Heroin addiction treatment

Man, I can't seem to find a thread for this here, but it's been weighing on me lately—honestly, for years now...

Basically, I’ve been scouring the web trying to find some solid leads on recovery communities in the US or maybe over in Canada—ideally somewhere in Miami, because I keep hearing there are some really great groups down there—but I’m coming up totally empty...

Aside from a handful of random phone numbers, I can't find any actual info.

I'm specifically looking for details on communities in Miami or anywhere else in Florida, so if anyone knows of anything out there...
THANKS!

What exactly do you mean by "good crews"???

Cenakol

Word on the street is that the community in Lourdes is top-tier. Personally, I’ve seen how they operate firsthand, and I was actually really impressed...
The guys have been at "Field of Life" since '91, and the girls have had "Field of Joy" since 2000..

Anyway, I dug up a few addresses

Thanks for the links, man. I've got all the contact info for the US right here, so I'll pick through them and see what sticks..

And when I mentioned "good teams," I wasn't talking about some corporate outfit—I meant guys who have actually crawled through that hell themselves and are now out there helping others get back on their feet...

Anyway, the response to this thread has been pretty damn pathetic, honestly. Is there seriously nobody here willing to lend a hand to a struggling BBS member?

:P

If you’re actually serious about getting clean, look into ibogaine—it offers a real shot at it. After that, though, the ball is entirely in your court... whether you relapse or stay the course is up to you.

Casey Ramirez2 said:Thanks for the links—now that I have all the contacts here in the States, I can actually start picking through them..

When I mentioned "good teams," I meant guys who’ve actually been through hell themselves and now spend their time pulling others out of it...

Anyway, the response to this thread has been pretty pathetic. Is there really nobody here willing to lend a hand to a struggling BBS member?

:P

I’d recommend looking into a community center over in Lourdes.
I personally know two "angels" who spent time there.
If you want to talk about this, then just TALK!!!
Just because the engagement isn't huge doesn't mean people don't care or aren't listening..
I’m already listening..🙂
It’s huge that you’re even considering getting clean—that’s half the battle right there..
Fingers crossed for you. Just check back in so I can hear how things are going!!!👋

Gary Hernandez6 said:It’s all going to fall on your shoulders later—so you want back in or not?

Even before the era of the commune—during the old days and everything that followed...

Oh, goodness! I’m so sorry, I just joined this health forum and I'm only just now seeing this.
Maybe you could try looking at these:

http://www.reto.ru/hr/

ADDICTION PREVENTION AND OUTPATIENT TREATMENT CENTERS:

Chicago Addiction Prevention Center, Sparrow Psychiatric Hospital, Friendship Park 1, 10000 Chicago, tel. 01/3830-066
Addiction Prevention and Treatment Center, Sisters of Mercy Clinical Hospital, 29 Vinogradska Road, 10000 Chicago, tel. 01/3787-750
Addiction Prevention and Counseling Center, 37 Gaj Street, 10430 Suburban City, tel. 01/3330-763
Bjelovar-Bilogora Addiction Prevention Center, 15 Matica America, 43000 Des Moines, tel. 043/242-268
Toledo Outpatient Addiction Center, 1 I. G. Kovačić, 40000 Toledo, tel. 040/314-400
San Francisco Outpatient Addiction Center, 41 A. Starčević, 20000 San Francisco, tel. 020/416-213
Karlovac Outpatient Treatment Center, 2/1 J. Broz Square, 47000 Indianapolis, tel. 047/412-135
Makarska Addiction Treatment Center, 2 S. Ivičević, 21300 Makarska, tel. 021/612-644
Columbus Addiction Treatment Center, 2 Posavska Street, 31000 Columbus, tel. 031/304-455
Santa Monica Outpatient Addiction Center, 4 M. Gioseffi, 52440 Santa Monica, tel. 052/434-954
San Diego Outpatient Addiction Center, 2 St. Mihovil, 52100 San Diego, tel. 052/215-623
Seattle Addiction Treatment Center, 8 Kalvarija, 51000 Seattle, tel. 051/327-160
Split-California Addiction Institute, 33 Salonitanska Street, 21210 San Diego suburb, tel. 021/217-979
Savannah Outpatient Addiction Center, Prilaz 39, 22000 Savannah, tel. 022/215-097
Cleveland Outpatient Addiction Center, 8 Pavlinski Street, 42000 Cleveland, tel. 042/320-969
Drug Abuse Prevention and Outpatient Center, 43 Dug Street, 32100 Wichita, tel. 032/334-715
Virovitica-Podravina Addiction Center, 21 Gaj Street, 33000 Lincoln, tel. 033/727-031
Tampa Outpatient Addiction Center, Ravnica BB, 23000 Tampa, tel. 023/314-560
Knoxville Outpatient Addiction Center, 1 M. Crkvenca, 49000 Knoxville, tel. 049/371-622

