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As a regular practice, intention setting is a powerful tool for changing behaviors and ingraining new habits. Intentions help you gain control of your life by giving meaning to your daily actions. They’re like stepping stones that you’re consciously laying down to create a path forward. Clear intentions help you focus on your goals and give you the confidence to accomplish them. They're personal and internally motivated for a reason. When you set intentions that align with your own beliefs, and are not influenced by what others are telling you, committing to them will feel more rewarding and less like a chore. When thinking about your intentions for yourself, begin with these basic questions: Who do you want to become? What will it take to get there? How will the new version of yourself differ from the person you are right now? Once you have the vision, you’ll need to create intentions that are specific and achievable. Here are some other examples: Today I will: Open myself to new possibilities without fear of failure Be present in the moment without living in the past Embrace my challenges instead of running from them Focus on what I can control and not on what’s out of my hands Do something that brings me joy for at least one hour We encourage patients and the families we work with to make intention setting a daily practice. Say them to yourself in the morning, then make time at the end of each day to revisit them. Did your behavior align with your intentions? You can even set time aside to examine them in the middle of your day. If your actions are not meshing with your intentions, see what you can shift so you can get closer to the mark. Build on the intentions that are working, and modify the ones that aren’t bringing you a sense of accomplishment. If meeting them isn’t satisfying, or requires more than you’re capable of giving, they’re not worth keeping. The idea is to set intentions that add to your life, not take away from it.

We hear a variation of this question from most families we talk to and we want to explore this idea deeper so every family can see the many factors that influence how family members experience, view, and approach a loved one who is struggling. The suggestion that someone needs an attitude adjustment (or stricter boundaries, or harsher consequences, or a kick in the butt—however you choose to express it) implies that what’s happening is a behavioral issue and reduces it to a series of bad choices your loved one is making. It also implies that what’s happening is that young man’s own responsibility to fix by sheer force of will. Some families feel uncomfortable about the reality of a substance use disorder and the long-term social, academic and professional hurdles it signals. But it also reveals a common thread amongst family members who want the issue contained: whatever is happening, they would prefer to fix it at home without outside intervention or disrupting his life and theirs. If this is your first time exploring treatment options, it could be hard to articulate what’s going on beyond something not feeling right with your loved one—a typically bright, funny, charismatic young man whose light seems to have faded and you don’t know why. You might be experiencing his changed behavior first-hand if he’s living with you, but if he’s living with another parent or in another state, you might be picking up clues and context cues that are more subtle and nuanced. It can be hard to know what’s going on, and harder still to get your co-parent on the same page. What’s your experience of his situation? In our first conversations with families, we like to discuss not just his history but also your experiences of his behavior. Getting a family history and background provides us with insight that shapes our treatment recommendations. Parents have described a broad spectrum of behavior and context to us, running the gamut from tense conversations and deception to encounters with the law or periods of hospitalization. Some young men are detached or unreachable for days on end, never picking up calls or returning text messages. Some become angry or violent, lashing out at family members or others close to them. Some are high-achieving students, athletes or professionals whose performance has suddenly nose-dived. Some act recklessly, taking risks, breaking rules, or even breaking the law. Family members, even in the same house, can have differing experiences of his behavior, disagreeing on how serious the problem is and how intense the intervention needs to be. When we have these discovery conversations together, we can help you lay out your experiences and insights in a way that paints a detailed picture, providing vital context and insight. It’s normal to want to minimize An important caveat for families reading this article: if you have caught yourself minimizing, normalizing or shrugging off his behavior, you are not alone. It is normal to wish for this to be “just a phase” or that he can “go back to the way he was” or for his substance use to be “just experimenting”. Let’s put a big mental asterisk on all of these ideas that seek to minimize what’s going on. Consider that by the time they’re high school seniors, most students (around 70%) will have tried alcohol and about half will have tried drugs. In other words, most young men in their early 20s first came into contact with drugs and alcohol years before now. Is it possible that what you’re seeing is him experimenting with drugs or alcohol for the first time? Yes, it’s possible. But it’s statistically unlikely and in a more practical sense, it’s a dangerous assumption if it causes you to delay taking action. Many family members feel drive to help their loved one in tandem with the desire to not upset the delicate balance of their relationship with him. There’s a strong urge to choose options that aren’t disruptive to his school, work or lifestyle. At Voyage, we think that interrupting his current lifestyle is an important step towards building a healthier one. Substance use disorder is diagnosable This is maybe the single-most important factor to consider if you’re a family member who’s asking some variation of the question “does he just need an attitude adjustment?” Substance use is a more complex issue if it’s a traceable pattern, is causing social, physical or mental health problems, or puts him in risky situations—like something that could get him hurt or arrested. When these outcomes start to cluster together, coupled with repeated, prolonged substance use and the belief that he can't function without drugs or alcohol, we look at the possibility of a substance use disorder. Substance use disorder is no one’s fault Having a substance use disorder is not a character flaw or a moral failing on his part—or yours. It's a chronic illness that should be approached with the same compassion and clinical skill as any other disorder. You can allow yourself to re-frame his behavior in the context of a medical illness. It may also help you to understand there are a variety of risk factors that might increase his vulnerability to a substance use disorder. One of the most significant contributing factors to developing a substance use disorder is genetics—things like a family history of substance abuse or mental illness. Co-occurring mental health disorders can also be an important contributing factor—depression, anxiety, bipolar, or ADHD often show up alongside substance use disorders. There are also environmental factors, like early exposure to trauma, acute or chronic stress, growing up in a home where alcohol is easily accessible, or going to schools where there is a high prevalence of drug use. Our brains are wired to repeat behaviors we need to survive, or that make us feel good. Drugs can hijack this process: prolonged use can lead to an irresistible compulsion to keep using, even if the consequences are severe. No one can choose how their brain and body will react to drugs and alcohol in the short-term or over long periods of time. Many substances have a pretty immediate effect on brain chemistry, and those changes will directly affect his behavior, personality, and his judgment— which is why it’s vital to distinguish between addiction and bad behavior. An attitude adjustment can’t undo the effects of prolonged substance use. Substance use disorder is treatable At Voyage, one of the most important and effective therapeutic approaches we use is cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). As far as evidence-backed approaches go, this one has significant evidence of its efficacy, both in research and clinical practice. CBT is based on the principles that psychological problems, including depression, anxiety disorders, alcohol