The first time I saw something about A Forever Recovery, it must have been at least 7 years ago. I was looking into rehabs for my son and AFR had seemed like a nice place that would be good for him. Before calling them, I started reading some of the reviews and posts about AFR and those changed my mind about sending him to AFR. I read too many things that said AFR wasn’t much more than a recruiting base for a cult and I had no interest in sending my son to a place like that.
My son spent the next 6 years in and out of rehab and every time he relapsed, I’d start looking for a place to send him, and I’d see the ads for A Forever Recovery. After 6 years of my son making zero improvement, I started to wonder if it would be easier to send my son there, get him clean if they could, then get him out of the cult. Which is a ridiculous thought but, I was at the end of my rope and I didn’t know what else to do for him. I still wasn’t going to send him to AFR but, I did call them because I wanted to know what they had to say about them being involved with a cult and I found out that while they did used to be affiliated with that cult, they didn’t have anything to do with it anymore. Which made my decision to send him there much easier.
AFR has an impressive set-up and the more I heard about it, the more I wanted my son going there. AFR has different programs that their clients choose from. They don’t have a one size fits all mentality about treatment and I thought would really help my son. AFR is a place that would take my son’s personality and history and apply that to the kind of treatment he would get. Before calling AFR and talking to someone there, it had never occurred to me that my son wasn’t the only problem, that the programs he’d been doing might not be right for him. Every time my son relapsed, I blamed him. I thought he wasn’t trying hard enough or didn’t care enough to get sober. I had only been sending him to `12-step programs because that’s what I was familiar with. The 12-step program has been around for so long that I didn’t even think to look into another type of program. So, my son had only gone to 12-step program sand when I sent him to AFR I learned that was also part of the problem.
When my son was at AFR he was able to choose a program that he felt comfortable doing and when he chose the SMART program his attitude about his recovery changed. He put more effort into doing the program because he was finally doing something that made sense to him.
The clients at AFR are also moved forward on their programs based on individual progress. As I’ve said, they don’t have a one size fits all mentality at AFR, so the clients choose their program but, they also stay at AFR for however long it takes them to get it right. When my son first started at AFR, he did so like he’d started every rehab program before, Which was a bit annoyed that he had to go back to rehab to appease me, planning to just ride out the program without putting much effort into. After going through detox, seeing the different program that they have and spending time figuring out what he wanted to do, his whole attitude changed about being there. It stopped being something he had to do and became something that he wanted to do. He stayed at AFR for 18 weeks because he wanted to stay for that long. He knew that being at AFR was helping him and he felt that the program he was doing was something that would really help him stay sober, so he put everything into doing the program right.
I’m glad I finally called AFR and gave them a chance because going there has been really good for my son. He got home last week, and I’ve never seen him this determined to stay sober. He’s never before done everything he’s supposed to without a single complaint. A Forever Recovery was a great place but, more importantly, it was the r

I don’t know where my daughter would be if she hadn’t gone to A Forever Recovery. It wouldn’t be anywhere good though, that’s for sure. When my husband first called AFR and spoke with one of the intake counselors our daughter wasn’t willing to get help and we weren’t sure if she’d ever be willing to get help. The intake counselor was great though. He was willing to talk to my husband or I whenever we called, which was usually at least once a week. Which lasted for 6 months and in that time he did so much to help us. He helped us understand why our daughter hadn’t been willing to even talk to us about getting help, he taught us the best way for us to talk to our daughter about her addiction, how to handle and direct the conversation so she wouldn’t get defensive during the discussion. Without his help and instructions, our daughter would still be using drugs. It took us 6 months to get our daughter to agree to get help and this intake counselor, knowing that it could be a long time before she went to AFR, he still took the time to talk to us at least weekly, checking on us and our daughter, giving us advice and really just helping us cope with having a kid addicted to drugs.
He also helped us get everything set up and ready so that as soon as our daughter agreed to go to AFR, she wouldn’t have a second of time to change her mind or back out of going. Sending our daughter to AFR was the best thing for her, it was the perfect place for her.
After getting to AFR, it didn’t take long for us to notice the changes in our daughter. For starters, I hadn’t had a single phone call from her that didn’t end with her asking for money, and having it turn into a fight when I refused to give her any. So, the first time she called home after finishing detox, the whole time she and I talked I wasn’t worried that she only wanted money. I knew she was calling because she wanted to talk to me, and it was such a nice change.
3 weeks after our daughter went to AFR, my husband and I were able to visit her and the physical changes we saw in our daughter were amazing. Because of her drug use, she’d lost a lot of weight and she’d started to gain that weight back. Her skin was clearing up but, the biggest change was how happy she was. Happiness just radiated from her and it incredible to see her so happy and content.
As a parent, you are constantly worrying about your kids and having one of them start to use drugs is really horrible. Watching as your kid becomes completely dependent on a drug like heroin, when there’s nothing that they will let you do to help them, it’s horrible. You’re sitting on the sidelines, knowing that your kid is choosing to hurt themselves, and you know, that until they make the decision to get help, there’s not much of anything that you can do.
Having that kid finally get the help they need and being able to see them coming back to you, seeing them start acting like the person you love again is amazing. Because my daughter went to A Forever Recovery, because of the help the intake counselor gave my husband and I to get her there, she’s now off everything, she’s completely sober and has been for 5 months.
My daughter has been vigilant in continuing with her aftercare since coming home. She talks with her aftercare specialist regularly. She knows that just because she went to treatment, it doesn’t mean that her dad and I instantly started trusting her again and since she’s come home, she has done a lot of work to show her dad and I that she’s trustworthy again. We knew that she needed to start working and doing something with her day but, we were worried that having her own money again wouldn’t be good for her. So, when she got a job 2 months ago, she worked it out with her dad so he’s in charge of her money. When she goes out to lunch, she br

