I found myself falling asleep naturally and waking up ready for the day, which is something I hadn’t experienced in years.

By the time I was done with sauna, I felt like I was 18 again. As a result of my alcohol usage, I developed stomach issues. I had acid reflux and IBS really bad. My digestive tract was nearly destroyed. I was on prescription medication for it. I took those about the first 45 days I was in the program. By the time I was done in sauna, my body healed itself of those ailments and I was able to stop taking the medication.

Regrets and resentments are something that used to haunt me. I was given the opportunity to write my wrongs and get it all out. It was a grueling process for me but it was worth it. The healing I got from doing that changed my life. Another thing that is unique about this facility is there is no time limit to your stay. Most other places I have been to, sent me home after 21, 28, or 30 days. I felt incomplete each time, like I had barely scratched the surface of what I needed to do. Narconon allowed me to work at my own pace and take all the time I needed.

Everyone is different and they know this. I always had issues in other rehabs because a lot of the people that worked there never struggled with addiction. I couldn’t relate to them, they couldn’t relate to me, so I couldn’t confide in them. Matt Wiggins was there for me whenever I was coming undone to help me through some of the hardest stuff I ever dealt with. He spent many hours with me when I was struggling to cope. Spiritually and emotionally I was dead. I was numb. I felt nothing. When I started to feel again, I didn’t know what to do with it. All the pain and trauma I suppressed over the years surfaced. Not one staff member judged me, ridiculed me, or made me feel less than. It was like a family rallying together to help a loved one through a crisis. They worked with me, they never gave up, they loved me when I didn’t love myself, they saw what I wasn’t able to see in myself and helped me discover it. 

I owe my life to this place because they gave it back to me when I barely had a pulse.

“I owe my life to this place because they gave it back to me when I barely had a pulse.”

Mikey O., Narconon Colorado Graduate