{"id":19030,"date":"2017-10-16T14:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-16T19:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/portage.hamakmarketingnumerique.com\/?p=19030"},"modified":"2025-07-30T14:16:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T19:16:05","slug":"addiction-estranged-him-from-his-family","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/addiction-estranged-him-from-his-family\/","title":{"rendered":"Alexander’s Journey: How Drug Addiction Estranged Him From His Family"},"content":{"rendered":"

For most people, adolescence is a bumpy road, fraught with difficulties. Teenagers are constantly wondering who they are, and what they want. Sometimes, their path diverges sharply from the one they expected to follow, or even started paving. For those who want to put an end to their drug addiction, the chances of succeeding may feel unbearably slim, perhaps non-existent. To help them go beyond their own limits and reach their goal, Portage teaches them 21 competencies<\/u><\/a>\u00a0 that are all part of the rehabilitation process.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Before Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Seventeen year-old Alexandre tried several times to quit using drugs. \u201cBefore Portage, I spent nine months and a half in a youth centre. I stayed in several different centres for two to three months at a time, with some time spent at home in between. Nothing worked for me, I kept failing.\u201d Each youth centre has its own methods. Alexandre realizes now that they didn\u2019t fit properly with who he was, that they couldn\u2019t help him stop the toxic behaviours that led him astray.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a really hard time working on myself there. When I was in, I would work on myself, I was doing the right things and putting in the efforts, but the bad habits came right back as soon as I was out.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n
Coming to Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The teens in the youth centres are there because they don\u2019t have any choice. Alexandre is here at Portage because he wants to, although the court strongly pushed for it\u201d says Hakim, Alexandre\u2019s case manager at Portage. Alexandre chimes in:<\/p>\n

\u201cI made the decision to come here because it seemed like the best option for me. If I don\u2019t make it through the program, I\u2019ll have to go back to the youth centre until I\u2019m 18. But if I do make it, I can go home and get my life back.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the beginning, I was always in bed. I wasn\u2019t doing anything. I didn\u2019t care about what happened here or elsewhere. I kept telling myself there was no point to it, because I would fail anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

But five months into the program, Alexandre is still at Portage and well aware of all he\u2019s accomplished. \u201cIt was hard in the beginning. I wasn\u2019t used to working on myself and on my thinking. Therapy here focuses a lot on the way you think. Actions have consequences, and here, you get that, the idea that everything you do has repercussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>At Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Since becoming a Portage resident at Lac \u00c9cho<\/a>, Alexandre has worked on several aspects of his behaviour. \u201cI worked on my attitude towards others, my aggressiveness and the way I think. I used to not give a damn about anything. I didn\u2019t understand that what I did had an impact on me and my family. I wasn\u2019t thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n

For most Portage residents, somewhere along the way, a long-lost spark of light is rekindled, an aha moment happens. Alexandre got it when he realized that his poor decisions would have much more serious consequences as he was nearing the age of majority.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my decisions will have direct consequences on me, and they\u2019ll become increasingly important.\u201d Family is also a major factor in his rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"images1NYOIRDN\"\u201cI don\u2019t want to lose my family. It\u2019s what matters most to me. If I lose them, I\u2019ve got nothing. I lost them when I was in the youth centre. I was working on myself there, but I didn\u2019t reconnect with them when I was out. The trust I was trying to build with my parents was destroyed every time I went out. My parents would take their distances, and that\u2019s what pushed me to take more drugs.\u201d<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Portage\u2019s program accentuates the importance of the youth\u2019s family and their surroundings. A solid family structure is essential to the drug addict\u2019s rehabilitation. \u201c<\/em>My parents and I are getting close again, and I think it\u2019s great, because it\u2019s been so long I\u2019ve had a good relationship with them. All of this is thanks to Portage. If I hadn\u2019t come here, I wouldn\u2019t be experiencing all of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Changing one\u2019s environment is, in some cases, the best decision. The youth centres Alexandre went to before Portage didn\u2019t give him the possibility to do so. \u201cPortage gave me the opportunity to make a drastic change. Where I lived before, it was bad for me. Every weekend I went out with my old friends. Portage allowed me to focus on myself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such a change can be destabilizing. When you\u2019re cornered and the only way out of addiction is to leave everything behind, it\u2019s a shock. \u201cWhen I\u2019ll be out of here, I\u2019ll find it difficult. The changes I\u2019m making will help me rebuild my life, but it\u2019s still scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/strong>What I Learned at Portage<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Transparency is one of the 21 competencies<\/a> that Portage residents learn. \u201cI\u2019m able now to say what I think. I\u2019m not afraid to disappoint anybody anymore.\u201d After a little over six months of living in a supervised and structured environment and receiving guidance, the residents can count on Portage\u2019s support, even when their treatment is finished.<\/p>\n

\u201c<\/em>For six months, there are weekly follow-ups in Montreal. After that, meetings are scheduled every other week, and after another six months, they happen every month.\u201d The 21 competencies taught at Portage are crafted with everyone in mind. Alexandre worked especially on self-knowledge. \u201cI\u2019m getting to know my own values, my qualities. I got to know myself. Portage also helped me better communicate with everybody. I used to not talk a lot, and I had trouble saying what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"elephant-687338_960_720\"\u201cThe Portage community is solid. But if it\u2019s not doing well, everybody will feel it. We work a lot on ourselves, thanks to the community. It\u2019s what helps us change our bad habits, like aggressiveness and poor anger management. Alone, we wouldn\u2019t be able to invest as much energy into it. Living with other people for 6 months, 24\/7 is difficult, but it\u2019s helpful. The friends we make here will become good supporters once we leave Portage.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Today, thanks to Portage’s family services<\/a>, Alexandre continues to strengthen ties with his family and rebuild the confidence he had once lost.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Annie-Kim Plante<\/p>\n

Blogger for Portage<\/p>\n

Lan Vi Pham<\/p>\n

Editor and Translator<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

To\u00a0read on\u00a0drug addiction:<\/p>\n

The Two Faces of Drug Addiction<\/u><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

The Rat Park Study: Gaining a Better Understanding of Addiction<\/a><\/p>\n

Are We All Equal in the Face of Addiction?<\/u><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For most people, adolescence is a bumpy road, fraught with difficulties. Teenagers are constantly wondering who they are, and what they want. Sometimes, their path diverges sharply from the one they expected to follow, or even started paving. For those who want to put an end to their drug addiction, the chances of succeeding may… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":19040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[153,364],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-testimonial"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44497,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030\/revisions\/44497"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19040"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portage.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}