“A Community That Helped Me Out of the Isolation I Was Living In”

I attended the aftercare program assiduously and still go every two weeks. Due to my age, my sobriety and the fact that I’m retired, my social circle has become much smaller than it used to be.

Short-term

After transitioning from therapy to aftercare, I felt exhausted and extremely fragile. I often wondered if I was going to make it.

My weekly meetings soon became a concrete objective for me as I sought to avoid relapsing one day at a time, one week at a time.

Having to share my feelings with others taught me to take some time on the eve or day of these meetings to reflect on how I was doing. That habit has stayed with me to this day.

Mid-term

Aftercare meetings give me an opportunity to talk openly with peers who do not judge me. These meetings are privileged moments for listening and sharing.

They make me feel like I belong to a community—a community that has helped me break out of the isolation I was living in before I entered therapy.

These sincere exchanges with my peers have also taught me how to improve the way I communicate with my family and close friends.  

In the aftercare program, I talk with my peers about difficult times, intense emotions and situations where I nearly relapsed. Hearing other people’s stories helps me put my own situation into perspective. Most of the people around me still use and some are even substance-dependent. That’s why being part of an aftercare group is vital: it reminds me that I should never forget where I came from.

When I listen to peers who have just completed their therapy, I can see their challenges and their vulnerability. Talking with them makes me more empathetic and reminds me that recovery is an ongoing process. They motivate me to stay focused and to measure the progress I’ve made so far.

The aftercare program is also a space where you can talk freely with other substance-dependent people. That’s something you can’t always do with friends and family because they see abstinence as the end of substance dependency when in fact recovery is a process that requires ongoing efforts.

In conclusion, I would say that aftercare has helped me reinforce what I learned during therapy: to no longer fear suffering, to be honest, courageous and perseverant.

Pierre, Quebec City Day Center, 2024