and drug use problems, eating disorders, and severe mental illness are based on faulty or unhelpful ways of thinking, on learned patterns of unhelpful behavior, and that patients can learn better ways of coping, thereby relieving their symptoms. We dive deep into distorted thinking, behavioral patterns, and sharp-edged emotions in a safe and supportive way, helping him examine old beliefs critically and make decisions about how he’d rather live. Individual therapy is a vital place for discovery, and group therapy helps our men learn to seek support and accountability from their peers, while living more honestly, openly and vulnerably. Therapy at Voyage leads a man through introspection and self-discovery, processing his feelings in real time, and learning how his thoughts, feelings and memories affect his behavior. It’s an approach that shows him how his emotions and behaviors are connected—that how he thinks affects the way he feels and the way he acts. When negative feelings show up, we hold them up to the light, challenge them, then help him construct new patterns that honor the man he wants to be. The best time to look for treatment options Here’s the truth about treatment: it’s going to be disruptive. It’s going to interrupt his life, and whatever he has going on at the moment, whether that’s college or a career or a relationship. But this disruption is a good thing. Some families believe that he needs to “hit rock bottom” before he can get help. No matter how high or low his bottom, he’s not going to get any better in a sustained state of relying on drugs and alcohol to get by. And the lowest of bottoms can be truly tragic. We’ve seen that the sooner families intervene, the better the chances their loved one has of lasting recovery. The sooner we can help him break from his old patterns and help him and your family begin to heal, the sooner you can begin the “recovery” phase of your life. Voyage admissions is a thoughtful and measured process—we’ll ask you for a lot of background, as much detail as you can provide about his physical, mental and emotional health, about his relationships, his commitments and responsibilities, whether he’s enrolled in school or in a career, his medical history, and your family history. We’ll want to know if he’s suffered any kind of trauma, if he’s had periods of hospitalization, and we may want to speak with anyone who has treated him previously. Our goal is to create a richly nuanced profile of your loved one so we can determine if Voyage is the right place for him, or if he’d be better suited to a different kind of facility or approach. So what about that attitude adjustment? The Voyage approach combines sophisticated, evidence-based clinical services with an innovative experiential program. He’ll live in our beautiful, well-appointed residence with 14 other young men who are also in early recovery, sharing a bedroom and common spaces. He’ll stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his peers every day, listening, learning, healing, leading, and working together as they all share the journey to recovery together. He’ll be put to the test regularly, put in situations where he’ll have to face uncomfortable thoughts, feelings and memories and push his mind and body to its limits. And he’ll do it all without any access to the substances he’s been using to cope. No part of his daily life is going to feel like life before treatment, but it’s going to lay the foundation for the most important adjustment of his life: his transition into a man in recovery.

Whatever brought you here, chances are good that like many other parents, you’re wondering about treatment for someone you care about. And while you might be wondering if he’s ready for treatment, we’d like you to also consider if you are. Your son might look and live like an adult, but if he is struggling with a substance use disorder he is likely not equipped to make a decision about treatment. His focus is going to be on self- medicating, avoiding consequences, and flying under the radar—and that’s totally normal. Meanwhile, as a parent, your focus is on helping him get back on track to a healthy and meaningful life. Many of the parents we speak to tell us that one of the greatest obstacles to getting him help is timing—specifically, that now isn’t the right time. Maybe when he finishes the semester? Or maybe when he finishes his program? Or maybe he’ll tell us when he’s ready? But time and time again we’ve seen the greatest motivating factor for a young man to get treatment isn’t his own urge to recover—it’s yours. Most of the men we work with walk through our doors because their parents have brought them that far. As a parent, it’s an important question to ask of yourself and your partner: are you able to accept that he needs more help than you can give him on your own? For families of a young man who’s struggling, it can be hard to identify the point when it all became too much. The parents we talk to go to great lengths to make it all work, to keep life flowing. They live in circumstances that many people would find unimaginable. If you’ve read this far, we know you’re not giving up on your loved one. But are you stuck in a holding pattern, or are you ready to take action? You feel like a stranger in your own life Some parents go through their days on autopilot, struggling to focus their attention at work, letting calls and texts from close friends go unanswered, and feeling like they’re not tuned in to their spouse or other children. You’re there in body, but not in spirit because your attention is hyper-focused on your struggling child. It’s important for us to prioritize self-care, like proper eating and sleeping habits, exercise and relaxation, and time with friends and family. Life should feel full and rich! But our ability to care for ourselves and others suffers when someone we love is struggling with addiction. So much physical and emotional bandwidth goes into caring for him, there's little left over for anything else. If you feel like you’re spending too much of your spare time wondering and worrying about your son, you might need some help getting back on track. You’re moonlighting as a detective Where is he now? Where has he been? Who is he with? What is he doing? So many parents struggle to find peace and relaxation at home, some even lay awake all night long with worry. And it’s not unusual for parents to search his room, car, computer, phone and even his social media accounts to look for clues of what’s really going on. You might also know his favorite hiding spots, and have his friends and girlfriend on speed dial. It’s exhausting to monitor him this way. You may even cringe inwardly at your invasion of a young adult's privacy, even if you’re doing it to keep him safe. For some parents, it’s the only way they can sleep at night. But if it doesn’t change his behavior, what’s it all for? You’re an expert-level Googler Turning to the internet for answers is a truly modern way of coping with uncertainty. Questions we're afraid to ask the family doctor or our friends become queries we bring to Google. Those rabbit holes go deep when you’re googling symptoms and remedies (and WebMD can only tell us so much). Doing your own research on substance abuse disorders or mental health issues is normal—it helps you feel like you're doing something. But can you trust the information you’re finding, and does it accurately reflect your own situation at home? There’s some irony here if you found this article thanks to a search engine, but we want to reassure you that the real answers come from clinicians and certified addictions professionals. Unlike the search engine you type your question into, they’ll ask you their own list of questions, and together can help you discover the best course of action to take care of your family. An Alumni Parent we asked told us: “If you’re on the internet looking for answers, you need more help than you’ll find online.” Her advice? Get the biggest and best help available. Your emotions don’t reflect your environment One of the toughest things about living with someone who’s struggling is that your emotions are no longer calibrated. The constant stress of trying to parent a young person who is struggling sends families into a spin. You might feel anxious when everything is quiet in the house. You might feel angry when he’s having a good day. You might feel resentful when you see him at ease. And in the middle of chaos, you might feel eerily calm. You’re probably also experiencing some emotions you’ve haven’t put a name to yet like grief, sorrow, shame, and fear. With the compass of your emotions spinning, it can be hard to find the way forward. You’re trying to bubble-wrap his whole world Lots of parents find that the