When I went to A Forever Recovery, I was ready to start a new life. I was more than ready to stop doing drugs and everything else that harmed myself and my loved ones. When I got there, I was this weird mix of hopeful yet, jaded. I wanted to get off drugs more than anything but, I wasn’t convinced that it was something I could really do. Though, just the fact that I really did want to get clean helped me. When I went to AFR it was the first time I’d gone to rehab with the desire to get sober. Because of that I was more receptive to doing the program and working on myself. While I was at AFR I learned how to navigate my life and my choices, so I didn’t fall into old habits and the things I learned at AFR are the reason I’ve stayed sober I also feel stable right now. I learned a lot about myself while going through my program. I learned why I’d been doing the things I’d been doing, why I’d been making certain choices and I learned to stop when things were getting harder in my life, learned to take that step back and reevaluate things and deal with my problems before I got to the point where I wanted to use. I can be really hard to stay sober. For me, it was because in the back of my mind, I always had the knowledge that if something wasn’t going my way, if I was having a bad day, if anything was slightly wrong at all, I could make it all go away if I used. I knew the problem itself wouldn’t go away but, I also knew that if I used, I wouldn’t care one bit about that problem. That was hard for me to get past. It takes a lot more work to deal with a problem than it does to just pretend it doesn’t exist. So, while I was at AR, I learned how to deal with my problems before they got to the point where I wanted or felt like I needed that escape. I decided not to go home while I was at AFR. With everything I learned there, I could have gone home and stayed sober but, I had family in Colorado, and I decided that it would be better and less stressful for everyone if I stated over somewhere new. Asking for help has always been hard for me. Asking for help made me feel like I’d already failed at whatever I was trying to do. So, I’d try to do everything on my own and fail anyways. While I was going through my program at AFR, I realized that staying sober wasn’t something I could do without help and that the bigger my support system was, the easier it would be for me. That I wasn’t a failure because I needed help with something. So, while I was at AFR, I asked my aunt and uncle for their help and they’ve been amazing. My parents were supportive of my decision to move away from home because they knew that me starting over somewhere new was going to be easier than trying to start over and stay sober in a place I’d been using for years. My uncle found me a job and I started 5 days after arriving at their house. Things have been good at my job. I’ve not missed a day or been late to work since starting and this is the best record that I’ve ever had with something like this. I’m also paying my own bills and generally acting like the adult I’m supposed to be. I didn’t thing having a life like this was possible before I went to AFR. As much as I wanted to get sober, I didn’t believe it was possible for me. Being around the people at AFR helped me to see that even though my life had been completely derailed by my addicted, I could get it back on track. The counselors really helped me while I was there. Sometimes, it was them being there to talk to me or help me work through some issue I was having. Sometimes, it was calling me on my bull and not letting me get away with something. They didn’t let anything, whether it was me or something else, hinder my recovery, which I’m so grateful for. Going to AFR changed my life in the best way possible.

I went to A Forever Recovery last November and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. It was also the most beneficial. My problem with opiates started when I was 19 and it started with pain pills and continued to get worse until I was taking pain pills, heroin or anything else I could get my hands on. My parents convinced me to get help when I was 23. They sent me to rehab and while I was going through detox, I was prescribed Suboxone which they then weaned me off of. The Suboxone helped me a lot at the time. It made me feel normal again but, what was better was that I felt normal but, it also reduced the urge I had to use opiates. So, when I relapsed after finishing that program, I went to a doctor and asked to be prescribed Suboxone and I stayed on it for the next 4 years. My life improved so much in those 4 years. By taking the Suboxone I was almost normal again. I was still taking something though so; it wasn’t as normal as I wanted it to be. After 4 years of taking Suboxone I decided that it was time to get off it. Which was extremely hard to do. I thought because I was coming off Suboxone and not pain pills or heroin, that it would be easier for me to get through the withdrawals. It wasn’t and I ended up taking Percocet to try to ease the withdrawal symptoms. Which put me right back at where I started, addicted to opiates and not being able to stop. I started researching rehabs and after finding A Forever Recovery spoke to my parents and asked for their help so I could go there. Going to A Forever Recovery wasn’t easy, in fact it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I was determined to make my life my own again and I felt that my best chance for that was at AFR. The staff at AFR helped me a lot. Most drug addicts are master manipulators and I was no different. I was used to manipulating people and situations to get what I wanted but, the staff at AFR have dealt with a lot of drug addicts and they know all the tricks. Plus, there are staff at AFR who were addicts as well and they know how they could be manipulated because they’d have done the same, so you don’t get away with anything there. Which I needed. My parents had known I was taking Suboxone, they knew that it wasn’t good for me to be on it for that long but, I’d convinced them that it was either me taking Suboxone or heroin. So, they paid for my doctor appointments and my Suboxone. Hell, when I finally wanted to get off Suboxone the Percocet I got was from my parents because I somehow convinced them it was going to help me. They knew it was wrong but, it goes to show you just how manipulative a drug addict can be. That’s what was hard in the beginning of my program, I couldn’t manipulate the staff to get my way and while it made me hate them a little in the beginning, it’s what made it possible for me to make as much progress as I did there. The approach they take to rehab is different at AFR. They have different programs available there at AFR and the counselors at AFR helped me choose the right program, which for me was the SMART program. It’s been amazingly helpful. Since going to AFR I’ve changed a lot. I went to AFR in November of 2018 and I stayed there for just over 10 weeks. I got home in January of this year and I’ve stayed sober. It wasn’t exactly fun staying at AFR through Thanksgiving and Christmas but, the staff worked hard to make both holidays as nice as possible but, not being with my family was hard for me as my family has always welcomed me over the holidays even when I was using. I’m glad I stuck it out and stayed there through the holidays because it was totally worth it though because this is the first Christmas in over 11 years that I’ll be with my family and completely sober. I have over 12 months sober and it’s because of the hard work the staff at AFR made sure I did. Going through the program at AFR w

