A well-known phrase that we all hear, “You don’t know what you have until it’s gone” truly applies to my life in all aspects. I grew up in a privileged environment with a great family and I am able to look back on a truly happy childhood. I had a great high school experience and began school at the college of Charleston. My first year of college was my breaking point. My high school boyfriend and my first love committed suicide. October 7th of 2007 was the day that everything came crashing down. I literally stopped sleeping, my appetite disappeared, and I became anxious a lot of the time. After seeing the aftermath in his back yard when giving a…

How difficult a task to sum up so briefly what Brookhaven has meant to me and continues to mean to me. My expectations of what I could expect from treatment were so far below what treatment actually provided that sitting here at home today, I can only feel supremely thankful I made the decision to enter treatment at Brookhaven. I searched for over a year, knowing I needed more help than outpatient and inpatient treatment could offer me for my mood disorder but was scared to make a commitment to treatment because I had never heard of residential treatment for a primary mood disorder. Looking at reality, Brookhaven is expensive. I was scared to invest that much money in treatment…

I was 42 years old when I was sitting on my couch with my daughter and suffered a stroke. I was fortunate enough to have been at home when my stroke occurred so I was able to get medical help immediately. However, I did lose my ability to speak, the use of the right side of my body was limited, I suffer short -term memory loss and the loss of my peripheral vision. I have always felt fortunate to have been able to work hard and regain my speech, become physically strong and am continually working on my short term memory issues and limited peripheral vision. However, what I did not address successfully was the crippling depression, mood instability, lack…

As a child I was filled with so much life. I was confident, driven, energetic and happy. My world was full of love and laughter. By 25 years of age, I had lost almost all of my childhood gifts and life seemed to be leaving me behind. I rarely got out of bed and simple tasks such as showering took more energy than I had. I had no job, no direction, and little interest in things that used to give me pleasure. The relationships I was in at the time was emotionally abusive yet I couldn't find the strength to walk away. The only thing I felt could comfort me was an even more dangerous relationship than the one with…

Thank you, Jacqueline and staff for the guidance and help that I have received during my stay here at Brookhaven. You have shown me that I have the strength to live for the first time in my life. That I am also truly worthy to live my own life has been a great discovery. I now have a wonderful future to look forward to with my daughter and husband and no longer dread it because I know I am in control. The sky is the limit and I am the pilot! The skills I have learned while here I will also be able to share with my daughter and husband. Thank you again for giving me my life back!

After being in treatment for almost four months, I can honestly say that I am a completely different person than I was when I walked into the glass-paneled doors of my treatment center. I have learned not to define myself by labels or diagnosis or even by the thought and feelings of others. I've learned to accept myself for exactly who I am-a perfectly imperfect individual. I now know what it is like to love myself and to respect the person that I am becoming. I have had to scrutinize every aspect of my behavior and of my life, and have admitted many truths about myself and have come through it with willingness and consequently strength. I have changed many…

Thank you so much for all of your amazing insight in poncho. Brookhaven is such a wonderful, healing, nurturing place for women. I feel now that I am able to hold my head high and conquer the world. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this enlightening, empowering experience that I will never forget. Thank you for all you do for women.

I would like to thank everyone very much for the opportunity to have a safe, educational place to become a whole person. I have learned self-respect, courage and patience I believe the staff and clients saved my life and my future. Also of course, I have done the same myself. For the first time I feel grounded. I realize I was only here thirty days, but I feel that if you really want the program to work, you must work the program. The classes hit every angle of my life, physical, mental and spiritual. When I first arrived I had no hope. BHR gave me incredible hope and a passion for life, a SOBER Life. As for my after care,…

I was fortunate to have found Brookhaven Retreat at a pivotal point in my life. Having been to treatment twice before for substance abuse, I came with some reservations as to how this time would be different. Through the experience and guidance of Jacqueline and my primary therapist I was able to gain a positive perspective and new direction in my life. While I still face obstacles, my time at Brookhaven has given me the tools necessary to cope with the challenges that lay ahead.