key to teaching small children is to give them a safe space to try and fail, to make mistakes, and to feel consequences. But as a young adult, the safe spaces you’re creating for him may be cushioning him from too many of the consequences of his own actions. And you may be absorbing the impact yourself. Is there trouble at school, at work or with the law? Intervening in those issues is natural and normal for you as a parent, but is it becoming more than you can handle, especially with behavior that never seems to change? As he’s been struggling, what feels “normal” at home can become a revolving pattern of bad situations he needs your help getting out of. Do you minimize or even normalize his unpredictable behavior, even when it’s risky, self-destructive or impossible to hide? We help so many parents learn how to create and hold important, healthy boundaries and communicate effectively with immersive and ongoing family support. You’re a storyteller devoted to fiction When he was little, he loved your bedtime stories. Now you tell stories to yourself as you stare at the ceiling each night, reframing his behavior to justify his actions. “He’s just having a bad day. He’s under so much pressure. This isn’t who he really is.” The most common story we hear parents tell themselves is that what's happening is their own fault. You may believe that his behavior stems from something you did or didn't do, something you said or didn’t say. You may feel that you’re to blame for whatever has happened because you failed him in some way. This is the hardest thing we hear from parents, because it’s every parent's greatest fear: instead of protecting him you might have caused the hurt he’s feeling. Is your family ready to consider treatment? Here's the truth about family that no one writes in the parenting books: kids can be selfish, moody manipulators who will break the bank and their parents’ hearts. And some of them will also struggle with addiction and mental health. It's absolutely natural and normal for you to worry about your family member, no matter how grown he is, to check up on him in ways that might make you cringe, and to go toe-to-toe with him like it’s a heavyweight title fight. But if you've read the list above and feel like these examples ring true, it might be time to consider getting help. If you’re thinking about treatment (and if you’ve read this far it must be on your radar), the most important thing we want you to know is that you no longer have to go it alone. You’ve done so much for him—kept him safe, tried your best to teach him how to be his best, have been an adaptable, creative, innovative and deeply caring parent. But you don’t have to do it all on your own anymore. Hard truths and deep personal discoveries come with the journey, and we'll help you get there. The road to recovery is long and winding, but it's paved with enlightenment. Your path will have pit stops of perspective, forks of hopes and fears, and panoramic views of happiness and healing. Together, we can create a new roadmap to his future. The destination might start with where you want him to be, then shift to where he needs to be.

A young man in his twenties or thirties who’s struggling with a substance use disorder often has a lot going on all at once. He might be at risk of losing his place at school or his job, his relationships in shreds, his financial future in peril, and there could be legal troubles in the mix as well. We’ve seen again and again that trying to fix one thing works for a moment, but ultimately puts even greater pressure on the other elements of his life caught in the chaos. These men will do their best to cope, but that often means relying on the only thing that’s ever really worked: leaning hard on his substance of choice. And if you’re someone who loves this young man, it means intervening before it’s too late to mitigate the consequences. When our admissions and clinical team begin speaking with families, even before we’ve admitted a young man, the conversations we have quickly escalate far beyond substance use in terms of “what, how much, how often?” We ask about his work life or his school life, about his childhood and teenage years, about his relationships with family, friends, and partners. Our goal is to paint a detailed picture of a young man—not just a substance use disorder When formulating a plan to support a young man struggling with a substance use disorder, we look at the whole man. We recognize that his struggles at work or school, in relationships, with money, with the law, and with a substance use disorder are important pieces of the bigger picture. When we talk about Dual Diagnosis and co-occurring or co-morbid disorders, we’re talking about addressing the mental and/or behavioral health issues that can go hand in hand with addiction. Anxiety, depression, trauma and more can necessitate a young man seeking out coping mechanisms to deal with intolerable feelings and internal experiences. As he goes through life it becomes a pervasive and destructive cycle that interferes with everything meaningful in his life. When we look at Voyage men through the lens of co-occurring disorders we can see that helping him to get sober, while vital, is only one piece of the puzzle. Sobriety can give a man much-needed clarity and an opportunity for insight to himself but it can also feel wildly threatening, like being stripped of your armor and sent into battle unarmed. Intake interviews and assessment It’s our job, as his clinical team, to help him identify what he’s doing battle with, and our investigation begins in pre-admission calls and a bio-psycho-social intake assessment that digs into the nuance of his experience. We rely on family members and those closest to him to share their experiences of how they’ve been affected by his disorder, and we’ll call upon previous clinical service providers to share their insight. In this way, before he’s even crossed the threshold of our facility we’ve begun to build a powerful narrative of his struggle, that will inform our treatment plan. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory We also apply the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), a sophisticated standardized psychometric test for personality and psychosocial disorders in adults. This test is worth noting for a few reasons. First, it transcends bias. Reports from family members, observations from clinicians and self-reporting can all be influenced by that individual’s own bias. Secondly, this assessment can only be administered and interpreted by a psychologist with specialized training. Thirdly, Voyage has a specially trained psychologist on staff who administers this test to all of our patients, giving our treatment team invaluable insight into our patients. High clinician to patient ratio Our exclusive 15 bed facility is staffed by five full-time therapists. Our uncharacteristically high clinician-to-patient ratio affords our team a lot of observation and interaction with our patient. Each therapist also spends a lot of time talking to the family and other loved ones, understanding their experience of his behavior as well as other pre-existing or historical family issues might be relevant. Developing a deep rapport with both the patient and his family members allows our clinical team to extract vital details of experience. We’re able to develop a clear and nuanced profile of each patient, getting to know him and his family intimately, and being able to provide acutely customized treatment and support. Observation outside clinical care Our entire program is intentionally designed to give men freedom to be themselves, and our team the ability to observe them both in and out of a clinical environment. Our innovative and engaging experiential program gives our team an opportunity to observe and interact with our patients in the context of fun, physicality and community. Our therapists will accompany patients on hikes, snorkeling trips, paddling trips, and fishing excursions. It’s a valuable opportunity to see how our men approach new challenges, how they interact with the other men of the house, and how they process experiences in real time. The result is an advanced, evidence-based and innovative approach to Dual Diagnosis assessment and treatment. Voyage men benefit from clinical support, compassion, and brotherhood in an environment that doesn’t have any vestige of an institution or a hospital. The Voyage Recovery program treats each man as a whole, and includes his family in his healing process. Understanding how a man’s history and past experiences play a role in the way he copes with stresses and triggers today helps us see beyond a handful of symptoms to the vital connections between his disorder and his coping mechanisms.