When I sent my daughter to A Forever Recovery, I hoped that it was as good as the reviews I had read made it out to be. I prayed that this rehab would be able to change my daughter’s life. When my daughter started using heroin 10 years ago, things got bad very quickly. So much quicker than I could have ever anticipated. It doesn’t take long to become addicted to opiates and I saw that firsthand when my daughter started using.
For these last 10 years, her dad and I have sent our daughter to rehab after rehab. We’ve sent her to rehab so many times that they become somewhat of a joke to her. That’s not exactly right. After the first few rehabs failed to help her make any kind of personal improvement, she stopped taking rehab less seriously and started going to rehab just to humor her dad and me. All the while her dad and I were continuously more and more devasted by her lack of recovery.
From the beginning I was impressed with the staff at AFR. I wasn’t sure how effective AFR would be but, I still wanted my daughter to go there because it’s the first place I’d found that didn’t treat drug addiction and drug rehabilitation the same as everyone else. It was refreshing to talk to someone so honestly earnest about helping my daughter. Once I decided to send her there, they helped me get everything set up and ready so that as soon as she agreed to go, she wouldn’t have time to change her mind before everything was set up. When I dropped her off, I was impressed with the level of care and compassion they showed to her.
Throughout all these years and the many rehabs my daughter’s been to, she has wanted to get clean. She just stopped believing that any rehab could help her and so stopped putting in the effort into doing the programs. She stopped going to rehab for herself and had no faith that they would work. It started out different at AFR. Before she even started her detox, the staff spoke with her and somewhere during the explanation of the program and what she’d be doing at AFR she started having a guarded hope that AFR would be different.
During her program the staff were very patient with her. The understood her reluctance to opening up with them and they worked with her until she felt comfortable about it. They helped my daughter to become a better person and she learned how to live her life without using drugs as a crutch when things didn’t go her way. She learned all this because the program she was doing was one that interested her, and she could understand the philosophy behind it.
A Forever Recovery has the best collection of staff that I’ve come across in all the years that I’ve searched, called and put my daughter in rehab and the difference in how AFR is run and staffed made all the difference in her recovery.
This time when my daughter came home, she did so with a confidence in herself that I hadn’t seen since before she ever started using drugs. It’s amazing to see the progress my daughter made while she was at AFR and the progress she’s made since coming home. When she got home, she didn’t slow down or stop trying to improve her life. She’s using what she learned at AFR to make a better life and a better future for herself.
Before I sent my daughter to AFR, I knew that if she didn’t stop using, she wouldn’t be alive for much longer. When I sent her to AFR it was with true desperation. All I wanted was for her to get the help she needed, and I hoped more than anything that going to AFR would help her but fearing what would happen if it didn’t. Now though, now because of AFR I have my daughter back, and I have her back in a way that I never thought possible.

My parents talked me into going to A Forever Recovery 8 months ago. Actually my parents basically pestered and bulldozed me into going to AFR. Doesn’t matter though, going to A Forever Recovery is the best thing I’ve could have ever done and now I’m extremely grateful my parents didn’t stop pestering I’ve me until I gave in and went to AFR.
been trying to get sober ever since I started using and so I’ve gone to my parents many times over the years, asking for help. In the beginning of my addiction I was pretty optimistic about my chances with recovery. Realistically, I knew it could take a while but I thought I’d keep at it till I could stay sober. So, when I relapsed after the first few rehabs, I was upset but ready to go back to rehab. The more times I relapsed after a rehab, the more that optimism diminished until it completely disappeared and I just wanted to give up. I wasn’t suicidal, not exactly. I was however tired of the life I was living and it wouldn’t have taken much more for me to become suicidal. So, when my parents found AFR and asked me to go I didn’t see the point and said no.
I figured I’d hurt my parents enough and going to another rehab just to relapse right after would hurt more than if I just didn’t go. Plus, I was positive it wouldn’t work and I didn’t want them wasting money on something I considered a lost cause. When I did give in and go to AFR it was more to prove to them that it wouldn’t work and that I was beyond help. In the end, it doesn’t matter what got me there, just that they got me there.
I got there 8 months ago and I loved it there. Being at AFR was much easier than I was expecting. The staff working in detox were amazing and helped me so much through the detox process. Most people who work at a drug rehab do so because they’re good people and want to help others. The problem I’ve always run into is that despite those good intentions they have no personal experience with drugs or addiction which causes a divide. At least it did for me. At AFR, they have staff that do have personal experience with drugs and addiction so that divide isn’t there. Being able to talk to someone who’d been through it and knew how hard of a time I was having made it so much easier for me. It also opened my eyes to the fact that AFR might just be a place that could really help me.
The SMART program is one of the programs they offer at AFR and it’s the first time I’ve been able to do that program. They have other programs at AFR but the SMART program was the only one that really interested me. Something that’s really nice about AFR is that each person is able to the program that interests the most or that they feel will help them most.
Another thing that helped was that I was able to stay at AFR for 2 months. I’ve been to 60 day and longer programs in the past and relapsed right after but the combination of staying there for 2 months, the SMART program and the staff who helped me throughout my program, that made going to AFR the best and most helpful experience I’ve ever had when working to get sober.
It still amazes me just how much going to AFR helped me. I got there 8 months ago, stayed for 2 months and have been home for 6 months now. Since getting home I haven’t touched a single substance. When I’m at rehab it’s easy enough to push aside or ignore the cravings to use, there’s nothing there to tempt or distract me. It’s when I get home that those cravings could lead to a relapse and one of the biggest things I learned during my program was how to handle those cravings without giving in and it’s a big reason I’ve been able to stay sober. I’m so glad my parents didn’t stop pestering me until I went to AFR because going there saved my life.

