Dahlia
- From heroin to home
Dahlia came from a very wealthy
home where she describes having been treated as a princess.
Never having to do anything for herself, she never learned any
skills of self-care or independence. Dahlia had been deeply
dependent on her parent's acceptance and perception of her.
When this acceptance waned as her school performance declined,
Dahlia found solace in hanging out with a rougher crowd. She
began to dress in a rebellious manner, smoking cigarettes, and
displaying aberrant behavior both at home and at school. Her
parents expressed their disgust in angry and critical terms.
Dahlia began using drugs at the age of sixteen and moved gradually
from marijuana to hard drugs by the age of eighteen. She never
finished high school.
Dahlia arrived at our home at the age
of twenty-two, having walked out on her boyfriend of several
years. The boyfriend was addicted to heroin. Dahlia had withdrawn
from her heroin habit on realizing she was pregnant and had
immediately sought help. She had been pregnant in the past,
aborted, and was clear about her desire this time to have
her baby. Dahlia's parents had completely divorced her when
she had chosen to move in with the boyfriend and so she had
no contact with them now at all.
On arrival in the New Start Hostel program,
Dahlia told us that she had not one iota of self-appreciation
and had no desire to continue living. She literally could
not get up in the mornings and had absolutely no trust in
her self or her abilities. Dahlia was deeply depressed, a
state that was exacerbated by her recent withdrawal from years
of drug use. She showed a deep-seated fear of failure which
led to her avoidance of action of any kind.
In the New Start Hostel program,
Dahlia was guided to develop the personal strength to crawl
out of her depression and take charge of her life. Her sense
of self-worth grew as she learned the skills of self-care.
She developed trust in herself and became willing to take
action toward bettering her life. She came to recognize the
destructive affect her boyfriend had on her physical and emotional
health and broke away from him completely. Dahlia's need for
parental approval was acknowledged and contact with her parents
was renewed through our home. Her family was overjoyed at
her break from the boyfriend and the heroin, and at her progress
in taking charge of her life. Family counseling encouraged
reconciliation until Dahlia's parents agreed to take her back
to their home and help her care for herself and her child.
Away from the destructive influence of the boyfriend, secure
in her family's care, Dahlia gave birth to the baby she had
not wanted to lose. Both mother and daughter are doing very,
very well.
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