Spearfishing out in open water, your gear consists of fins, a mask and snorkel, and a pole spear. The men of Voyage plumb the indigo depths of our offshore shallows, probing wrecks and reefs for their target species, with minimal gear and their wits. As our Director of Experiential puts it, when you get in the water you have to hope for the best, relinquish control, and take whatever the water gives you. When you get in the water you have to hope for the best, relinquish control, and take whatever the water gives you This type of hunting is about being aware, mindful, and deliberate—any dark nook, any crevice in a bit of structure, and any flash of silver at your periphery could be exactly what you’re looking for. Learning to spearfish teaches our men that their most important tool is their mind, and their key to success is using that tool wisely. The purpose of these underwater expeditions is to help our men learn to turn away from reflexive reactions and result-oriented thinking. Instead they must learn to relax, to focus on the present moment, and to make the best choices possible to achieve their goal. Holding tight to expectations makes it hard to focus on anything else Our men will have vastly different experiences under the water, depending on whether they dive down weighted with expectations or not. When a man dives down weighted with determination to catch and laser-focused on his mission, as soon as he spots a fish his reaction is immediate. His gaze zeroes in on the animal, shutting out all else, as his heart rate quickens and adrenaline courses through his veins. It’s a wildly exciting feeling in the moment, but as the current pushes him back and forth, and his quarry darts in and out of a reef, he burns out quickly. His brain registered excitement and anticipation of success but his body registered panic, and his window to shoot or return to the surface for a breath closes quickly. Expectations create incredible pressure to perform successfully. Expectations also negate possibility. When you hold an idea in your mind of how something should go, as soon as you’re triggered by some stimulus you react without thinking, often to your own detriment. Under the weight of anticipation he’ll have a much harder time setting up his shot—and with the pole spear he only gets one. The greater his expectation of success the more his chances of success are reduced, and he’ll waste precious time and energy returning to the surface for another breath or to reset his spear. Letting go of expectations frees you up to focus on everything else A man who approaches a challenge as being an experience with many possibilities, and who takes his time to settle into the water, will have an entirely different experience. We teach our men to first just sit in the water, to focus on the feeling of the water around them, on the light that dances through the depths. We tell our men that their first dive is just to look, just to get a sense of what’s happening down below, and that no action is required yet. When we teach our men breath-holds we’re showing them that even while your limbic system is going wild demanding air, you’ve actually got so much more time. The urge to return to the surface for a breath—that thoughtless reaction to what your limbic system identifies as an immediate threat—comes from the same place as the seemingly irresistible urges of our addictions. Learning to control our breathing and suppress the urge to react doesn’t cure panic. Rather, it gives the men of Voyage access to something that’s been rare and precious in moments of extreme pressure: choices. When we give in to panic, all we can do is react. When we teach ourselves to see past the panic, other options come into focus. We can make decisions about how to act to achieve our goals and get what we want out of life. As a man sinks into the water with his heartbeat is steady and his body relaxed, his field of vision widens as his eyes adjust to the underwater half-light. He becomes aware of the way the current changes beneath the surface, considers how far he’ll be able to strike with his spear. He takes stock of the speed and direction the baitfish are moving. He is committed only to observing, nothing else. What first appears as a flash of light at the edge of his vision brings his whole attention around. A large school is minding its fishy business a mere 25 feet away. They don’t see him yet. If he needs, he can return to the surface for another breath before diving down deeper to better reach his quarry. Result-oriented thinking plants the seeds of disappointment Expectations create an impossible fantasy about how you’ll feel, who you’ll be and what life will look like once your goal is achieved. It’s also based on the assumption that everything will go perfectly. The mindset needed to be successful under the water is calm, meditative, and mindful. We condition our men to take stock of both their body and their environment before deciding to act. Expectation becomes frenetic energy which clouds a man’s ability to see what’s around him. With too much focus on results or too much emphasis on the outcome, he can quickly lose control of himself because acts even before he can make a decision. A moment of pause brings a thousand blurry details into focus, mutes panic, and invites better options into the mix So much of the work our men do in the water is about letting go of expectations and outcomes, and instead focusing on connecting with and calming their mind and body. The skills we endeavor to teach Voyage men are centered around slowing down, gathering more information, and evaluating the available options. Voyage men learn, both in group and in the water, that there is so much to be gained in that moment of pause. Early recovery is going to be full of challenges and hard days. A young man might be overwhelmed by feelings, or someone may say or do something hurtful towards him, or he might have to face something stressful or triggering. We teach our men how to connect with their bodies and to take stock of their thoughts, feelings and experiences. Slowing down in this way, even just for a moment, helps him to push past the panic and see better options beyond his instinctive reaction. Our innovative and engaging experiential program teaches our men how to create their own lasting, meaningful and self-sustaining life of recovery. In a Voyage man’s lifelong journey of recovery, his time spent with us in the waters and wilds of South Florida teaches him important skills for how to cope using breathing techniques, how to turn to his brothers in a community-based support group like AA or NA, and how to take stock of situation before deciding how to act. Learn more about Voyage and if it’s right for you or someone you love—call us or schedule a time for us to call you (772) 245-8345.

