Nothing is more important in life than the connections we make with others. In recovery, having a tribe of people you can count on when things are both good and bad is imperative for all ages.

For young adults, developmentally, their peers still have the strongest influence on them. This makes cultivating a sense of community within their treatment setting vital.

At the Claudia Black Young Adult Center, our clients’ age group (18 – 26), the intentional use of community allows this aspect of their development to be utilized in a positive manner.

Community is built into the daily structure at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center; it’s the heart of the program.  It begins upon admission with peer mentorship.  An individual who has been in the program for a significant amount of time is designated as the newcomer’s peer buddy.  This person helps the newcomer become familiar with the program’s geography and to allay any fears of being in treatment.

Community meetings occur each morning as peers and staff come together to share feelings, express gratitude, and set intentions for the day.

The evening Tenth Step gratitude meeting is the last group of the day. They can engage in inward reflection, own harmful behaviors, and make self-amends or amends to peers with the group’s support.  They often express gratitude citing healthy recovery risks they took that day, and acknowledge their peers, staff, and family.

Daily Opportunities  

Our young adults come to treatment emotionally isolated and disconnected, with severe self-loathing and the belief that no one will ever see any value in them.  Consequently, realizing their value and worth often stems from their connections with others with a similar history.

This can be seen in the case of Cassie. Cassie enters treatment agoraphobic, depressed, has urges to self-harm, and is afraid to come out of her room, let alone attend the group.  She is adamant that she is in the wrong treatment setting.  The staff invites the female community at the Claudia Black Center to hold a group meeting in her room to talk about their own fears of coming to treatment.  As a result, Cassie feels less fearful, not so alone, and realizes that the other girls have huge fears too later that evening, she attends her first group and decides to stay in treatment.  The girls that created this safe setting for Cassie also have their own experience of practicing a twelfth step, often for the first time.

Another example is that of Riley, who spends the first two weeks in treatment telling his peers how he isn’t sure why he needs to be there despite his use of cocaine and marijuana, which is threatening his college sports scholarship. Riley also distinguishes himself differently from so many others, professing he comes from the “perfect” family with a story to match it.  The group has witnessed him ignoring program policy by using a cell phone and sneaking visitors on campus after hours.  In a regular morning community meeting, several of his male peers tell him how his behavior impacts his recovery and theirs. 

This use of community is a major influence in disrupting Riley’s denial and lack of accountability. As a result, Riley owned the many rules he was breaking, made amends to his peers, became tearful, and revealed his father, in fact, was in prison, and he had not had contact with his mother in months, and she did not even know he was in treatment.  The community responded by extending their hands to Riley, and his roommate shared, “It’s nice to meet you, Riley, finally.” Community helps our young people to not feel alone in their experience and to realize that many of their peers in the group have felt the same way.

Then there is Sam. Sam is scared to invite his dad to family week. His peers know this, and he asks a couple of the guys if they would come and sit next to him when he makes the call to his dad.  Those guys told several others, and as Sam calls his dad, he is surrounded by his peers’ love, compassion, and strength.

Community Through Service

Community is also about having a sense of purpose larger than oneself and providing the opportunity to serve the outside community.  We offer multiple opportunities for our young adults to give themselves to those in need and less fortunate.  

On a monthly basis, a group of the Claudia Black Center’s young adults will go to a nearby city to prepare and feed over 500 homeless on a given night. When there are community activities such as the annual Easter Egg Hunt or Christmas giveaways for disadvantaged children in the local community, the young adults are quickly asked to participate, having already demonstrated their eagerness to participate.

The experiences are most often humbling, and they find it an honor to be of service.  Such community service offers a different perspective on their own challenges, which fuels their gratitude for their own blessings.

In reality, at the Claudia Black Young Adult Center, we are creating a community that allows our young people to work through various challenges in treatment, which prepares them for the same challenges in which they will be confronted with on the outside.

Written by Sonia Buchanan

Originally published: http://recoverycampus.com/role-community-treatment-setting/