Recovery is Together!

As we reach the close of September, which is Recovery Month, we’d like to share some insights about recovery at Christ House. This year, the theme of Recovery Month was, “Recovery is together”. Thank you to our addiction counselors, case managers and medical respite care staff for their tireless work of walking with patients on their recovery journey.

“Every new patient that comes in, I try to sit with and assess for substance use. Sometimes there’s no history of substance use, but I still always make an invitation to New Day [Christ House Recovery Program]. People are in different places in their recovery and we’re all working on something. I tell the guys, ‘What you say might save the life of the person next to you – don’t keep it to yourself!’

That’s Tim Malone. His career has really been about helping people through substance use disorder, mental health and recovery— with more than four decades of experience in public service, treatment programs, private practice, and pastoral care. Over the last year, he joined Christ House as an addiction counselor. A big part of this role is leading New Day. “For a newcomer, New Day is an opportunity to have hope.”

Every twelve weeks, the entire Christ House community is invited to come together to celebrate the graduation of men who have completed the New Day program, an intensive, in-house recovery program. James started coming to New Day meetings as a patient at Christ House and went on to become a Kairos Member. At the last graduation, we celebrated James along with five other men who had completed the program. James shared that after attempting recovery eight times, New Day was different.  “This was the first program I’ve been in that made me want to do it.”

Left: James Thomas and Tim Malone, Right: Chris Smith and John Bush

Among the counselors who walked alongside him to that moment was John Bush. John has spent more than 35 years working with people experiencing substance abuse disorder, with a focus on recovery support, counseling, and helping people develop the skills they need to move forward. He came to Christ House in 2020 as an addiction counselor and provides support to Kairos Members and Christ House patients. “The belief is that as long as I’m not using alcohol or other drugs, I have no problems. In reality, that’s only the beginning of the change process,” said John. 

After completing two series of the New Day program, Kairos Members have the opportunity to move forward to Renewed Way classes. “Renewed Way is a next step for those who have already embraced the concept of recovery and have moved into the maintenance phase of change… something to stimulate the continued growth and to prevent stagnation or complacency. The intent is to teach emotional regulation and emotional intelligence,” says John. 

Alongside the addiction counselor at Christ House, the medical respite staff are there to support patients on their recovery journey. We recently asked Mari Lowe, nurse practitioner, to explain medication-assisted treatment, or MAT, at Christ House. “MAT is a term to describe medicines that are used to help people experience fewer cravings or symptoms related to their substance use.”

There are several medications used to help people manage substance use disorders, and the right approach can look different for each person. At Christ House, staff use medications including buprenorphine (also called Suboxone) for opioid use disorder, naltrexone and sometimes gabapentin for alcohol use disorder, and nicotine replacement therapy, varenicline and bupropion to help people quit smoking. Staff check in regularly with patients to monitor how medications are working and adjust treatment as needed.

Christ House also provides Narcan (naloxone), a medication that can rapidly reverse an opioid overdose. “Narcan is a lifesaving drug and one that every patient at Christ House is discharged with. All of our patients and staff are trained on how to use Narcan, both clinical and non-clinical – and we have saved many lives with it.” 

Mari shared that the stigma around substance abuse disorder makes recovery harder. “Any time that we can phrase substance use as a chronic medical condition or in medical terms, it’s better. People don’t start using substances because they’re trying to “do something bad”, they start using because at a certain time, that substance provided them relief from the hardness that is life, the tragedy that is life. Unfortunately, a lot of substances have a lot of negative side effects and they can be really addictive or people can become dependent on them and that’s where havoc starts to break out.  

Linwood, a patient at Christ House, recently shared, “I go to all the meetings. The New Day recovery program gives you the freedom to express what’s really going on – you can just be you. Everybody gets a chance. If I’m going to commit to change, I have to be committed to change, and that’s what I’ve been since I came here. What’s next for me is getting stable again and establishing community networks that will keep me in touch.

Christ House is where I really committed to my sobriety and my new outlook on life. That’s true and coming from the gut.”  

Recovery is not a single moment, it’s a journey of small steps. At Christ House, we are grateful to walk alongside our patients and Kairos Members wherever they are in that journey—to offer a supportive community, a safe place to be themselves, a space to heal and an opportunity to hope.