Letter From the CEO
“Somewhere in my teens, I started down a road that led to a personal prison where I nearly destroyed my life. The amount of pain I caused my family and friends was calculated by how many times I made my mother cry, how many holidays I destroyed, and how many times I almost lost my life due to the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. I became lost, walking down the dark path of the alcoholic/addict.
Somewhere along the way, the fun turned frightening, and the adventure turned into a nightmare from which I couldn’t wake up. My life was filled with anger and hopelessness, loneliness and desperation. My will to live became frighteningly thin, and no matter how many disappointments, no matter how bad the pain, no matter how bad things became, I could not shake free from my addiction.
Finally, in 1996 I found myself in treatment and then in the rooms of a Twelve Step Program. Like most addicts/alcoholics, I didn’t really want to be there-but I also didn’t want to go back to living the insanity my life had become. I couldn’t move backwards to the “good old days,” when the fun was still there in force, and couldn’t see my way forward alone. This was my life without alcohol and drugs. I was facing the addict’s ultimate predicament: I was incapable of envisioning life either with drugs and alcohol or without them.
I once heard it said that, (stopping)-is easy, but staying stopped- that’s damn near impossible for an alcoholic/addict. Thankfully, the clinicians who directed me to a Twelve Step Program, – along with countless others who reached their hands out to help- all said the same thing: that I had come to a place where the impossible was made possible, so long as I was willing to go to any lengths and make an honest effort.
So I lied and said I was.
Thus began my journey to an experience that goes well beyond mere words, or anything I could jot down in a simple message from a CEO.
My life drastically changed as a result of following directions. As a result of being WILLING to have another person guide me towards real recovery. I went from being practically homeless, unemployable, unwelcomed by family and friends- to owning several homes, holding prestigious jobs on Wall Street, and mending the broken ties that I had created during the darkest moments of my life. The houses, the job, having my loved ones trust me again- all were amazing. My universe completely shifted. But more importantly, my soul shifted. The entire essence of who I became as a result of substance abuse had been, eradicated. My life stopped being about me and what I needed, and became about others, and what THEY needed.
For the last 20 years I’ve sat across my kitchen table with alcoholics and addicts and have witnessed transformations that never cease to amaze and astound me. Being a small part of those transformations has been a privilege and an honor. When I decided it was time to take my experience and attempt to make a bigger impact than with just the one-on-one work I’d been doing, I knew it meant surrounding myself with an extremely solid clinical team of compassionate people with a shared vision. It meant creating an impactful program that incorporated the tools we’ve found most important and helpful in our own recoveries.
Strong clinical groundwork and spiritual experiences, when woven together, creates an unshakeable foundation for life. My experience has shown me that, when properly combined, this approach can and does yield dramatic, life-saving results. This isn’t theoretical. This is a fact based, not only upon my personal experience, but the experience of millions of people who came before me.
If you or a loved one are suffering from addiction, please come speak with us. My staff and I have more passion for recovery than I could possibly convey in a letter. We can help you make a beginning. We can help set you on a path to sustainable, lifelong recovery. Every journey begins with the first step. There IS hope and you CAN recover. ”
-Richard Hession, Chief Executive Officer
