Please select a testimonial to read:
Cottonwood works. At least it has been working for me. My experience at Cottonwood helped me to emerge from a pile of unrecognized shame to a steady trajectory of growth, gratitude and humility. At Cottonwood I learned what quality holistic health care looked like. I appreciated the commitment and coordination between my therapist, psychiatrist, behavioral techs, nurses and doctors to provide me with an individualized treatment plan that was both flexible and firm. Moreover, the fellowship that developed amongst the patients at Cottonwood helped me to accept my Depression, and my addiction to marijuana, which I never thought could happen to me.
Cottonwood gave me a safe place to begin to experience my feelings honestly. I learned from caring staff and my new friends in recovery that change was possible, and that I was not alone. My experience at Cottonwood allotted me the time and space to pause and reflect on many aspects of my life that I had been avoiding. Without the distractions on the outside, I could see more clearly how drugs and alcohol were covering up much deeper layers of dissatisfaction. The personal therapeutic work I completed in primary group unlocked my truth, and prepared me for the unique opportunity to confront my family during family week. During family week, my mom, dad, sister and brother-in-law were educated about addiction and dual-diagnosis treatment. A highly skilled family therapist led us and other families through the cathartic process of safe and honest confrontations. The experience of family week solidified my recovery, and connected my family in ways I never thought possible. Four years sober, and full of gratitude, I cannot imagine my life without the gift of Cottonwood.
I have nothing but good things to say about my Cottonwood experience. For me, it was the right thing at the right time and it was life changing. From the moment I stepped onto the grounds in Tucson I began receiving help. The staff was so professional and compassionate that it made receiving help easier. As an attorney, I was used to solving other people’s problems while I completely neglected taking care of myself. The regimen of prescribed drugs, one-on-one counseling, group sessions and other activities lifted the fog and allowed me to find myself again. At Cottonwood the doctors and counselors treated the whole of me, not just one or two issues. They even ordered a sleep study which was conducted offsite to help diagnose my needs. Their goal was to return me to the real world healthier and happier and with a support system in place to ensure forward progression, and that is exactly what they did. The Family Week program was especially useful in helping my family learn how best to support me as well as to repair our relationship, which had suffered during my depression. My stay at Cottonwood gave me my life back by putting me on a road to wellness and teaching me skills to keep me moving in the right direction. I’m thankful to Cottonwood Tucson and credit them with helping me.
--Ted C.
Hi my name is Amrou, I live in London & I am a truly grateful recovering alcoholic & addict, who's fully & most passionately alive at the age of 45 today, by the grace of God, my experience at Cottonwood, and the12 step program that I live my life by today.
After being hospitalized for the 3rd time in 3 years, as a result of my addiction to narcotic painkillers, sedatives & alcohol, I arrived at CW on December 22, 2006, at the age of 42, but I felt more like I was 100! I am a father of 3 wonderful boys who were afraid of and for their father. I am a husband to a very beautiful, but weary wife who's patience was worn out & she was living in constant fear.
I was reluctant to go away to Tucson, especially just before Christmas, but I was at my rope's end. My family gave me an ultimatum to clean up for good, or lose them for good. To be honest, what really allowed me to accept going away to Cottonwood was the awareness that I was actually sick & tired of being sick & tired! But, in true addict form, I drank & popped pills on the ten-hour flight from London to Arizona, reaching a cruising altitude far beyond that of the 747 that took me there! It was only one week before that flight that I was revived & ambulanced to the Hospital! I was truly powerless over my addiction.
Being far away from home for the 7 weeks I was at Cottonwood, was the best medicine for this addict & alcoholic. I got clean & sober safely with the expert medical care at Cottonwood. I really began to appreciate the daily group therapy sessions, the one-on-one counselling, the 12 step meetings, the wonderful hikes & the loving community-like spirit that brought all 48 of us patients there together like a family. All of this allowed me to finally begin to connect with who I truly was, & also equally as important to understand what addiction is & what it had done to my life to the life of my family. I also began to realize just how much I loved and missed my 3 boys, my wife & my parents and just how close I came to loosing it all, especially my own life. The absolute & undeniable beauty of the high Arizona dessert & sky were also a huge help in nudging the door to my heart & my higher conscience, to crack open for the first time since childhood.
I flew home one week after a very healing and wonderful experience with the family week program that included my wife & my father. I felt so grateful & happy to be home in London. I cried so much when I saw my family again. I also met up with Virginia for a one-on-one follow-up at the Cottonwood office in London a few days after returning & joined the weekly aftercare group. I skipped the strong suggestions to attend AA or NA meetings, but after two weeks of not doing too well without the daily support that I enjoyed at CW, I ran into the rooms of AA & began an even more meaningful journey of recovery, as I began to try to live my life on life's terms un-anaesthetized around my family, for the first time ever as an adult!
Over two years later now, by the Grace of God, my Cottonwood experience & my regular participation in AA & NA, I am truly living a life beyond my wildest dreams. I have fallen head over heals in love with my wife of 14 years - again. My children hug me and tell me they love me almost every day. I show up consistently, I am responsible & I am working on a project that I couldn't have even dreamed of before I got sober.
Today I am beginning to live up to all the potential I knew had locked up in me. In recovery, everything is possible! Thank you Cottonwood for helping me crack the door open to all that is beautiful in me & in the world all around me. It's there for each & every one of us!
