Chelsea’s Road To Recovery
If you were to meet Chelsea today, you would never guess the journey she has been through. She lives a life rooted in gratitude, which shows in everything she does. Chelsea is a mom, a wife, a mental health nurse, a volunteer, and a business owner. She loves spending time with her family, connecting with others and meeting new people. She is also an avid runner.
“I run quite often,” Chelsea smiles, “and on every run that I go on, I deliberately run past the New Port Centre (New Port).” New Port, she adds, saved her life.
The centre is one of Niagara Health’s Addiction Recovery Services and offers residential treatment to help people overcome substance use. Chelsea was 23 years old when she came to New Port.
She had been cared for by the team at the Welland hospital after an overdose, which was a result of her alcoholism. Following her stay at the hospital, Chelsea went to detox for a short while. “I needed help,” Chelsea remembers. “I was desperate. My family was desperate. My loved ones were desperate.”
I needed help. I was desperate. My family was desperate. My loved ones were desperate.
Her detox workers were trying to find a treatment centre that could take Chelsea in immediately, but New Port was the only centre that had capacity right away. “I was hesitant at first because this is my home community. I kept thinking, ‘what if someone sees me,’” Chelsea explains about being offered treatment in Port Colborne. “But I knew that it was life or death for me. So I had the chance to start my recovery journey right then and there, and I was willing to do that.”
Chelsea attended group sessions and one-on-one counselling during her three-week stay at New Port. She learned to give her life a routine. Get up in the morning, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Eat three meals a day and have snacks in between. What may sound so simple was life-changing for Chelsea. “The days were structured. There was routine from the moment you woke up until you went to bed at night, which I had not had for a very long time.”
Surrounded by a group of people going through the same thing Chelsea was experiencing, she had found a place where she felt safe and understood. Through the sessions over the weeks, Chelsea learned about healing, and self-reflection and began understanding the root of addiction, trauma and shame. “I was young,” she says, “I still thought, ‘oh, maybe I don’t have a problem, I’m only 23. Surely, I won’t be an alcoholic forever!’”
New Port helped Chelsea understand that recovery is a process and she didn’t have to do it on her own. “They would bring in family members as well. My counsellor, Lynn, helped the people in my life understand the addiction. It was so important. Those sessions addressed all the blame, the shame, and the expectation that my life would just be better in one day. She kind of put the whole picture together for them to understand,” Chelsea pauses before she adds, “I could never have done that by myself.”
My counsellor, Lynn, helped the people in my life understand the addiction. It was so important. Those sessions addressed all the blame, the shame, and the expectation that my life would just be better in one day.
At New Port, Chelsea was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-step program, treatment tools that saved her life. “When I came to New Port, I was consumed by the addiction. When you’re in active addiction, you’re swallowed whole in this darkness and don’t see any light. I was at a point of complete despair and thinking, ‘I’m going to die.’ Or even wanting to die and not wanting to live my life without alcohol. And then, this community and the 12-step program taught me how to maintain sobriety by following these steps, attending meetings, and helping others. It’s changed my entire life in every sense of the word. It’s given me the life that I have today, which is a life that I would not ever have imagined for myself.”
As safe and comfortable as Chelsea felt while in New Port, eventually, the day came when it was time for her to go home. “I remember being terrified to leave. They were holding me through this journey, and then you walk through the door, and you think: ‘Oh God, what am I going to do without them?’”
Equipped with the tools she had learned about at New Port, Chelsea focused on taking it one day at a time. “My counsellor Lynn developed a vision board with me. I put on pictures of what I wanted my life to be like in a year, five years from that time. I put it up in my home after I left the treatment centre, and as the days added up in my journey of recovery, all the things were coming true. All these things that I never thought would happen to me were happening. It was amazing to see.”
This December, Chelsea will celebrate 12 years of sobriety. Her twin boys just turned 11, and she is thankful that she has been able to maintain her recovery for their entire life and the life of her two little daughters. “Some of my friends have passed or are in active addiction. I try not to ask myself why them and why not me. Instead, I just show up for life, try to be the best person I can be that day, and show my gratitude and appreciation for this gift I’ve been given.”
On her runs past New Port, she takes a moment to give thanks to the centre. “I will always remember that place as the place where it started. It’s where it started for me, how I’ve gotten the life I have today. My home, my career, the relationships with my friends, my family, myself – it all happened because of this facility.”
