Today, I’d like to tell you about my journey since I started therapy on February 8, 2022.
I left the Abitibi region to attend Portage’s Mother and Child Centre. At the time, I was feeling lost, miserable, awful; I had no confidence in myself or in anyone else. Life itself no longer inspired me. The only thing I wanted was to go join my daughter’s father, who had died in 2020.
Thanks to the community that enveloped me for nine wonderful months, I gained a better understanding of myself and I started to take care of myself. I realized I had the right to live a full life and that I could help other women by sharing my journey with them. Exploring the root causes of my addiction and my behaviors made me aware of all the hurt I was carrying. That realization led me to discover my capacity for deep compassion and sincere empathy, as well as my capacity to control my emotions and my feelings.
Thanks to the help and support of my sisters at the Portage Mother and Child Centre, I acquired the tools I needed to weather life’s storms and move forward with wisdom, even in the darkest moments.
Today, I am grateful for the road I’ve traveled and for the people who supported me along the way. I am proud of the person I’ve become, and determined to continue growing and sharing my experience in the hopes it will inspire others. I’ve been sober for two years now and I’m happy to say, with a smile in my heart, that I have rediscovered the joy of living a full life with my children*.
One week after completing my therapy on November 1, 2022, I attended a training session at MIRE and was named an ambassador for encouraging other mothers to attend the same training.
Annie, Mother and Child Program, 2022
*In picture: Annie's child and their educator at the Garderie Ribambelle Montréal
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