Testimonials and Newsletters
The experience at the St. Gregory Retreat Centers is extremely positive and engaging.  Learning new tools and skills for life doesn’t truly take hold until you can experience the rewards that come with them.  As the saying goes, “practice makes perfect”!  Throughout the stay at St. Gregory’s, clients are able to get involved in our local communities through outreach, activities and service opportunities which allows for numerous positive interactions between our guests and the people in the communities.  These interactions allow our guests to begin to truly understand how much value they each have and that they are NOT just clients in a substance abuse facility!  They are individuals who come to us with tremendous talents, values and gifts.  Each quarter, our clients and staff work together to publish newsletters from both our male as well as female campuses.  These newsletters contain articles about what we are doing in our communities and the many positive experiences gained from not only our clients, but the people that are in the community as well!  You will also find articles from recent graduates who wish to express their thanks and to help those who are still deciding if the St. Gregory Retreat Center is right for themselves or their loved ones.  

Newsletter Issues

                                       Featured Testimonial

Phoenix Rising
(submitted by a recent St. Gregory Graduate)

Approximately three years ago, others perceived me as the  picture of the quintessential accomplished middle-age woman.  On the outside, it appeared as though I had it all; a successful career, a marriage to a wonderful man other people envied, two beautiful well-adjusted daughters, a lovely home and great friends.  Little did anyone know I was fighting an ugly battle against alcohol, and it was winning.  I was on the cusp of losing everything I found dear in life.  I was sacrificing my morals, values and the happiness of my loved-ones all in the name of my addiction. The fire inside me was slowly but brutally being extinguished before everyone's eyes and no one knew how to stop it.  Little did I know what the next three years had in store for me.
     My love affair with alcohol began at the tender age of fourteen.  For the most part, I maintained the ability to control my drinking and drug use for many years, including college.  It hadn't lead me to dark alleys or cost me my job, my marriage or my dignity quite yet.  I had been able to keep up the act for years, manipulating and appeasing others who enabled me to feed my addiction.  It was not until my Brother's untimely death that the flood gates opened and my addiction spiraled out of control.  Many unfortunate consequences followed as my drinking and drugging escalated.  About 18 months ago, my addiction climaxed.  I was making poor decisions, deceiving the ones I loved most and basically checking out of life. I prioritized my addiction over everything and anyone in my life.  Future prospects for a fulfilling life were suddenly heading toward absolute ruin.  I was in eminent danger of losing what precious things I had left, primarily custody of my girls.
     Miserable, self-loathing and downtrodden with guilt and shame, I realized I had to do something fast.  I was emotionally, spiritually, and physically bankrupt.   It was as though I was free-falling into an evil abyss with no chance of rescue or redemption. I had attempted to get sober in the past through a 28 day inpatient program followed by multiple Intensive Out-Patient programs, to no avail.
     I reached out to my parents for help.  In turn, my Mother found St. Gregory's Retreat Center on the internet and thought it might be a good fit considering my liberal affiliations and my many failed attempts at getting sober through AA's 12-step program.  Alcoholics Anonymous has helped thousands of addicts recover and get their life back on track.  However, my experience with AA found me struggling through the same old cycle of getting sober and “white knuckling” it for weeks, even months, at a time, until I felt deprived of a happy, meaningful life, became frustrated and went back out.  I was sober but not living a life of peace and contentment.
     St. Gregory's offered a different approach that I found very intriguing.  Their program is a holistic one; meaning healing the entire person, mind, body and soul.  It advocates taking sobriety beyond just halting drug and alcohol use to seeking true meaningful happiness in life.
     Accomplished author and Director of the Positive Psychology Center at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Martin Seligman, refers to this “meaningful happiness” in his book Authentic Happiness.  This approach serves as the cornerstone of St. Gregory's philosophy.  Seligman argues that “in our rush to repair people who were miserable, it never occurred to us to develop interventions to make people truly happier.”  He argues, “Is it good enough to make miserable people less miserable, or can we take it a step further and encourage them to seek and find of a life worth living? He goes on to say that happiness is a choice, and can be attained by balancing pleasure, engagement and gratification, or a pursuit of a noble or higher purpose. He terms this state of genuine bliss “flow”.  St. Gregory's echoes his insights and insists that we are not “powerless”. Rather, it is our choice to be happy, our choice to empower ourselves, and our choice not to use. 