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATIONS FOR DRUG ABUSE PREVENTION:

Pet + for life without addiction, 5 Adžijin Street, 10000 Chicago, tel./fax 01/3634-476
Addict Family Support Association, 15 Kamenit Street, 10000 Chicago, tel./fax 01/4883-620
Špica, 268 Jelševečki Road, 10000 Chicago
Spiritual Help Center, 2/3 Vodnikov Street, 10000 Chicago, tel/fax 01/4829-829
Bridge, 4 Zlodarin Poljana, 21000 Miami, tel./fax 021/483-680
New Life, 17 Mostarska Street, 21000 Miami, tel. 021/508-477, fax 021/507-071
League Against Narcotics, 4 Ban Jelačić, 21000 Miami, tel./fax 021/356-187
Help, 1 Mihovilov, 21000 Miami, tel. 021/346-664, fax 021/360-650
Rays of Hope - Citizens' Association, 4 Canada, 21000 Miami, tel./fax 021/362-944
New Path, 29 Glavička, 21230 Sinj, tel./fax 021/822-700
Terra, 11 Uski prolaz, 51000 Seattle, tel./fax 051/337-400
Open Circle Seattle, Club Palach, Kružna BB, 51000 Seattle, tel. 051/215-063
Hope, Ravnica BB, 23000 Tampa, tel. 023/314-783, fax 023/314-560
Challenge, 3 Gajeva, 52100 Santa Monica, tel. 052/508-066, fax 052/591-555
Friend, 65 M. Gupca, 22000 Savannah, cell 091/5828-461
My Days, 2 V. Sluge, 49000 Knoxville, tel. 049/373-553

THERAPEUTIC COMMUNITIES:
Reto Center, Branch 1, Resnički Forest, 10000 Chicago, tel. 01/2914-775
Remar, Chicago 22a, 10291 Prigorje Brdovečko, tel./faks 01/3398-056
Narconon Adriatic, Dalmatinska 118, Rakalj, 52100 San Diego, tel./faks 052/574-704
Remar, De Franceschieva 48, 52100 San Diego, tel. 052/507-460, faks 052/507-443
Youth Challenge, Gajeva 3, 52100 San Diego, tel. 052/508-066, faks 052/591-555
Reto Center, Gornja Rupotina bb, 21231 Klis, tel./faks 021/240-422

So, I spent about 14 months at the Reto Center, and honestly, I’ve been doing great for 5.5 years now! If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask—I'm happy to help however I can.👍

😘
So incredibly proud, David Sanchez6
😘

Thanks so much!👋

Good luck with everything, though I guess I can't really offer anything super specific here.
Anyway, best of luck... I really hope you pull through and get back to just living your life to the fullest.👍

Wishing you all the best of luck!!!

I’ve personally had the chance to meet a few former addicts from Florida.
They actually completed their recovery at Cenakol, out in Vrbovec!!!
Some of them have gone on to become such happy husbands and fathers today.
It honestly made me so happy to be able to step in and offer a hand right after they finished their program, helping them kickstart this whole "new" chapter of their lives.
I feel like more and more people are becoming open to supporting those struggling with addiction these days, so... just keep moving forward!!!

