Undaunted Hope: Stories of Healing from Trauma, Depression, and Addictions

According to the CDC, people today are struggling with an unprecedented rise in mental health concerns such as depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, behavioral addictions, suicide, and more. The greatest barriers to getting help are their shame, their self-loathing, and the belief that their situation is hopeless. destigmatizes these disorders and invites readers to take the first step to help: asking for it. recounts that even in some of the most complex and dire  situations, people can and do recover and find happiness. Through the narratives of twenty-one alumni from The Meadows, a world-renowned treatment facility headquartered in Arizona, there is great potential for readers to see themselves in parts of the stories—and ultimately find the courage to ask for help. Each story is told in the alumnus’s own words, revealing the origins of their struggles, the chaotic course of events leading up to treatment, what help entailed, and how their lives became richer, fuller, and more hopeful once they were willing to take the first step toward healing. In this urgent and timely narrative, The Meadows presents the stories of the therapeutic work that occurs in its facilities, recognizing that trauma is most often the underlying issue to people’s struggles. The groundbreaking work at The Meadows has been validated by the landmark Adverse Childhood Experience Study (ACES) carried out by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for the past twenty-five years. These studies repetitively demonstrate the relationship of various traumas to mental health, substance abuse, and behavioral health care problems. For more than forty-five years, The Meadows has been addressing these issues with complex clients.