Chelsea’s Road To Recovery
If you were to meet Chelsea today, you would never guess the journey she has been through. She lives a life rooted in gratitude, which shows in everything she does. Chelsea is a mom, a wife, a mental health nurse, a volunteer, and a business owner. She loves spending time with her family, connecting with others and meeting new people. She is also an avid runner.
“I run quite often,” Chelsea smiles, “and on every run that I go on, I deliberately run past the New Port Centre (New Port).” New Port, she adds, saved her life.
The centre is one of Niagara Health’s Addiction Recovery Services and offers residential treatment to help people overcome substance use. Chelsea was 23 years old when she came to New Port.
She had been cared for by the team at the Welland hospital after an overdose, which was a result of her alcoholism. Following her stay at the hospital, Chelsea went to detox for a short while. “I needed help,” Chelsea remembers. “I was desperate. My family was desperate. My loved ones were desperate.”
I needed help. I was desperate. My family was desperate. My loved ones were desperate.
Her detox workers were trying to find a treatment centre that could take Chelsea in immediately, but New Port was the only centre that had capacity right away. “I was hesitant at first because this is my home community. I kept thinking, ‘what if someone sees me,’” Chelsea explains about being offered treatment in Port Colborne. “But I knew that it was life or death for me. So I had the chance to start my recovery journey right then and there, and I was willing to do that.”
Chelsea attended group sessions and one-on-one counselling during her three-week stay at New Port. She learned to give her life a routine. Get up in the morning, brush your teeth, and get dressed. Eat three meals a day and have snacks in between. What may sound so simple was life-changing for Chelsea. “The days were structured. There was routine from the moment you woke up until you went to bed at night, which I had not had for a very long time.”
Surrounded by a group of people going through the same thing Chelsea was experiencing, she had found a place where she felt safe and understood. Through the sessions over the weeks, Chelsea learned about healing, and self-reflection and began understanding the root of addiction, trauma and shame. “I was young,” she says, “I still thought, ‘oh, maybe I don’t have a problem, I’m only 23. Surely, I won’t be an alcoholic forever!’”
New Port helped Chelsea understand that recovery is a process and she didn’t have to do it on her own. “They would bring in family members as well. My counsellor, Lynn, helped the people in my life understand the addiction. It was so important. Those sessions addressed all the blame, the shame, and the expectation that my life would just be better in one day. She kind of put the whole picture together for them to understand,” Chelsea pauses before she adds, “I could never have done that by myself.”
My counsellor, Lynn, helped the people in my life understand the addiction. It was so important. Those sessions addressed all the blame, the shame, and the expectation that my life would just be better in one day.
At New Port, Chelsea was also introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous and the 12-step program, treatment tools that saved her life. “When I came to New Port, I was consumed by the addiction. When you’re in active addiction, you’re swallowed whole in this darkness and don’t see any light. I was at a point of complete despair and thinking, ‘I’m going to die.’ Or even wanting to die and not wanting to live my life without alcohol. And then, this community and the 12-step program taught me how to maintain sobriety by following these steps, attending meetings, and helping others. It’s changed my entire life in every sense of the word. It’s given me the life that I have today, which is a life that I would not ever have imagined for myself.”
As safe and comfortable as Chelsea felt while in New Port, eventually, the day came when it was time for her to go home. “I remember being terrified to leave. They were holding me through this journey, and then you walk through the door, and you think: ‘Oh God, what am I going to do without them?’”
Equipped with the tools she had learned about at New Port, Chelsea focused on taking it one day at a time. “My counsellor Lynn developed a vision board with me. I put on pictures of what I wanted my life to be like in a year, five years from that time. I put it up in my home after I left the treatment centre, and as the days added up in my journey of recovery, all the things were coming true. All these things that I never thought would happen to me were happening. It was amazing to see.”
This December, Chelsea will celebrate 12 years of sobriety. Her twin boys just turned 11, and she is thankful that she has been able to maintain her recovery for their entire life and the life of her two little daughters. “Some of my friends have passed or are in active addiction. I try not to ask myself why them and why not me. Instead, I just show up for life, try to be the best person I can be that day, and show my gratitude and appreciation for this gift I’ve been given.”
On her runs past New Port, she takes a moment to give thanks to the centre. “I will always remember that place as the place where it started. It’s where it started for me, how I’ve gotten the life I have today. My home, my career, the relationships with my friends, my family, myself – it all happened because of this facility.”