There are many paths to the same destination. We encourage our men to travel the one that feels right for them, using their sense of passion and purpose as a guide. We’ve explored what this looks like previously, with artistic expression or outdoor adventure, and another route is through spirituality. Our paddling trips down the Peace River have something for everyone. The hours of paddling offer a true physical challenge and the scenery allows for a lot of quiet introspection and inspiration. On one such excursion one of our patients, a young Ojibwe man, shared one of his traditions from home with his brothers in recovery. In North American native culture, the practice of smudging is used to purify a person, a place, or their possessions. Here on the banks of the Peace River, a bundle of white sage was set alight in an abalone bowl. Traditionally, this ritual used to drive away negative energy or ward off illness and restore peace and balance, by allowing the smoke to bathe the person, place or thing meant to be cleansed. These were a very peaceful few moments for the men who chose to partake. The smudging is an opportunity to release negative thoughts, calm the frenetic energy in your body, let go of nagging concerns, and focus on the present moment. An unfocused and scattered mind is tense and reactive, often clinging to worries about the past or fears about the future. In recovery, men are often haunted by these kinds of thoughts. With a bit of space and time to reflect, they begin to see how deeply they have hurt themselves and the people they care about the most. They also harbor doubts about how they will be able to return to their lives after treatment. In these moments when men anchor themselves in the present, guilt, shame, fear and worry fall away. Some people call this ‘mindfulness’ when we pay attention to our thoughts, feelings, and experiences as they exist in the present moment only. There are so many ways of accessing mindfulness—like quiet reflection, but also through activities like painting, rock-walking, and the smudging one of our patients performed. In spiritual activities, like artistic or adventurous ones, how much a man gains from an experience depends on his ability to be vulnerable. Some men are able to surrender themselves to an experience like this, others are reluctant and tripped up by their own self-consciousness—particularly men who are newer to recovery. There exists among our patients, at any given time, a core group of men who lead the others in their willingness to be vulnerable, honest, and accountable, and who the rest of men take their cue from. Concepts like “vulnerability” and “empathy” are learned through doing, as men learn to trust and accept themselves and each other. The chance to pause, reflect, and refresh your intent or purpose is one that these men didn’t have before beginning their recovery; they were stuck in old cycles of destruction and dysfunctional behaviors. Working with these men everyday for weeks and months at a time, we get the privilege of watching them grow and change. When they first arrive, patients are often withdrawn and defensive, unsure of their place in this new setting where they don’t have access to their most trusted coping mechanisms. It doesn’t take long to start forming valuable relationships with the other men in our program. In short order, men begin to learn trust, empathy, vulnerability, and compassion, as they reconnect with themselves and connect with the other men of the group. These connections and the tools they gain by learning from one another will carry them forward into a meaningful life of remission from addiction. Call us to find out if Voyage is right for you or someone you care about (772) 245-8345.

Central to our program is the time our patients spend in the wild woods and waters of South Florida, home to a stunning variety of native plants and animals. The natural world is the perfect backdrop for the change in perspective and behavior the men of Voyage need to experience lasting recovery from addiction. Our staff roster is stacked with a wide range of talents and expertise, and we’re grateful to have a team that's keen to upgrade their skills and support each other extending their abilities to meet our patients needs, both clinically and experientially. Since Voyage first opened its doors we have had a Wilderness First Responder on our team, but in May several more of our staff members upgraded their skills and became Wilderness First Aid certified. We looked for a company that mirrored our approach in their mission. When we spoke with the folks at the Florida Outdoor Academy, they were excited about the experiential programming we do and immediately connected us with Garrett. Garrett is a Wilderness EMT, Geo Medic, Wilderness First Aid/Responder instructor, and also kind, smart, and immediately recognized that love and practicality rule the staff at Voyage. Over the course of two days, first at our office then in Jonathan Dickinson Park, our team including Executive Director Kevin Bandy, Director of Experiential John Dornellas, Operations Supervisor Frank Forte, BHT Supervisor David Breen, and a few behavioral health technicians, became certified in Wilderness First Aid. Garrett taught our team how to prepare, assess and survive in the wild We learned: How to prepare for excursions, what sort of items to always pack with us, and what kind of precautions we should always take; How to assess a crisis in the wilderness, such as heat-related injuries, sprains and strains, burns, soft tissue injuries like punctures or lacerations, head trauma, fractures, spinal cord injuries and more; How to treat and survive, including how to plan for rescue, administering CPR, bandaging soft tissue injuries or stabilize fractures, and how to lift and move someone who has been injured. For our team, it goes beyond being prepared for anything. Having our staff know how to assess and administer first aid no matter the injury or environment gives our whole team greater confidence in each other and themselves. A team that can immediately respond to any crisis, whether it’s a physical injury or emotional distress, is invaluable to the men of Voyage. Exploring the woods and waters of South Florida, it’s easy to show our patients the beauty that’s all around us; our experiential adventures show our men that they possess an inner strength beyond anything they ever believed. Our special mix of experiential and therapy helps prepare our patients with the tools they need to meet the physical challenges of the natural environment and the internal challenges of their own mental and emotional world. The experience of becoming Wilderness First Aid certified was about the practical side of love, which is something we teach our men. We learned how to perform first aid using just the things we might have available to us—dive fins, pole spears, tarps, and clothing, as well as things from the natural environment like palm fronds and cedar bark—and they became tools of help and healing. Using what we have is an important metaphor for recovery. Internalizing the Twelve Steps, using our sponsors, relying on our recovery community, God, and meditation—these things become tools of help and healing with the right knowledge and training for how to use them. Being prepared is about taking consideration of others, being aware of our own limits, and seeking knowledge to answer questions versus just winging it. Our choice to offer Wilderness First Aid training to our staff was because they wanted it and were eager to support our men in this way, and because we wanted our staff to be ready to love our patients the right way, with care and consideration. Voyage Recovery provides addiction rehabilitation and treatment to young adult men. Our program is a careful blend of experiential and evidence-based therapies that help men identify their strengths and weaknesses, find their purpose and passion, and build a meaningful life free from drugs and alcohol. We are so proud to offer a staff that is ready, willing, and able to show men the love and support they need to achieve lasting recovery. Call us today to find out if we’re right for you or someone you care about (772) 245-8345.