My dad had a heart attack 5 years ago. By that time I’d been addicted to heroin for 9 years. My dad survived and when I went to go visit him in the hospital he begged me to get help. He told me that he didn’t want to die without knowing that I’d be okay and he didn’t want to watch me die. Which is the exact point in my life when I started caring about my life and my recovery.
I went to A Forever Recovery and I did pretty okay after my program. I stayed sober for a while but relapsed after 6 months. I hid it from my dad for a few months but eventually he realized that I’d been using again. When he talked to me about it I agreed to go back to rehab. I had liked going to AFR a lot but my dad wanted me to try a different place since I’d relapsed after going to AFR. I went with what he wanted and went to a different treatment center. I relapsed after that one and relapsed after 2 more centers before my dad and I agreed to try AFR again.
I’m very glad my agreed with me about going back to AFR. There’s something about the people working at AFR that made going to rehab easier for me. I didn’t have any problems staying there for however long I needed to be there because I got along with the staff. The counselors at AFR made me work hard on my program because they care so much. The staff at AFR also do a lot to make the time you spend there fun. They’re always planning an activity or some outing so that the clients could have a good time.
There were two years between the first time I went to A Forever Recovery and the second time I went. When I got there the second time I was worried that it’d be weird or that the staff would be disappointed in me. There’s a few staff there though that have dealt with addiction themselves and the staff that haven’t have been around enough that they understand how hard it can be to stay sober.
Having people at AFR who understood me so well because they’d been through it too made doing the program easier. I could talk to my counselor about something I now that he wasn’t just spouting something off that he’d read in a book. Advice from him was given because of experience. He’d found what worked for him and he helped me find what worked for me.
Doing the program again was more helpful for me than the first time I’d gone through it and I understood myself so much better by the time I graduated. I knew what I could handle being around and what I couldn’t handle. Doing my program there again made me more determined than ever to stay sober after graduating.
Going through the program helped my dad understand everything a lot more too. The counselor talked to my dad routinely throughout my program. He’d tell my dad what I was working on and how I was doing on my program. The counselor also did a lot of work with the two of us, helping me repair my relationship with my dad. Which I’m really grateful for. I went to AFR the first time because my dad’s heart attack made me realize that I didn’t have forever to get sober if I wanted to have a relationship with him. I know how much it hurt him when I relapsed after each program. With my counselor helping me explain things to him and talk things out with him he came to understand me better and the problems I was having with staying sober and how he could help me once I was home.
I graduated from AFR the second time 18 months ago and I’m still sober. I love being sober and I love how much better my life is now. My dad and I are closer than ever. We’ve rebuilt our relationship and it’s stronger than ever. There are so many times when I’ve gone to him because I was having a hard time with my sobriety and he’s helped me stay sober. He’s stuck by me through all of this and I’m glad it’s finally paid off.

I was speaking with my aftercare specialist from A Forever Recovery the other day and she asked if I’d be willing to write a few reviews for the center because of the success I’ve had since going there. Of course I agreed, it’s because I went to AFR that I’ve been sober for 2 years. That’s 2 years without having any kind of lapse in my sobriety. 2 years of having control over my life. 2 years without hurting or disappointing the people in my life. It’s such an incredible feeling and I can’t even begin to describe how grateful I am to AFR.
When I went to AFR I honestly wasn’t expecting much. That doesn’t sound good but the truth is I had struggled with my addiction for 10 years and during that 10 years I was averaging 2 rehabs a year. By the time I was 30 I’d been to rehab over 20 times. So, by the time I went to AFR I was pretty apathetic on the subject of rehab. Don’t get me wrong, when I went to AFR I absolutely wanted to get clean, I just didn’t think it would happen.
It was pretty depressing for me and for my family. I was continually hurting them and they were more or less miserable because of me. My parents weren’t doing great and they were fighting a lot, mostly about me. My sister had been putting off her wedding for years because of the very real fear that I’d show up to her wedding high. My brother was doing the best of all of them and that’s because he’d refused to talk to me for over 3 years. I knew all this, knew how much I was hurting people and still I couldn’t manage to stop messing everything up. I had this 6 month hurdle that I never got past. It didn’t matter what kind or rehab I went to, what sort of program I did or how long I was there for. When I was home I never, not once stayed clean for longer than 6 months.
The last few rehabs I went to wasn’t with the hope that I’d get sober. Mostly my parents were sending me to rehab because while I was in rehab I couldn’t get into any trouble. For however long I was in rehab they knew where I was and they knew that they wouldn’t be getting that call from the cops telling them they’d found me dead. And as much as I wanted to get sober I was going to rehab for mostly those same reasons. Before AFR I just knew that I would be dying because I’d overdose and I was trying to put that off for as long a possible.
It surprised me how much good going to AFR did for me. The program I did was great but what made AFR special were the people working there. They were crazy determined to help me and everyone else I was going through the program with. They were invested in our recovery and so were relentless when it came to making sure we were working hard on our programs. I needed that. I had been to so many rehabs that by the time I went to AFR I was lazy about doing my program. I didn’t think it’d matter so I didn’t try. The staff and counselors at AFR didn’t allow that and they pushed me to do more and to do better.
The commitment and dedication that the staff at AFR have towards their clients isn’t something I’d experienced before. They were determined that I and every person I did my program alongside could and would stay sober when we completed our programs.
When I did get home after finishing my program I was scared. Scared and nervous that I’d do something wrong and relapse. I knew what I needed to do and I was doing it but I was still so scared of messing up. I ended up calling my aftercare specialist constantly. When I first got home I was calling her almost every day, sometimes multiple times a day. She was extremely patient and understanding with me and helped me get through every hiccup, every snag, every problem and every negative emotion. The longer time went on the less I’ve needed her help but I still call her when I need help getting through so