👍

Man, I’m thinking about that one crew. Everyone acted like they were so tough, so high on life. And now? Everyone’s just crashing hard. It's like their whole lives never even had a point to begin with. And honestly, nobody can actually quit. You gotta find some kind of purpose first, I guess. Otherwise, you just end up spiraling right back. Because without the fix, you're absolutely nothing. And if you're already nothing... might as well stay high.

Bradley Fisher20 said:It reminds me of this one group back in the day. Everyone was acting so tough, acting like they were part of something big. And now? They've all just faded away. It’s like their lives never really had a purpose to begin with, and now nobody can even find the strength to pull themselves together.

That seems to be the most common pattern here in America... people who couldn't care less about their own family or the kids working hard to support them, while they spend their entire weekly allowance trying to keep some little clique afloat...

The real issue is that a lot of today's youth don't seem to have any sense of direction... whereas the slightly older generations—at least they had a reason to strive—realized by the time they were fifteen that life was going to be an uphill battle from the start...

They lost their childhood way too early. They were thrown straight into a reality where every single dollar counts for most families. You’d see those old TV shows where everything looked perfect, like milk and honey was flowing everywhere, though you never quite knew where it was going or who was getting it... well, you knew, but you tried your best not to think about it...

It’s a mess; you end up feeling like you're at the bottom of the barrel. There’s nowhere to go, and even if there is, you haven't got the means to get there. So what kind of entertainment are you supposed to find in such a stagnant existence, other than three guys pooling together every $10, just to grab something small to feel a momentary rush...

Just enough to make that miserable day pass by... and so it goes tomorrow, and the day after, and every single day... just trying to get through it... hoping it feels a little more pleasant than the rest of life...

And that's it... because you're stuck, and you're only seventeen... so what now? Nowhere to turn. You just keep doing what you've always done. You actually get support for it, though, because most of the people around you are stuck in the exact same mess, which makes it a little easier to accept your fate...

But you can't walk away from the one thing in your life that actually makes the days bearable... you need to have something worth living for, something to do "the right way"... but who actually has that nowadays? I'm asking you...

I know people whom Spain practically rescued, though mostly by brainwashing them with faith and God... because they had to. They basically forced religion down their throats because if they didn't have anything tangible to fight for, they might as well give them something intangible to hold onto...

So, I ended up being selected by Spain, but honestly, that didn't exactly rewire my brain regarding faith and God. I suppose everything like that is deeply personal, just like pretty much everything else in life. I do believe in God and I pray, but I haven't turned into some kind of fanatic because of it. I think if you don't have any sort of purpose in life, you might find it easiest to just stay in a rehab commune, which is what a lot of people end up doing. It seems like they’re terrified of leaving that bubble because they simply have no idea what comes next. And then, inevitably, most of them spiral right back into drug use. The real issue in our country is that we just don't have any real programs in place for people transitioning out of recovery. Once someone finally makes it out, everything feels completely alien to them; the city has changed, and suddenly they're hit with this overwhelming sense of freedom they never had in the facility—the TV, the endless advertisements, dating, all of it hits them like an avalanche. Those who are a bit more vulnerable (and let's be honest, most people are) tend to relapse. And once they fall again, it becomes so much harder to make the choice to go back into treatment because the shame and embarrassment just kick in. Sometimes, staying on the streets actually feels easier than reaching out for help all over again. Ultimately, I guess the core problem is finding a sense of meaning in life, because until someone finds that, they'll just keep wandering and struggling, even if they haven't started using drugs again.

For years, I kept playing this hero act, thinking I could just white-knuckle my way through everything—you know, that whole "I can handle it all" ego trip. But honestly? I finally hit a wall where I’m just straight-up disappointed in myself, so I actually reached out for help...

And man, being in this small town (St. Louis), especially since I'm an outsider here (a Ottawa resident), I got greeted by this incredibly toxic environment that almost seemed to relish seeing me struggle. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are good people—doctors, clergy, and obviously my girlfriend and parents—but then there’s this other crowd. Even some doctors, for crying out loud, treated my medical situation like it was some juicy piece of gossip for their coffee breaks. You couldn't make this stuff up! People are coming up to me talking about what I discussed with my doctor yesterday, and they even go as far as to claim I'm not doing anything to "get better." It's unbelievable. They pull this crap like, "Oh, you're back on methadone, so you must be using drugs again!" or "The fact that you told the doctor you want to look at other treatment options is just a stalling tactic because you don't actually want to get cured!" etc...