How we respond to both pleasure and pain is ruled by the limbic system, the part of the brain involved in motivation, emotion, learning and memory, and that’s ultimately responsible for our self-preservation. It is what helps us develop coping mechanisms, which are a means of defeating or evading physical, mental or emotional discomfort using memories of what has worked in the past. Addiction exploits the limbic system, training the brains of young men to cope with fear, anger, or loneliness through drugs and alcohol. If, as the loved one of an addict, you have ever wondered why he won’t choose to stop—why he can’t make the obvious decision to stop hurting himself, his family, and jeopardizing his future—the answer is that it isn’t a choice he’s making at all. His limbic system demands that he cope with stimuli that feel like a threat to his self-preservation with the only thing that has ever worked with any consistency: drugs and alcohol. We believe change begins with building new connections between a patient’s outer physical world and their inner mental-emotional world. Our experiential leader John, a professional free-diving and spearfishing instructor trainer and well-seasoned ocean-man, begins every rock-walk challenge in the pool with a review of safety and rescue basics. Safety helps to ground each man in the reality of what he’s about to do. Though patients will perceive the challenge in their own unique way, every man is equipped with the same tools to move through it. Rock-walking is a rich and powerful experiential activity that challenges both the body and mind. The men are divided into teams and each man takes his turn dropping to the bottom of the pool to pick up a 40 lb weight and carry it as many steps as he can towards the back wall. When he can go no further he returns to the surface and one of his teammates takes a turn. It’s easy to underestimate the challenge. Out of the water, most grown men would have no problem carrying a 40 lb weight. Underwater is an entirely different story, and an all-out assault on a man’s limbic system. Each man goes under water with a single breath and whatever emotional weight he’s carrying with him that day. Whatever thoughts or feelings are swirling inside him, the physical challenge of rock walking amplifies them and brings them to the surface. After only a few seconds underwater your limbic system, that fist-sized mass of electrocharged grey cells, starts cueing up panic. In its utter intolerance of discomfort and irrepressible desire to survive, your limbic system screams at you to call it quits—you can’t do this! it says. You’re not strong enough! it tells you. You need to quit! it shouts. This is how the limbic system reacts to stress. Put simply, it overwhelms your consciousness with certainty of failure or danger, and demands that you cope using whatever will end the discomfort the fastest and most reliably. In the pool that means returning to the surface, but back in a man’s hometown, his automatic reaction to stress is to isolate and get high. “You’re way more powerful than you think you are,” John says of our men rising to the challenge of rock-walking. When a man first arrives at the Voyage house, he’s often withdrawn and reserved, aggressive and defensive, and his spirit and confidence are in shambles. He’s probably also being dogged by a self-defeating inner dialogue that’s relentlessly chirping away at him. This voice tells him he has failed, that he has disappointed everyone he loves, and that he is hopeless and worthless. In active addiction, a man will cope with that pain or discomfort by getting high because his brain has learned that this is the fastest and most reliable way to end his discomfort. But here at our house, surrounded by other men in early recovery and our clinical team, that old standby is no longer an option. In groups we begin by checking in on the men’s first thoughts and feelings as they woke up, and gradually move through the day until we get to the present moment. It becomes a daily mental journal, a habit of daily self-evaluation of thoughts, feelings and experiences that connects a man’s inner world to his outer world. How does our brain respond to fear, anger or sadness and how do we cope with this feeling? By learning how to examine himself, particularly when he’s feeling poorly, a man begins to understand his triggers and pain points, and to determine when he needs to reach out for help. Practicing how to slow down and and mentally assess his day helps him to more fully understand his discomfort, and adds a contrasting narrative to the dark little voice of the limbic system. Despite all the stressors and triggers present in the pool, and despite how natural it is for a man’s limbic system to jump into overdrive, the men keep their heads. They fall back on their safety training and diving basics; they remember that they’re here with their brothers, that these other men won’t let anything happen. By focusing on the experience of rock-walking in our process groups, the men of Voyage learn that the impulses of their limbic system can be challenged with patience, introspection, practice, and fellowship. Practice makes progress The nature of treatment at Voyage is that our men have opportunities to practice healthy coping mechanisms every day in every context imaginable—during experiential, in process groups, in family sessions, back at the house, and while off-campus at twelve-step meetings. It’s through this constant reinforcement of healthy behaviors and attitudes, especially relying on a support community when thoughts and feelings are overwhelming, that men lay a foundation of healing and recovery. Our groups are a crucial first step towards a man’s future reliance on support groups and sponsors to help him handle bad news and hard days. For our men, it shows them that they can create a community of brothers in recovery to count on for support, and that they too can be valued and trusted members of that group. Voyage Recovery Center helps young adult men struggling with substance use disorders, and their families, find lasting healing and meaningful recovery. Our approach is a unique and specialized combination of time-tested therapy and innovative experiential programming designed to help men shift their perspective and reconnect with themselves and each other. We help our families through every step of this process, from the first consultation, through weekly calls and family sessions, to comprehensive continuing care planning and beyond. Like our rock walks, it doesn’t matter how fast you go as long as you keep going. Voyage is the beginning of a lifelong journey of recovery, and a road that’s better travelled with brothers. Call us to find out if you or someone you care about is right for Voyage (772) 245-8345.

When we talk about recovery, we're talking about a person in transition. He’s moving from a state of sickness to one of health, or from self-hate to self-love, or from who he’s been to who he wants to be. He’s becoming a more whole-hearted version of himself that doesn’t use drugs or alcohol to numb his feelings or dull his experience of life. The journey begins by asking Who are you? An addict, an alcoholic? A man in pain, someone who is ashamed of his past or hopeless about his future? A loner, a wildcard, a clown? And then asking Who do you want to be? We carry these two versions of ourselves—who we have been and who we could be. Who a man wishes to be forms the blueprint for how he can sustain lifelong remission from addiction. As the men of Voyage explore who they are, and begin constructing a picture of who they want to be, they reconnect with parts of themselves they haven’t looked at in a long time, or ever. We address their goals for the future in group; as we go around the room and take stock of the day we help men make important connections between their mind and their body, between their past and their present. Any activity we do with our men, whether we’re out on the water, deep in the woods, or sprawled on the floor with art supplies, we’re putting men in an environment that will tap into different parts of his inner self. Our artistic activities tend to bring out the most fear and apprehension in our men; there’s an ingrained hesitation to be vulnerable. Patients who have been with us longer and had more practice shucking off their fear of vulnerability get earnestly involved in creative activities and model positive behaviors for newer guys. We’ve written before about making gyotaku with our men—it’s a traditional Japanese art form of fishermen to memorialize the noble fish they’ve caught. In the corner of each pressing is a small red stamp, as important as the fish itself, a symbol of the man who caught the fish. Here’s how we make our signet stamps: Each man designs his own, using paper and pencil first. They’ll sketch symbols, taking inspiration from Viking runes, Japanese kanji, Polynesian symbols, various animals, and even hieroglyphs. The image they create is a composite of how they see themselves and who they aspire to be. Our men put a lot of thought into their stamps as a signature and personal representation, and their creativity and self-love really shows out in these activities. We ask them, what do you want to say about yourself? And they respond with intense new insight and confidence about who they are. The signet stamps illustrate what our men believe about themselves—loyalty, strength, wisdom, insight, family, community. Once he has finished his sketch, he’ll transfer the design to a piece of rubber. After a few final adjustments, he’ll begin cutting away bits of the rubber with carving tools. Any place that he carves away becomes white space, and won’t pick up ink so it’s an important moment to decide what will be intensely colored and what will be negative space. In Japanese art, red is an important color that symbolizes life and vitality—the stamp, and the gyotaku that it is affixed to it, becomes part of the legacy of each man’s identity. Now that his stamp is complete he can press his fish. Connection with each other, and with ourselves. Art is as important to recovery as physical activities because it gives our men another means through which they can share what’s in their heart, mind and soul with their brothers. When the men are in group and sharing the often difficult and brutal details of their past transgressions and the ways that trauma and addiction have affected them, the room brims with emotion. Often, just in listening to his brother share, a man can connect those words to an experience within himself. Art gives our men another means of expressing those experiences and sharing that connection, and in that way facilitates empathy between brothers. These empathetic connections are vital to long-term healing. Learning to hear other men as they express anger, fear or pain and to offer empathy and compassion helps a man to heal himself. He can come to see that he’s not alone in what he has done or experienced, and that forgiveness and healing are possible. The individual experience of the group dynamic is crucial to healing. We learn to see and accept others on their own terms, and to permit the same for ourselves. Our men connect with their recovery by understanding who they are and what they need out of life to feel fulfilled and purposeful. Our signet stamps are wishes we make for ourselves; they show us that we can fully commit—in ink!—to a better version of ourselves, living a life that comes with patience and reverence for the process and our own healing. Our program is a careful blend of evidence-based therapy and innovative experiential that challenges men in vital ways, and helps them lay the foundation for sustainable recovery. To learn more about our process, schedule a complimentary consultation with our team.