     My journey to St. Gregory's was not a smooth one.  I missed two flights on my way because I was too busy drinking in the airports.  This, understandably, resulted in further rage and disappointment from my concerned parents.  When I finally arrived, I was an emotional train wreck; sobbing profusely and writhing with stomach pain and delirium tremors also known as the DT's (“seen in severe cases of alcohol withdrawal  complicated by exhaustion, lack of food, and dehydration, usually preceded by physical deterioration due to vomiting and restlessness. The whole body trembles, sometimes with seizures, disorientation, and hallucinations” [www.britannica.com]).
     Not only terrified of what I was walking into, I questioned my will and strength to finally overcome my demons.   I was offered comfort, nurturing, kindness and most importantly, understanding I had desperately needed for a very long time.  The entire staff approached me as a human being, not a patient. During my detox period, I was privileged to experience the facility's innovative cutting- edge medicinal protocol called Amino Acid Therapy.  The therapy consists of intravenously administering essential nutrients, amino acids and vitamins to replace what was lost during use, and to re-establish dopamine and serotonin receptors in your brain.   The number of sessions vary according to the type and longevity of drug use.   It significantly aids in speeding up the withdrawal process both physically and mentally.
     St. Gregory's also strives to wean their guests off all prescription medications taken prior to arrival.  They argue that the pharmaceutical industry is too eager to give patients a pill as a quick- fix for their problems.  Often times, they overlook the fact that depression, anxiety and other psychological disorders stem from deep-rooted, unresolved issues from our past.  Stopping drug and alcohol use alone is not enough to stay sober.  Rather, we need to dig deep beneath the surface to figure out how our past unresolved issues were left to fester and served as fuel for our anxiety, low self-esteem, anger and resentments. Sadly, this inevitably  leads us back to our addiction time and time again.
     Through our addiction, learned destructive behaviors like lying, denying and self-sabotage infiltrated into our daily lives.  These behaviors and thought processes can be replaced by reframing negative thoughts, exercising philanthropy, and aligning ourselves with our true values, morals and aspirations. I'll have to admit I was quite nervous about getting off my anti-depressants and anxiety medications after 13 years of use, but I am happy to say I have discontinued everything, and have never felt better!
     During my stay, I was presented with essential tools needed to cope and deal not only with my past issues,  but current and future ones as well.   I was strongly encouraged to practice these methods daily during my stay, so that I was more inclined to utilize them when facing the real world.
     There are so many effective elements in the program including individual and group counseling, group classes and discussions, informative lectures and philosophical seminars.  Also, the facility feels more like an intimate sober living home (15-18 women in all) and we are treated as human beings, not patients suffering from a disease.   Excursions such as horseback riding, bowling and swimming at nearby lakes are offered to the guests to show us how to find  joy and fun in activities without using. We are also required to do community service either at senior citizen's homes, The Boys and Girls Club, or gardening for area churches. These outreach efforts have been very well received by area residents.  I feel this is vital part of the program because it is essential we get out of our own heads. In order to attain a happy "meaningful' life, one must practice philanthropy or giving back and make a difference in other people’s lives. 
     I feel that St Gregory's served as the life raft thrown to me just as I was about to drown.  Its innovative, life-altering program not only gave me lifelong tools and direction for a new way of living, but, more importantly, it instilled in me the triad of virtues I needed to heal my soul; faith, hope and love.   I have been transformed into a spiritual being on a life-learning journey.  I refer to a profound excerpt from “Eat Pray Love” daily, and I feel it reflects growth and openness to one’s journey through life:      “The Physics of the Quest:  If you are brave enough to leave everything behind, everything  familiar and comforting which can be anything from your home to bitter old resentments,  and set out on a “truth-seeking journey” either internally or externally, and if you are truly willing to see everything that happens along that journey as a clue, and if you accept everyone along the way as a teacher, and if you are prepared, most of all, to face and forgive some very difficult realities  about yourself, then truth will not be held from you.”
     My soul has been awakened. I no longer reside among the dead in darkness and peril. I, along with my “sisters,” am like a phoenix rising from the ashes; we are celebrating our lives anew with bright, beautiful futures ahead of us, filled with promise of health, prosperity and true happiness.  I feel we are among those fortunate to be taught what true happiness is, and how to achieve it.   I have only begun my journey, but am committed to continue my quest for self and truth.  I am eternally thankful to St. Gregory's for giving me the gift of rebirth.  §