"Residential Rehab and Gambling Intervention"

I entered the Mirikai program a broken person. Most of my family and friends had cut me off, I was basically homeless and had court pending where jail was the most likely outcome. The program was basically my only options and did not think that it would work. 

I remember arriving at the facility and from my first interactions was greeted with compassion and respect and it made me not only feel welcomed but that I was not the horrible human being I thought I was. While I felt the support from both the staff and residents, the first few weeks were challenging and a big part of me thought there was no chance that I could recover and repair the damage I had caused to all around me.

However as time progressed I began to feel better and see that there was a way forward. With the help of my treatment facilitator, Jimmy, and in particular the gambling counsellor I was given access to, Goldy, I was able to slowly rebuild my self esteem and self belief, and create a better version of myself. With this slowly growing belief I was able to take steps in my recovery and with that start repairing the damage I had caused.

As I continued throughout the program, I was able to avoid jail, re-establish communication with my family and start growing into person I was supposed to be. While recovery has days that make it feel like it is all for nothing, the program taught me that these are normal feelings and that I have so much to be grateful for and that as long as I do the next right thing the next right thing will happen for me.