My brother started using cocaine around 10 years ago. For the first 7 years of his addiction he would binge. He’d use over a weekend or if he was off work for a while. Because of that his addiction didn’t ever seem to get out of hand and he was, fairly easily, able to convince our parents that he wasn’t an addict and didn’t need any help. It helped that he had no problem with keeping his job, had his own place and always paid his bills.
Two and a half years ago that changed when he stopped binging on the weekends and started using every day. He stopped paying his bills, was losing his house and every bit of money he made went towards his addiction. Then, 2 years ago he was arrested.
Which I was very happy about. It was what needed to happen in order to convince him and our parents that he actually did need help. So, when he called me from jail, I called our parents and we found a rehab for him. Our parents agreed with me that they’d only bail him out if he agreed to go to rehab. Which he thankfully did.
For the 1 ½ years he was in and out of rehabs. The first rehab he went to he went with idea that by going to rehab he could go back to using the way he had been at the beginning of his addiction. Only using on the weekends and such. Which is something he didn’t tell anyone. He relapsed the first day he got home from that program. The rest, he’d check himself in, do well while he was there but, within a week, sometimes two he’d start using again.
He went to 5 rehabs in a 2 year period and he wasn’t doing any better. Then, our parents came across the A Forever Recovery website and it was a really good find. When they showed me the website and told me a bit of about the program after they’d called I became very excited about him going there. After 2 years and 5 rehabs he was losing faith that he would be able to get his life back to right.
After our parents talked to me about AFR and I looked at the program for myself we all started talking to him about it. Telling him why and how going to AFR would be different than other programs. The first thing we stressed was that he’d be able to choose his own program and the second thing we stressed was at AFR they have staff there who understand addiction incredibly well. Not because they’d gone to school or worked in a rehab for some time but, because they had their own experience and histories with addiction.
He agreed to go to AFR 5 months ago. From the start he seemed much better. The whole staff of AFR isn’t filled with past drug addicts. Because he did have those staff who understood addiction so well, he was more willing to talk to them about his problems and experiences. He wasn’t worried that he’d be judged for his past and that was a relief for him.
He did really good at AFR. Since his arrest he’s been trying to get better. I know this. Even during that first rehab where he was a bit delusional about what getting better entailed, he was still trying to get better. He didn’t have the ability to do it though. Going to A Forever Recovery gave my brother the tools he needed to stay sober after finishing his program and to remain sober.
He’s still sober after being home for 3 months. This is the longest he’s been sober since he first started using cocaine around 10 years ago. Also for the first time in 10 years he’s not pretending to be doing well, he really is doing well. He has more control over his own life every day. I’m very glad our parents found A Forever Recovery. It really was a good find.

I choose A Forever Recovery because they offer the SMART Recovery program. They do offer other programs there but, the SMART program was the reason I wanted to go there. I’ve gone through rehab programs before and the SMART program was one I hadn’t done and I hoped it would help me more than the other programs I’ve done and my parents agreed with me.
Going through the SMART program was great. It actually changed the way I looked at addiction and recovery. There isn’t the view that once you’re an addict you’re always an addict whether you are currently using drugs or not. Drug habits are looked at as having addictive behavior and that is something that you can work on and change.
One of the first steps of the program is to take stock of your life. You look at your life with no blinders on and you see how using drugs has changed your life. You look at how you were as a person before using, how you were with other people, your relationships with your parents or friends. Also you have to look at what you accomplished prior to using drugs and what you’ve done since you started. Doing all that, it really opened my eyes and where before that I had that my drug use hadn’t impacted my life all that much I realized it had changed every part of my life for the worse.
Another part of the program is learning how to identify your triggers. There are things specific to each person that makes them crave drugs or alcohol. There isn’t a way to know all your triggers as you’re going through the program. Some are easy to spot. Like I know I have to drive home a certain way to bypass specific streets. Some aren’t as easy and when you get home you need to know how to identify those triggers that you didn’t realize you had and you need to be able to deal with it without resorting to using drugs. So, I learned how to identify my triggers and then I learned how to deal with them. Some triggers are going to be riskier than others. Driving a different way home is easy but, I can’t always avoid an ex. One of the things that you do during your program is role-playing exercises. You role-play dealing with different people and how to handle yourself in those situations. They take it seriously there. That kind of thing could easily turn into a game because no one feels all that comfortable during role-play exercises. The staff don’t let that happen though and because of that I’m much better at handling myself.
You also work on how to handle your cravings. It’s understood that just because you’ve been to rehab, that doesn’t mean life is going to be easy and you’ll never want to do drugs again. Far from it, getting home and getting back to your own life can be really tricky and that can lead to wanting to use drugs to feel better or as an escape. In the beginning it’s easier to just distract yourself from the cravings. They can be harsh and it’s impossible to just grit your teeth through it. So, I learned what worked best for me as a distraction. As time has gone one since getting home those cravings have been lighter and easier to ignore.
Before I went to AFR I’d used pills for 10 years. So, I’ve been to a few programs. During each of those programs it’s never felt like I was fighting to get better. It always felt like I was fighting and working so hard just to not get any worse. A Forever Recovery is the only rehab I’ve been to where it felt like I was fighting to get better and I did get better.

My son has only been to A Forever Recovery because he hasn’t needed to go back to treatment since going there. He started using heroin 3 years ago. Which he started using because of a girl he had started dating recently. I don’t think she was using heavily or daily when they first got together but, she is the one who got him started and soon afterwards they were both using heavily and daily.
I know I can’t fault her completely for his addiction. He could have been smart and walked away but, he didn’t. It’s on him that he became an addict. That doesn’t mean I don’t wish he’d never met this girl.
By the time that he was using every day he had become a different person than the guy I had raised. He became a petulant and mean person. He and I got in a bad argument about his involvement with this girl and he moved out of the house and in with her. I didn’t see him for a year after that and when I did finally see him it was because he was trying to get money from me. I refused to give him money and he refused to go to treatment.
He did agree to get help 8 months ago. His girlfriend had overdosed and almost died which scared him. He called me, told me he was ready to get help and I got him into AFR right away. I had found AFR 4 months prior to that and had been speaking with an intake counselor almost weekly. Which is something I want to say. The intake counselor I worked with told my calls always. He knew that there was a good chance my kid would never go there. He helped me a lot though and gave me really good advice about dealing my son and his addiction.
Even though my son agreed to go to treatment, he wasn’t 100% committed to getting sober. He just didn’t want to die. So, while in the middle of detox he decided that he’d gotten enough help and that he wanted to leave. I wouldn’t help him leave the program but, If he’d been determined enough, he could have still left. The counselors at AFR convinced him to stay and finish his program though. 3 other times during his program he tried to leave and each time they got him to stay.
One of the main reasons they were able to convince him to finish his program at AFR was that the staff working to convince him to stay were people who had dealt with their own addictions. It helped a lot that the people he was talking to were people who knew exactly what it was that he was going through. Because of that, they were able to get through to him where I couldn’t and got him to stay.
Since completing his program and coming home he’s been much happier. He stopped seeing that girl though I have given her parents all the information I have about AFR and their number. I really hope they’re able to get her the help she needs.
I’ve heard a lot of stories about someone going to 10 or more rehabs before finding a place that works for them. I am extremely grateful that my son won’t be one of those people. With the time he spent at AFR he’s been sober for 8 months. He and I both know that he has a lot of work to do to stay sober but, the staff at AFR who helped him during his program and the staff that do the aftercare are giving him the help he needs.

