Support for

Whole Family Recovery

Sam's mother was blindsided by his addiction, feeling a profound sense of failure in recognising and addressing her son's needs. Sam was very low, at times 'he got clean but could never stay clean.'

"We never really knew the depths of his addiction until things became really bad'" explains Sams parents. Things got really bad, we barely recognised him, this went on for a long time until one night Sam admitted he wanted to take his own life. His mam rang countless services - eventually at Aiséirí she was met with someone who showed empathy and who understood.

Relieved that Sam was not required to be drug free on arrival, he was given a space in the detox programme.
The day Sam went into detox and primary treatment in Cahir, his mam said she felt a mix of emotions. 'I felt like I was letting him down by leaving him there, but it was the best thing I ever did for him and for us as a family.

I didn’t want him to think I was leaving him and I was his crutch all along and I suppose his mental health support as well. He talked to me'.

With all the focus on Sam for such a long time, it was only once he as in treatment that we realised the rest of the family needed support too. 'You think paying debts and doing different things is helping, but you soon learn where you are going wrong', 'When Sam went into treatment, our focus could turn to our daughter a bit more. She had anxiety but we never once realised it was because of what was going on. It was great for her to access support too. The other two siblings had left home but the eldest was affected by seeing the impact of seeing his brother’s addiction on his parents, and the next eldest was particularly close to Sam, he went through a lot seeing how bad his brother was and would try to intervene.

Every member of the family availed of support from Aiséirí at some stage. After intensive treatment in Cahir, Sam moved on to secondary treatment Ceim Eile in Waterford. Once time Sam was home, he said he had spoken to his support worker because he felt smothered by his family when he went home, it was hard to trust him again. His support worker explained that his family had not had the chance to do the work he has done; so did not realise how far he had come. ‘I think that was a wakeup call for us. So while he worked on himself, we worked on ourselves as a family, and I suppose we tried to learn how to trust again’.

We wanted to start to enjoy life again, so that when he did come him and we had time with him, we made the most of it. Aiséirí helped him save himself – and they saved us as a family as well. They helped us recover while he was recovering.
After six months in Céim Eile, Sam moved on to a sober house in Waterford city and with support in the community. He resumed the apprenticeship that he had stopped in his third year. The 26¬year¬old will be three years in recovery in July. He has qualified as an electrician and has his own flat in Waterford, he has his own community now. Even though Sam has finished with Aiséirí services, he can ring up or drop in to Céim Eile any time for a chat and a cup of tea.’He is part of the community now’ As far as his mam is concerned, Aiséirí “saved our son – or they helped him save himself – and they saved us as a family as well. They helped us recover while he was recovering."