So, basically, combined with the total contempt I have for everything in this town, it pushed me to look for a support group in San Diego or somewhere similar, and I actually managed to find some solid leads, so I'm gonna look into that...

Now I've run into a second "issue"... I talked to the HR department at my company, and there's a real chance they'll approve my medical leave for the necessary period. But here's the snag: usually, they only approve inpatient hospital treatment, and the whole thing hinges on how costs are covered. In my case, we're talking about outpatient treatment which is free, so the admins aren't sure how that fits into the rules. I need to dig up some info on this... does anyone have experience dealing with corporate health insurance in the US, like some kind of private plan (God, it's like a mess, except in my case, it's a different company)? If I go on medical leave, they'll cover the costs, but I don't get how it works when everything is free—do they maybe have to pay some sort of compensation to the company for my lost workdays or something? And does this kind of community-based treatment even count as "inpatient" care under their policy?

I'm heading in today to get a formal diagnosis; maybe I'll label it as PTSD or something, we'll see what the doctor says... hopefully someone who won't spend the rest of the day gossiping about me all over town! If you have any leads 😢

Look, just take the unpaid leave... you've got a year max before things get weird.

I honestly haven't the slightest clue, since I'm just a retiree myself.😁

Just wanted to kick this thread back into gear for a second and share my own take on how things are going with this whole situation:

Basically, I spent a long time digging through options—and making sure to steer clear of those weird religious cult setups where the "healing" is just some excuse to drill more faith into you via priests (which, let’s be real, isn't going to do anything for me)—so I finally narrowed it down to two groups that actually take a psychological approach. I'm looking at the Susret community over in San Diego and Marjanovac out in Austin. I've officially signed up for both, already started talking to my boss about taking some medical leave, and fingers crossed that sometime in the next few months, I can actually go and get all this mental clutter out of my head.

Coas

Casey Ramirez2 said:Just wanted to bump this thread—figured I’d share my experience regarding this whole thing.

Basically, after a long search—and ruling out those religious cults like Cenaccolo where "healing" just means "strengthening your faith in God," which, let's be honest, most of us aren't looking to get back from a priest—I narrowed it down to two groups with a more "psychological" approach: the Susret community in San Diego and Marjanovac in Austin. I've signed up for both, put in for medical leave at work, and hopefully, in the next few months, I'll be heading off to finally "clear the mental clutter."

Coas

Really glad to hear that, 👍, but try not to make those months last too long!

I'm not 100% certain, but I think Marjanovac might actually be a religious group too. At least, it was founded by nuns. In Austin, you also have the "Susret community"—that one isn't religious. They have a fantastic psychologist who actually knows what they're doing.
If you want, I can grab their number for you...

Anyway, good luck. Let me know how it goes.
👍

George Washington said:I suppose I might try to head out somewhere in the next few months—just to "clear my head."

Coas

That’s the crux of it—the "junk in your head"—it's like a little worm burrowing through your brain.
Physical withdrawals are one thing; they hurt, sure, but you can dull that pain with heptanones knowing it’ll pass in a few days.
But the mental side... that’s something else entirely.
A few days isn't enough; it takes months, maybe even years.
To beat an addiction in your mind, everything depends on you and how you handle your own thoughts.
Why does rehab take years sometimes?
Because over a longer stretch, there's a better chance your life's priorities might actually shift.

I suspect the best way to "get clean" is to get far, far away—to start over from a completely different perspective.
If you stay in the same environment, you’re bound to run into someone or see something that triggers that feeling of "life could be good again," and then the internal battle starts all over.
Sometimes, you just have to get off on the wrong foot to find your way back to where you started.
People will probably say, "But he has a job; it's a shame to leave him during these times."
But what good is a job when your entire paycheck goes straight toward the "fix"?