My addiction to prescription medication started slowly. I’ve had bad headaches most of my life and I’ve always just dealt with them as best as I could and until 5 years ago I had never taken anything stronger than an Advil to help with them. I didn’t know it at the time but my sister had started abusing her medications. There was a day I was with her when I had a bad headache and she offered me a Vicodin. I took it and it helped. Helped so much more than an Advil would have. I went to my doctor after that and got a prescription for Vicodin because they helped and I just wanted something to stop the pain when I had a headache. For over a year I took them as prescribed. Just when I needed them and only the amount I needed to take. 4 years ago, I had a week of headaches. It was awful and wasn’t something I had ever had happen before. I realized later that taking the Vicodin actually made it worse in the long run. After that I started taking more and more and I went to my doctor to get a stronger prescription. I hid it from my husband for a couple years. I might have been dependent on my prescription but I still did everything I had always done before. Still went to work, still cooked and cleaned so, he had no reason really to think anything was wrong. That changed as time went on and he realized something was going on when my sister’s husband told him that he was sending my sister to rehab. He told him some of the stuff that had been going on with my sister and my husband realized that he had been dealing with some of the same things. He asked me about it and I finally told him everything. Together, we decided that I needed rehab as well and we started looking for a place for me to go. I didn’t want to go to the same place as my sister. Neither of us thought that would be a good idea and when we found A Forever Recovery we settled me going there. We live in Arkansas so it wasn’t exactly close to us but it really seemed like the best place for me so that’s where I went. I’m so glad AFR was the place we chose because it was perfect for me. The staff are caring and understanding and yet they made very sure that before I moved on in my program I understood and could apply the step before it. They helped me figure out a better way to deal with my headaches so that I didn’t feel the need to start using a prescription again. Before I went to AFR I didn’t realize how many different programs are out there. I honestly thought NA was the only one. Going to AFR was good for me because they have different programs and helped me choose the right program for me. They were great about keeping my husband informed about my progress and educated him on how best to help me and to make sure that I didn’t fall back into using again. I’ve been sober since getting home and my husband and I are doing better than ever. I’m so grateful for the help I received at AFR and the support I still receive from them. My sister relapsed a while ago and I knew just how to handle myself around her without using. I can see in my sister what could’ve been had I not gone to AFR so I’m doubly glad for the help I got there.

A Forever Recovery is an amazing place to go if you need help getting off drugs or alcohol. The facility is set up incredibly well. The whole program is really beautiful. It’s in a secluded area and the property is huge. You’ll have tons of space to settle and sort through your issues if you want. The building doesn’t feel like a rehab at all. It’s not all white walls and sterile furniture. It’s a comfortable place to be, especially in the beginning when you’re going through the worst of it. The program is set up really well. First you have detox. You’re put in a detox program that’s tailored to you and what you need. There’s not a blanket way to handle either rehab or detox there. Which means that when you’re going through detox they work with you so that you feel as comfortable as possible. Because there’s not one specific way that will help everyone with their addiction they have multiple programs. There’s not just one good way to treat addiction and so each person does a program that will do the most good for them. It’s an incredibly smart way to deal with addiction and recovery. More people get the help they need there than if they just had one program that they hoped worked for everyone. There’s a lot more to AFR than just rehab though and the additional things they offer make it a better place. Having a gym where you get to work out helps. Having good food that’s healthy helps even more. Adding the two together and you have people who have been malnourished and out of shape fixing that for themselves. At AFR they understand that the health of the body helps with the health of the mind. Feeling good about yourself makes it much easier to stay clean and sober. There’s art and music therapy classes which are a great way to work through your issues without having to actually talk about them. It’s also nice just to have a creative outlet while going through rehab. There’s a lot of people that come through AFR that pick up an old habit. They’ll start playing the guitar again, drawing or even crocheting. There’s so many ways to be creative and doing those things again or just starting them for the first time seems to help a lot of people. The staff at AFR is what makes it such a great place. There’s a lot of people working there who have gone through the program themselves. It’s a lot easier to accept help from someone who has been through it themselves and completely understands what you need and how you feel. Plus, it’s a good example of what you can accomplish when you get free of your addiction. A Forever Recovery is a fantastic rehab center with some truly amazing people working there. Those two things together make it a place that can and will do everything in their power to help you or someone you love overcome their addiction.

