Marion Callahan<\/a>\u00a0on April 17,\u00a02016<\/p>\n
\nThey were roommates, nothing more at first. They were strangers, a group of guys who were recovering from drug addictions.<\/p>\n
When Ryan Barletto first met his housemates in the living room of a Way of Life recovery house, he wanted nothing to do with them.<\/p>\n
\u201cNever once did I imagine the bond that would develop,\u201d said Barletto, 28.<\/p>\n
About seven months later, three of those guys surrounded him after he voluntarily left the house and was in the midst of a relapse. They sat beside him on the couch of his girlfriend\u2019s Upper Southampton apartment and convinced him to stop using heroin. Those guys — also in recovery — were the only ones who could reach him, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was at the lowest point in my life,\u201d Barletto recalled. \u201cI had tried so many times. If it wasn\u2019t for those guys, telling me to take it one day at a time, just don\u2019t use for one day, and keep moving forward, I wouldn\u2019t be here. I lost all hope. I felt no matter what I tried, it wouldn\u2019t work. But they told me I could go on and die or go with these guys and try to have a life.\u201d<\/p>\n
He chose life.<\/p>\n
Barletto, who is back at the Way of Life home, chose to follow the advice of the men he met in the recovery house, men he said formed a \u201cbrotherhood\u201d that was different from any relationship he had experienced because of the common struggles they share.<\/p>\n
While the idea of group housing for people in recovery may seem like a recipe for relapse, a top official with the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration say it\u2019s a formula that works. Tom Hill, acting director for the administration\u2019s Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, said well-run recovery houses \u201chave been very instrumental in stabilizing folks and offering long-term support.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause addiction is a disease of isolation, people generally recover best in community,\u201d Hill said. \u201cRecovery residences create micro-communities and extended family structures. They help people set up a foundation for a lifetime in recovery, providing structure, accountability, recovery role models, and opportunities to develop recovery and life skills.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n <\/p>\nContinued at BucksCountyCourierTimes.com<\/i><\/a>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI wanted to be part of the change, part of the positive solution,\u201d said Williamson, who, with the help of her mother, owns five recovery homes. \u201cSo, that is why I got into the business.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":22221,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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