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.” Marcel Proust Some of our men are natural leaders, others make teamwork look easy; some guys are at home with a fishing rod, others dominate the basketball court; some guys find their rhythm with a musical instrument, others love the rush of addressing a crowd. We all tend to gravitate toward things we know will come easy, but there are magical gains to be made from pushing ourselves beyond comfort. We spend a lot of time in, on or near the water throughout Florida’s wild backcountry. When the men of Voyage requested something a little different, we guided them towards an entirely new landscape. One afternoon, the guys settled themselves all over our common room, and we broke out the art supplies and queued up an episode of the Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. In his soothing, hypnotic voice, Bob guided our men through the creation of a dusky river scene. Some followed Bob’s instructions literally, others made their own interpretations, improvising with color, composition and perspective. Each man’s page starting coming to life and there was lots of laughter as the men compared their paintings. But as the episode neared its end, some of those laughs gave way to grumbling frustration. A few guys, seeing that their paintings didn’t look like Bob’s, felt discouraged and had to be urged on to finish their painting. They didn’t want to keep going because it didn’t come naturally—they lacked experience with painting, or didn’t understand color or how to use their brushes. Ross’s 30 minute masterpieces aren’t a hard-and-fast blueprint for the singular way to make art, rather they lay out a landscape for creativity to meander, letting each artist interpret Ross’s guidance and making their own decisions about technique and color. Bob Ross can teach us a lot us about self-acceptance. Self-acceptance, self-worth, and self-esteem are all wrapped up with love, kindness and compassion for oneself. It’s much easier to accept someone else for their differences than to accept yourself for your own. But that’s what an afternoon painting with Bob Ross was about. In accepting ourselves, we learn to celebrate our strengths while also appreciating our weaknesses; silencing our inner critic and instead leaning on our support system—and recognizing that we’re deserving of their support. Our guys are bonded together through fellowship, each man sharing his experiences and insights, despite being on his own journey of recovery. Brothers support brothers with gentle ribbing or heartfelt encouragement, whether they’re painting along with Bob Ross, or carrying a 40lb weight with a single breath. We’re watching each of these young men learn how to blaze a path through recovery based on their own circumstances and goals for life after treatment, while being a trustworthy and reliable ally to the man next to him. Each man will struggle with some element of their recovery, and comparison is never helpful. There’s a degree of suffering a man can inflict on himself when he holds himself to someone else’s standard, or uses another man’s progress to measure his own. We teach our men that difference doesn’t define value, and that comparison is the thief of joy. “There are no mistakes, only happy accidents.” One of Bob Ross’s most famous kernels of wisdom tells us so much about self-love, self-acceptance, and embracing life on life’s terms. We all learn and grow when we push ourselves to try something new, or to improve on something we’re already good at. When we accept that we won’t be perfect, and indeed should not expect perfection, we open our minds to the possibility that making mistakes will help us discover some new part of ourselves. At Voyage, we encourage our young men to pursue their passion and purpose, and there’s no single way to do that. We offer a wide range of experiential activities that challenge the men’s physicality, leadership, teamwork, creativity, perspective, attention to detail, and so much more. Some men find passion and purpose in land or water sports, some men in our local Twelve Step community, and some men find it in their artistic or academic pursuits. By learning to look at how they spend their time through the lens of joy and personal fulfillment, our men begin to see their way through recovery. Every day, they’re learning that building a life free of drugs and alcohol begins with loving and accepting themselves. Voyage Recovery helps young adult men and their families lay the foundation for lasting recovery from substance use disorders. We do this using a mix of comprehensive therapeutic approaches and innovative experiential activities. Call us to learn more (772) 245-8345.