I’m incredibly happy with how well A Forever Recovery handled helping my son. He was addicted to heroin and crack cocaine and had been for a long time. For all those years we’ve tried to help him but it never worked out. He would either completely refuse to go to treatment or if he did agree to go he wouldn’t do anything to help himself while he was there. The thing that finally convinced my son to get help was his best friend overdosing in front of him. That scared him enough that he finally agreed that he needed to get help and that this time when he was in rehab he’d really try. I found A Forever Recovery and right away I felt that it was going to be a good place for him. First of all, I liked that he wouldn’t be given more drugs while he was there. That when he finished his program he would come home on more drugs that when he got there. I didn’t want him off heroin and crack just to be on some psychiatric medication instead. Second, the staff at AFR are great. A lot of them have dealt with addictions themselves and having that personal experience with addiction gave them a much greater insight into my son and what he would need. They were great at their jobs as well. Always very professional yet also very kind and understanding. They were able to me a lot in understanding my son and working with him to deal with our issues. For years I watched as my son messed up his life and for years I wasn’t able to do anything to stop it. That feeling of utter uselessness along with just not understanding why he wouldn’t want to get help, well, it led to some pretty rough arguments between the two of us. The staff at AFR were great in helping my son and I work through our issues. They helped me understand more about what he was going through and were able to keep me updated on his progress through his program and how he was doing during each step of it. They needed his permission to keep me informed of course because he’s over 18. The length of the program was another reason why I felt that AFR was a good place for him. Their program is evidenced based. Meaning that he wasn’t able to move forward on his program until both he and the staff felt that he was ready. It wasn’t just 28 days and then sending him home whether he was ready or not. That was very comforting to me. Especially with the staff who had dealt with addictions themselves. Because I knew that with that personal experience with addiction they would see the signs better of whether he was really ready to move forward or not than someone who didn’t have that personal experience. Also, it’s not just a 12-step program there. Which is all my son had ever done. They have multiple programs at AFR and each one is tailored to the person’s needed. So, for the first time, my son was in a place where he got the exact right kind of help he needed with people who understood him and were actually able to help him. Throughout his program he worked with people who truly cared about him and were there because they truly wanted to help people. They know what it’s like to be stuck addicted to something and wanted to help other people overcome their own addictions. My son’s been back home since he graduated from his program and he’s doing great. I’m so glad we sent him to AFR. It’s been amazing to watch the person he’s becoming. Which is a smart, funny and sweet guy. Going to AFR saved his life. It’s an amazing facility and one which I’d recommend to anyone.

My daughter went to A Forever Recovery and it was the best thing for her. Her life has improved so very much since going there. She started using heroin when she was 21. She’s 25 now and the time she spent using really messed her up. Both physically and mentally. Everything started when she was 16 which is when she started smoking weed. When that happened I worried about her school work but that was about it. Her dad and I both smoked weed when we were younger and for us it was a phase we grew out of. We both figured it would be the same for her. Unfortunately we were very wrong. She started using harder and harder drugs until she found heroin which quickly became her drug of choice. When her dad and I figured out what was happening we tried to get her into rehab right away. She refused to go and instead packed a couple bags and left the house. It was 9 months before we saw her again. She came back asking for help and we sent her to a traditional 12-step program which she was at for 28 days. When she finished that program she came to live with us and we were hopeful that her drug using days were behind her. 3 months after she came home though, she relapsed. We tried to help her at the house for a couple weeks but soon realized that if she was staying with us she’d never be ready to get help again. We kicked her out, which was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We told her to come back when she was ready to get help and it was another 4 months before we saw her again. I spent most of that time researching different rehab programs and settled on A Forever Recovery for a few different reasons. The first reason, in addition to the programs there was the intake counselor. He was really helpful, gave great advice on dealing with our daughter and even knowing that it would be a while, if ever that she agreed to go, he was always available to take my calls and answer any questions I had. There’s also the fact that AFR is a few states away from us. I didn’t want my daughter having a bad day, calling some friend to come pick her up and then leaving and relapsing. This way if she had a bad day and wanted to leave it would give the staff at AFR time enough to convince her to stay and finish her program. She was there for 6 months and at one point she did try to leave but the staff worked really hard to convince her to stay. She’s been home for 6 months as well and it amazes me how great she’s doing. She’s still clean and sober and she’s started planning and working towards her future. She started taking classes at the community college. Just basic courses for right now. She got a job as soon as she got home and hasn’t missed a single day of work. She’s made such amazing progress since going to AFR that I don’t have to worry about her so much anymore.

A Forever Recovery is an amazing place. I’ve been to quite a few different rehabs and from personal experience I can say that A Forever Recovery helped me more than all those other rehabs combined. Everything about AFR, from the moment you get there to when you complete your program and leave is great. The property AFR is on is beautiful. It’s in an out of the way location so there’s no distractions and the actual building it’s in feels comfortable. All that makes for a much better experience when you’re going through rehab. Going through detox, no matter where you are is going to be hard. The staff that works in detox at AFR are amazing at what they do though. They made sure I had everything I needed, were always there to help when I needed it but didn’t smother me with their effort to try to help. Plus, they’re very respectful and no one makes you feel like less than because you became an addict in the first place. A lot of the staff at AFR have gone through their own struggles with addiction. Because of this they really do understand what you’re deal with and what the best way to help you would be. They get that each person is different and needs different things to deal with their addiction. So, they don’t have one program for everyone. There’s different programs available there and when you get out of detox you work with your counselor to figure out the best one for you. The other programs I’ve done were all 12-step programs, which I did over and over again because I didn’t know any better. Just not having to do a 12-step program was great. Being able to decide my own path to recovery was even better. Being the one to make that decision meant that I worked even harder on my program. One of the best things about AFR is that they don’t just deal with your addiction there. They understand that getting off drugs is just part of the recovery process. They work with you there to prepare you for life when you leave. There’s a lot of basic skills that I never learned because I was using. Simple things like basic financial management and how having a balanced diet can improve your moods. So, they have classes and workshops there for those things. I learned how to write a resume, how to have a job interview without making myself sound like a total idiot. I obviously learned more about my addiction as well. More about my triggers and the best way to avoid them. Different coping skills to keep myself out of situations that would lead to a relapse. When I completed my program I had a much better idea of how to survive and truly live my life. I knew I had to keep busy or I’d quickly fall back into old habits. So, I started working at a job that I really like. I’ve been more involved with my family and old friends. Going hiking or to barbeques. Things like that I hadn’t done or been a part of for a very long time. Going to A Forever Recovery saved my life in so many ways. I’m so glad I went there and would recommend the facility to anyone who needs help with an addiction.

