I relapsed, and my addiction this time was worse than ever…

My name is Ryan, and I am in recovery from addiction. I struggled with addiction for 20+ years. I lived a lifestyle that I had told myself that I never would. Over the course of my addiction, I made numerous attempts at recovery, to regain control of my life. It seemed that I would never get better. In 2008, my daughter was born, and I thought “This is it, I have to get better now.” Unfortunately, that still didn’t happen until a few years later. My daughter’s mother and I were in a very co-dependent relationship and in 2011 there was an anonymous report made to DHHS stating that our daughter was being neglected. It was at that time that I decided to get into the MAT program at Acadia Hospital and my daughter’s mother and I separated. I got on methadone and did well for a while. I found work, continued focusing on my sobriety, and ended up getting full custody of my daughter in 2012. I decided to attend Beal University from 2014-2016 and obtained an Associate’s Degree in substance abuse counseling. At the end of 2016, I also tested for and passed the state exam to become a Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor.

In 2017, I relapsed, and my addiction this time was worse than ever. After losing my dad in February of 2019, I started using heroin intravenously. In May that same year, I overdosed in my dad’s truck, which I had inherited after his passing. Luckily enough, my fiancée found me and called for help before it was too late. After being issued Narcan and coming to, I realized what had happened and knew that I needed to get back into a program to get the help I so desperately needed. Even knowing then that I needed help, I still used for another year and in August of 2020 I went back to Acadia to get back on MAT. From then until June of 2022, I was out of work and focused solely on my family and my recovery. In June of 2022, I learned about an opening at Wellspring Men’s House, as a Recovery Technician. After being out of work for so long, I was unsure whether or not I could handle a job like that, but I absolutely wanted to work in the field and knew that this was my chance, if they would hire me while I was still on MAT. I applied for and got the job and was so grateful to have been given such a great opportunity. This was the first and only job that I would ever have, clean and sober.

Working with the staff at Wellspring and the men we help, has helped me so much with my sobriety. Since starting as an RT in 2022, I have since taken the Integration Specialist position and even tapered off of my MAT completely. I have been off of methadone since June 4, 2023, and am so thankful to now be in a position to be able to help men recover, as I never would have made it without the help I was given along the way. I am now doing something I absolutely love, and it is more rewarding than I ever could have imagined. I owe a great deal of thanks to Wellspring for supporting my sobriety as well as my growth in the field.