Florida in the fall is a blessing. The blazing heat of summer recedes and we welcome drier air and slightly cooler temperatures with a return to the forest and fresh water rivers of the interior. We journeyed inland to Polk County to paddle the Peace River, a place favored by adventurers interested in fossilized shark teeth and prehistoric mammal bones. The men paired off into canoes and we paddled along the river for several hours, pausing occasionally to observe wildlife be

Gyotaku is where trophies meet art, where celebration meets reverence. John led our guys in a new kind of experiential—less pulse-pounding and more thought-provoking—making Gyotaku. More than a hundred years ago, fishermen in Japan developed a specialized printing technique to record their prized catches called gyotaku. The premise is fairly simple: dab ink or paint along one side of a fish’s body and press rice paper against it. Gyotaku became a way for anglers to settle dis

Family participation in the recovery process is crucial and we are honored by the trust and commitment families give us. Family members are deeply affected by their loved one’s addiction and need their own path to recovery, and family recovery creates a much healthier environment in support of their loved one’s recovery. At Voyage, we put a heavy emphasis on family support. Each week our clinical staff spends time working directly with the families of our patients. Families a

Service work is an important element of our innovative experiential program. At Voyage, service work is meant to connect our men with our community. Service work can be such a rewarding experience, and it teaches our men to to give back when most of us are used to taking. In the past, we’ve helped our community by volunteering for venerable local charities, like Quantum House, an organization that provides a homelike environment for families of young children receiving hospit

The day your family asks you to go to treatment is a hard day. In anger, through tears, or steeped in quiet resignation you agree to go, promising you’ll try. But you also secretly, privately, promise your addiction that this will just be a temporary set-back. That after treatment you can still have a little, that you don’t have to let your life unravel, that this doesn’t mean the end. Most of us go to treatment with an idea of how we’re going to beat the system, find a looph

“I hope one day you can be at my house with your kids, hanging out on the porch while they play, talking about property taxes or your next vacation.” “I’m grateful you told the truth about your drug problem, I’m grateful that you helped our family—we would have never talked like this.” “I’m afraid we’re going to do all this and you’re going to go back to the same thing.” Speaking with intention When parents and patients come together for their first group exercise as part of

Trouble at school, work, or home, running afoul of the law, stealing, dishonesty, and behaviors that put him at risk of hospitalization or worse: this is just a snapshot of what some families must deal with when they love someone with a substance use disorder. When someone you love is struggling with a substance use disorder, parents, siblings, partners and children must adapt, patterning their behavior around dealing with a person in crisis. When a person in crisis brings th

It was a last-man-standing style shoot-off. We went in with five guys, each guy had five paintballs in his gun, and we tackled the biggest course. The stakes were high. One hit and you were out. It was more like an assassin’s game than the typical paintball free-for-all favored by most. In the end it was a stand-off between two guys, and one of these guys was out of ammo. The guy who could still take a shot had a reputation for being the most outspoken of our patients, and ce

What’s the last thing you think before you fall asleep? What’s the first thing you think in the morning? “Is he okay?” The young man in your life might be stealing; being dishonest; getting in trouble at work, school, or with the law; he might be taking risks with his life that result in hospitalization or worse. As a family member, as someone who loves someone who’s struggling with a substance use disorder, you’ve likely been forced to adapt your behavior to a person who isn

Good clinicians know that good treatment followed by good continuing care has good outcomes. That seems like a no-brainer, doesn’t it? One of the most important services a treatment center can provide is a rock-solid continuing care plan. Continuing care is the plan devised by your treatment center’s clinical team that addresses each patient’s specific needs, his relationship with his family, and his post-treatment environment. At Voyage, a continuing care plan might include

When you’re the family member of a young person struggling with a substance use disorder, life takes on a very different look and feel. We call addiction the “family disease” because everyone in the family is affected. Do you feel sad, angry, worried, frustrated, disappointed? Do you feel responsible for the pain your child is in, or guilty about the effect this might have on your other children? Do you feel ashamed, embarrassed, or alone? These are all normal and natural thi

It’s not uncommon for folks to wonder, “Does my kid really need treatment, or does he just need a good dose of discipline?” Voyage is in the business of providing treatment to young men struggling with addiction, so we’re always going to answer yes, your son does need treatment. This question makes sense, and it speaks to an idea many of us were raised on. Using discipline and consequences simply won’t work for someone with a diagnosed substance use disorder. Understanding th

We often hear this question from parents in one form or another — How is fishing going to get my son sober? What does hiking have to do with recovery? Why does it matter that your patients go kayaking? The answer is simple: For the pure joy of it. There is no denying that the journey of recovery involves a lot of hard work—because it does. At Voyage the work of recovery involves countless hours spent sharing in group, or talking with a counsellor one on one, participating in

Our team travels around the country talking to respected clinicians -- therapists, psychiatrists, collegiate recovery directors, program directors, interventionists and others -- with an aim to tell more folks about our program, but also to hear about what professionals in our industry are saying. How is our industry really serving our population of young people struggling with substance use disorders and their families, and where could we do better? What programs are helping