My brother went to A Forever Recovery last year and hes been doing amazing since then. My brothers been addicted to heroin for 10 years now and its been absolute hell on our family. Most of us stopped talking to him years ago but, our mom never could cut him off completely. Hes always been great at manipulating her so even when she didnt want to give him money he always was able to get it out of her. My brother only ever went to rehab in an effort to keep my mom from cutting him off. He never went because he wanted help. This last time my dad stepped in and sent my brother to A Forever Recovery. He did so for a few different reasons. The main one being that they have staff there who were addicts themselves and that meant my brother couldnt con his way through his program. With the different programs they have there and the fact that theres no time limit on how long someone stays for, it was perfect for my brother. It meant that hed be doing a program that would help him, he wouldnt be able to con his way through any part of it and he couldnt just wait out the time there until he could come home. All those things made a huge difference and about a month into his program he made the decision to get and stay sober. He completed his program after being at AFR for 4 months and hes been doing amazing since then. Its great having a brother who I actually like again.

If youre looking for a rehab for yourself or for someone else to go to, I highly recommend A Forever Recovery. My addiction to heroin started 9 years ago. My best friend had started using 6 months earlier and offered me some. It was the stupidest thing in the world accepting it. Im sure lots of people have tried heroin once, never to try it again. Or gone to the dentist and been prescribed pain medication and been able to stop taking once they didnt need it anymore. My problem was that I loved heroin. I absolutely loved the way it made me feel and that ruined my life for 9 years. I didnt start trying to get sober until 4 years ago, which was when my best friend died of a heroin overdose. I know it probably shouldnt have but, her dying, it really threw me. It was stupid and downright nave for me to think that we could continue using with nothing bad ever happening to us. Her dying threw everything into perspective for me. I finally realized that no matter how careful I was, dying from an overdose was a distinct possibility. After going to her funeral, I asked my parents for help in getting sober. They helped me find and get into a program. Going into that first program, I thought, that because I wanted to be sober, that as long as I really did my program, Id be able to stay sober when I went home. That wasnt the case. When I relapsed, I went back to that same rehab. The wasnt a good reason for me to go back there. It was a good rehab but I only went back there because it was the easy thing to do. I already knew what the place was like and what to expect there and that was easier for me to handle than going to a brand-new place. Not surprising that I relapsed again. When I relapsed again my parents started looking for a new place to send me. They found A Forever Recovery and it was perfect for me. As soon as I got there the staff were great with me. Its hard being in a new place with new people and the staff worked really hard to make sure I was as comfortable as possible being there. With how kind and caring they are there, I was able to relax. I felt comfortable and I started feeling hopeful again that I could get a handle on my addiction. The facility was nice and clean which made being there that much easier. Most importantly though was that I wasnt stuck doing the same program I had already done twice. With the different programs available there, my counselor was able to help me choose a program that I felt would be the most beneficial to me. I got to do a program that was right for me and I was able to take my time doing it. Theres no time restrictions there and everyone goes through their programs at their own pace. Doing my program at AFR wasnt easy. What was easy though was working hard on my program. I felt comfortable there, was interested in my program, liked the staff and so was able to concentrate on myself and my sobriety. I took my time doing my program, wanting to make sure that each step of it was truly complete before moving on to the next. I spent 4 months at AFR and they changed my life. I graduated from there 6 months ago and Ive been doing great since then. Sometimes its not easy staying sober but I have been able to. My parents have been a huge help with that. Ive been staying with them since graduating and theyve been really supportive. I love that I actually have a real relationship with them again. Going through my program at AFR I was able to turn my life into something to be proud of which is a pretty great feeling.

Ive been to A Forever Recovery twice. Both of the times Ive been have helped me immensely. The first time I went was 5 years ago. With the help I received at AFR I was able to stay clean for 4 years. 10 months ago, I went back after I relapsed. I had been dealing with some personal issues that I thought I was handling alright but when I relapsed I realized that I needed more help than I thought. So I checked myself back into AFR. I went back to AFR because it was the only rehab Ive ever been to that seemed to actually be able to help me. Id been to several before going to AFR the first time and was never able to stay clean for very long. I knew that if I wanted to get a handle on my addiction before my life spiraled out of control I needed to go back to AFR. Ive been home from my second program for 9 months now and Im back to doing great. Going to AFR saved my life. Its a great program with really amazing people running the facility.

Going to A Forever Recovery changed everything for me. When I first got to AFR, I didnt want to get or stay sober. I had absolutely no intention of doing anything but wasting time until I could leave and start using again. I went to AFR because my parents threatened to cut me off if I didnt go to treatment. So, I went. Ive been to a few rehabs before going to AFR, each of them I went to for the exact same reason and after I left each of them I relapsed as soon as I could. I had convinced myself that I was doing fine, that there was no reason for me to get sober and that I could just continue on the way I had been. Looking back at it now, I know I was being dumb about it all and that theres no way Id have been able to continue using forever. Everything changed a few weeks into my program. My counselor had noticed how little effort I was putting into my program and understood that I wasnt really there because I wanted to get help. Instead of letting me pretend everything would be okay she sat me down and made me take an honest look at my life. How things were before I started using and how they were now. I came to see how much my relationship with my parents suffered, how I didnt talk to any of my friends anymore and how I was constantly being fired from whatever job I had. By doing that, she got me to understand that I did in fact need help and that I couldnt keep living my life the way I had been. I realized that I needed to really do my program and work hard at it so that I could stay sober and get my life back together. Doing my program was really hard for me. Making the decision to do the program didnt negate all of the bad habits Id picked up over the last 5 years of using. So, there were times when my counselor would have to point out to me that I wasnt really doing something or that I was being bratty to get out of talking about something. My counselor got me to see not only what I was doing, but why I was doing it, then helped me handle whatever issue or problem I had in a positive manner. I was at AFR for 3 months and being there, doing my program, it completely changed my life. Ive been home for 6 months now. Still sober. Ive worked really hard earning back my parents trust and our relationship has only gotten better. At AFR, I went from not even wanting to get sober, to getting sober, staying sober and being really happy about it.