My name is Reece Correll and I have been sober through abstinence based recovery since February 15th 2002.

15 years ago I was homeless, eating out of dumpsters, panhandling for money, and hopelessly addicted to drugs and alcohol.  I was destroying myself and I literally could not stop using the substances which were choking the life from my mind, body, and spirit.  After 5 years of intravenous heroin use I participated in a methadone program for 7 months, truly believing that I had found the answer.  I soon found that I still craved to feel high as much as I ever had.  The initial hope that methadone promised was quickly overshadowed by that old familiar sense of hopelessness and an inability to have my actions meet my intent of moving forward in any positive direction in life. I was plagued with dissatisfaction for the world around me, while inside me there was irritability and morose contemplation. I ended up being kicked out of the methadone program for testing positive for cocaine too many times. I could not stay sober.  I promised my friends that if I could not stay sober that I would kill myself- yet another promise I could not keep.  I was hurting everyone who supported me and I had no control over my actions in regards to drugs and alcohol.  I overdosed multiple times, one of which my life was saved by Narcan.  After a total of nine years of intravenous drug use I was facing a minimum of 5 years in prison on a habitual felony charge for drug possession.  I had absolutely no hope of recovery.  I had become resigned to the idea that I would die in the same way that so many of my friends have died or that I would spend many years in prison regretting the choices that I felt I had no control over.  I had given up completely.  In one last ditch effort brought on by the court system I landed in an abstinence based treatment program.

I aligned myself with abstinence based recovery, 12 step meetings, therapy, and spiritual exercise.  My life began to change and I have not craved or obsessed about drugs or alcohol since.  I have not always had an easy road in recovery.  I married and had a child with a woman in recovery who,  after seven years of abstinence, relapsed and subsequently died.  The skills that I learned through abstinence based recovery have helped me to build a foundation that was strong enough to withstand that difficult time in my life and I am convinced that there is nothing that can shake my foundation unless I pull it apart myself.

The way I see the world has been completely transformed and I find my life utterly pleasant during both the ups and the downs. I am proud to be the father of an incredible seven year old boy, have a loving and supportive wife, am a homeowner, and am a real contributor to the community in my professional and personal life. I have worked in the field of mental health and substance abuse for ten years now and was given the honor of being named Washtenaw County Employee of the Year in 2012.  While I am sure that someone along the line told me that life would be this wonderful I could not have believed it, not until I lived it.  I am so grateful to have experienced the things and people that have shaped me into who I am today.  I have to give credit to abstinence based treatment and the 12 step program of recovery for helping me start and maintain this way of life.
There is hope~