I have come to gain a better acceptance of myself

“Alsana has not been my first treatment center, but here, I found something for the first time: people who were willing to treat me with compassion, respect, and had a genuine interest in what I wanted and what would be most beneficial for me. They pushed and encouraged, but never forced me to do things before I was ready. I made plenty of mistakes and had lapses, but instead of being shamed, like I have been in the past, I was taught to take each situation and give myself understanding, as well as glean what I could to prevent the same errors in the future. Alsana taught me that there are no “shoulds”: I am exactly where I am and I am allowed to feel exactly what I am feeling, and that is okay. I am okay. I am a person who deserves recovery. For the first time in my life, people have seen me, as I am, and in reflecting acceptance of this back to me, I have come to gain a better acceptance of myself, my strengths and qualities, and am confident I can be a more genuine person in the future because of it. Although I still have a way to go on the road to reocvery, I having nothing but gratitude for me time, who freely gave their time, kindness and knowledge to help me discover and feel things about myself I didn’t know existed. I can also say I have built strong bonds in the community through skills taught by Alsana and by daily challenging former beliefs about trust. In building relationships among other clients, I also feel more confident in my ability to apply these skills in the world. “-ML