BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Even though National Recovery Month is ending, it's never the wrong time to not only encourage the people who need help to seek it, but also to honor those who are in recovery from drug and alcohol abuse.
Recovering addict Scott Joseph-Gutierrez says cocaine was the drug he couldn’t get control over, and it took years for him to finally realize he needed to seek help.
“My active addiction lasted from 2003 to 2013, about a 10 year process it took me,” said Gutierrez. “And then I went into a drug treatment facility in 2013 for the last and final time.”
Gutierrez was able to stay sober and at the program for 5 years, but sobriety didn’t last forever.
“A couple years on my own and I relapsed, and now it’s been 18 months since I relapsed, and I’m more so active in meetings than I ever have been,” said Gutierrez.
Recovery experts, like Ana Olvera, who is a substance use disorder administrator with Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services, say relapse is normal.
“People might struggle at different stages of their recovery, but the key is that they keep going no matter what,” said Olvera. “If they need additional support at a certain point, that’s okay. As long as they keep moving forward.”
That’s what Gutierrez says he now understands about recovery.
“I don’t think that I’m ever going to stop going to meetings anymore,” said Gutierrez. “Last time I stopped going to meetings and thought that I had everything down, but I didn’t. It’s a lifelong process at this point, just to continue with it.”
Gutierrez credits the 12-step process for guiding his recovery, because he can remember a time when his addictions led to not being welcome in the homes of friends and family.
“I can only tell a newcomer, ‘Do your 12 steps as soon as you can.’ Do not put it off. Do not think it’s not effective, because it’s the only way that got me through it,” said Gutierrez.
Gutierrez didn’t just go through his faith-based recovery program, he’s now helping to lead it. He leads a community meeting Tuesday nights at the Bakersfield First Church of Nazarene at 7:00 pm.
“That key to the 12-step program is that you can only keep it by giving it away,” said Gutierrez. “It’s a fundamental step at the end of the 12-step process.”
Kern Behavioral Health and Recovery Services says if you are in need of assistance, they ask you to call their confidential substance use access line at 1-866-266-4898.