Feeling exhausted and discouraged when you’re the parent of a young man struggling with a substance use disorder is natural. When someone you love is an addict or alcoholic, it throws your whole house into chaos, straining relationships and causing family members to behave in ways that are out of character. It’s the nature of being parent to want to do anything to keep your child safe. When you’re the parent of a struggling addict, this takes a toll on your bank account, your sanity, and the harmony of your household. And everyone reaches a breaking point when they feel physically and emotionally drained in the process of trying to manage their loved one’s disease. The clinical team at Voyage has decades of combined experience working with families, and helping them navigate the difficult and triggering landscape of early recovery. Our compassion for family members is rooted in the knowledge that while each family who comes to Voyage is different, they all share something in common: hope for something better for their sons and themselves. Living with and loving a young man who’s struggling with addiction or alcoholism is exhausting, unpredictable, and nerve-fraying. But experience shows that men have a better chance at recovery when they have the support of their family. Families who commit to treatment are committing to the idea that improvement is possible. When a young man’s treatment begins, families often feel a wave of relief that they no longer have to bear the brunt of their loved one’s disease alone. But without the distraction of constant crisis, resentment and doubt can begin to creep in. Pushed past the point of exhaustion, parents can sabotage themselves with faulty beliefs about recovery. The most common, and perhaps most damaging, is the idea that a man has to want to recover, or has to be ready to recover, or it won’t work. During Family Week, a week-long on-campus program for family members and partners of our patients, we examine faulty beliefs such as this. The truth for most of the men who come through our doors is that they don’t want to give up their drug of choice. To these men, drugs and alcohol are more than substances—they’re a coping mechanism, a safety net, a security blanket, and even a companion. Family members see a man’s drug of choice as the source of all his problems. He sees it as the solution, and he can be resistant to treatment because it forces him to give up the only thing that has ever worked. Parents have already gone through so much by the time the get to us—they’ve been lied to, manipulated, stolen from, and have often shouldered the consequences of their son’s poor choices. It can be hard to believe that recovery is possible, or that their son can have a life of passion and purpose without drugs or alcohol. False beliefs like “if he doesn’t want to recover it won’t work” are problematic in two significant ways: First, it dismisses all of the hard work these young men put into their recovery everyday with us, as well as the strength it takes for each man to trust our team and our process. Second, it robs a family of hope, which can prevent parents from working hard on their own recovery (“If he’s not going to work at recovery, why should I?”) Consider this: If a man shows up to treatment, does the work and begins his journey to recovery in earnest, does it not count because he didn’t want it in the first place? Like exercising a muscle, doing it consistently will deliver results even if you didn’t want to get stronger. The men of Voyage spend their weeks shoulder-to-shoulder with other young men in recovery. They explore the natural world and test their physical abilities in experiential. Then, in a therapeutic setting, they address their dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors, and learn how to be honest and accountable with their counselor and with the rest of the men. There’s no opting out of our daily schedule, and with our small group size the men can’t hide in a crowd. In other words, regardless of their willingness to recover, they’re surrounded by recovery all day, every day. That young man who was unwilling to surrender his drug of choice at the beginning of treatment has spent months away from that cycle of addiction. He has learned new strategies for dealing with overwhelming thoughts and feelings, and has developed a trust and knack for reaching out to his peers for support. Family Week is a special time for our families. After weeks of working with their counselor over the phone, they come together with a few other families for an intensive week-long experience. It’s an opportunity to immerse themselves in recovery processes led by our clinical team, and also to check in with their son and see just how much he’s progressed in the time he’s been with us. Family Week offers groups and exercises that are just for family members, focusing solely on their own recovery, to help them work through some of the damage done in the course of active addiction. We address communication, boundaries, hopes and fears, and we take a hard look at faulty beliefs that can hinder healing. By addressing and dismantling these faulty beliefs we help families remove the obstacles to recovery. With our help, family members build their own continuing care plan, learning that they can find recovery, healing and sanity of their own by seeking out their own therapy or self-help and support groups specifically for families of alcoholics and addicts. Our goal is to help families live a whole-hearted life in recovery. We want to help families free themselves from the destructive cycles of the past that kept them stuck in hopelessness and bitterness, and to feel hopeful about the possibilities the future holds. When everyone is engaged in the recovery process, the whole family can get better together. Voyage supports parents and their sons throughout their time with us, and even beyond. We’ve got more information you can read (or share with a parent who might need it) in our section For Families. We’re here to answer your questions about our Family Program and our innovative treatment program for young adult men with substance use disorders — call us at (772) 245-8345 to find out if we’re right for you or someone you care about.

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 before stopping for lunch on a sandy bank. Florida is home to an incredible diversity of wildlife but there are many creatures here that don’t belong, referred to as non-native or ‘invasive’ species. Animals sometimes accidentally migrate from their native ecosystem to a foreign one, such as when they’re kept as pets and then released, or when they stowaway in international shipments. An example of an invasive species found in Florida is the armored catfish. There are several species of catfish that are native to Florida, but the armored catfish should only be found in the Amazon river basin. Here in Florida it is dangerous and destructive; it decimates native wildlife and flora, causing damage to the riverbeds that has a widespread impact on the other animals that make their home in or near the Peace River. Invasive species throw off the natural balance of an ecosystem, but if you remove them, the native population can flourish once again. The armor-like plates on the catfish’s body protect it from would-be predators, making it tricky to keep in check. Native catfish will bite a baited hook or even fall for the “noodling” technique, but the armored can only be netted or speared. Thanks to the many hours spent in the water with John, our guys are gifted and tenacious spear fishermen. Our men took turns wading into the chilly fresh waters of the river with a gigging spear. Though the armored catfish might wreak havoc to our local ecosystem, they were a welcome treat when roasted over an open fire on the sandy, sun-dappled banks of the Peace River. On the journey of recovery that young men begin when they come to Voyage Recovery, they don’t venture out into the wild alone: they go there with the support and guidance of our clinical team, standing shoulder to shoulder with their brothers. In active addiction men develop harmful attitudes and behaviors like dishonesty, risk-taking, and manipulation. Addiction can destroy a man’s relationships with his family and friends, and totally derail his momentum at school or work. Addiction can cause a man to risk his freedom, his health, and even his life just so he can use. These behaviors are perfectly suited to a life of addiction, but absolutely unsuitable to a life of recovery. The attitudes and behaviors associated with addiction are similar to an invasive species: perfectly suited to one ecosystem but dangerous and destructive in another. Going beyond the decision to abstain from drinking or using drugs, recovery is about identifying the attitudes and behaviors that made it easy or normal to use and purging them. Just like the beautiful and sensitive wilderness along the Peace River, a man can’t just go in and detonate his life. Men must make their approach with the right tools for the job, carefully removing the invasive attitudes and behaviors, while preserving the elements that make him who he is. At Voyage Recovery, no man ventures out into the wilderness of addiction recovery alone. Each man is guided by his primary therapist and our whole clinical team who share their experience, insight and expertise in helping him and his family navigate this journey. Together we root out harmful and destructive thoughts and perspectives in individual therapy, group therapy, and experiential therapy. Our staff are the front line, but each of the men works hard on himself and lends support to his brothers to lay a foundation of recovery. Just as the men found that it was the most fun sharing delicious roasted catfish that they caught together, the work they do on themselves is best when they’re together too. When they leave us and return to the community, they’ll rely on their church groups and local Twelve Step fellowships for the same kind of compassion and strength. By hurting and healing together our men are learning how to trust a fellowship. There are more armored catfish in the river than the ones we caught. The lifelong journey of recovery requires vigilance, awareness, a commitment to maintaining a healthy and meaningful balance. The issues our men identify and process while they’re with us are just the beginning. They’re gaining the tools and insight they’ll need for the rest of their lives to continue along their path to healing. Call us to learn more about how we help young adult men and their families overcome addiction (772) 245-8345. #experiential #florida #wilderness #adventure #wildlife #fishing #paddling #recovery #addictionrecovery #fellowship #friendship