This thank you note is long overdue. I wanted to thank you for the incredible program that you have put together. Brookhaven has helped me so much. It was truly a privilege to meet and work with you and your staff. Thank you so much for arranging visits with "J" and "B" for me. That was very kind and encouraging. Please give them my love. My journey is naturally still in progress. I haven't had any real mania and have been very stable which is good. I'm still fighting depression, but I've had some very normal, happy times. I have good doctors and an excellent therapist. May all continue to go well for you in your important work.

When I came to Brookhaven I did not realize how emotionally broke I was. I was scared, angry, confused, depressed and basically lost. Whether you know it or not, believe it or not, you have already had an emotional crash before you arrive here, either by choice or through an intervention. However, I learned in time (90 days) coping skils and was given tools to use to learn to become emotionally regulated. I will be able to use these tools to teach others when I leave here and get home to help those understand how I am healthier, happier and self-empowered. I will be able to help my family and friends understand how I am now compared to how I…

I don't know how to tell you how life-saving Brookhaven has been for me. I credit so much of my healing to you [Jacqueline] and Marta. From the day you took me into your office and told me so many good things about myself, how you believed in me, and how you took a chance by inviting me in to Poncho-a tremendous amount of my healing began that day. I have loved Poncho because of you. Thank you for sharing of yourself, for the amazing tools and life coaching you have taught. Through you and Poncho I've learned more self-confidence, self-esteem-because you built that in me. I've learned a lot about myself from the assignments-they've been incredibly helpful and often…

When I first walked into your doors, I did not understand the magnitude of my problem. You see, I thought I had just one problem. Turns out, I opened a door to many doors, each one with a different lock. Those locks were very hard to figure out the combinations to. I was successful in trying and trying again. During my stay at Brookhaven, I was able to concentrate on the most important thing; me. When I changed my thoughts and behaviors I changed me. I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to crack my code. Without your hard work and dedication, I may have given up ever loving again, ever living again.…

Recovery means to return to a former state. I was severely broken down and unable to function in life. I realized I was just going through the emotions, no knowing what those were. I was 38 years old and told myself that if I didn't get help now, I would never recover. Brookhaven changed my life and gave me a sense of purpose. I have learned strength and courage once again and to be in control. Brookhaven is a fabulous retreat designed by women for women. I want to personally thank Jacqueline and the staff for introducing me to my self again.

As I get ready to leave Brookhaven, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for creating this program and this place of recovery for women. I also wanted to comment on how wonderful M_ is as a therapist. I was in her core for a month and was fortunate enough to see and be a part of her incredible ability as a therapist. She could bring out of us what was really hurting and bothering us. I personally am a very private person but by the beginning of my second week, M_ was able to break down my walls. She is very gifted at what she does and I have had other therapists in the past to compare…

Where to begin but the beginning? My spirit was crushed, my heart was sad all the time. My three year old inner child was trapped inside me. She wanted out to tell the horrible secrets she knew, she couldn't hold them in any longer. I ended up in a psych hospital six times for suicidal tendencies. By that time the little girl had to be let out. I began to journal and she started telling stories of sexual abuse that were too horrific to share. I would draw pictures to let the stories out. By the last visit to the hospital my husband said we needed real help. We had heard of Brookhaven Retreat from a family member and decided…

To the Brookhaven staff, community, and CORE sisters, I have only reached this point of health and sobriety with your empowerment, knowledge, support, and personal reflections. I have been humbled by this experience of introspection. I have learned the importance of mindfulness, commitment, emotional regulation, spirituality, radical acceptance, distress tolerance, reflective listening, validation, gratitude, self-regulation, managing coping skills, reduction of stress and anxiety, recovery, and relapse prevention. I appreciate the useful tools and skills I have been taught and I am anxious and prepared to devote my time and new lifestyle to putting these techniques to practice. Thank you to all of you for your time, devotion, and commitment to not only my sobriety but healthy recovery as well.

My story begins in 1961. As a child I received the normal vaccinations that children receive. One of them was the measles vaccination. Shortly after having the vaccine my right eyelid began to droop. They told my mother I had a “cold in my eye.” I was not born with this drooping eyelid. When I was 13 I had surgery to tie the muscle in my eye so it would not droop anymore. To this day, if I look down my eyelid stays open. It caused me great teasing at school and affected my confidence and self-esteem. In 1979 I had to have an MMR vaccine for entrance to Auburn University and had no problem with it. In 1989 there…