3521 North University Avenue – The Jefferson Building at Jamestown Square in Provo.

Drop by and see us – office hours are

Monday – Wed. – Friday 10 am to 5 pm

Tues and Thurs. 1:oo- 5:00 pm

Full services for substance and mental health therapy, jobs, sober living, programs for professionals , case management for aftercare and pending legal charges and so much more.

We will be at the Utah Valley University mental health and substance abuse conference this coming week – Thursday Feb 23  all day come see our booth.

Our phone number is the same 801-472-9780

spread the word – help those you know who are suffering. Most people don’t know who to call or what to do when a loved one is out of control in their substance abuse.

My own neighbor is paralyzed in fear about her adult son who is addicted to pain pills, has now been arrested and is facing incarceration.  Even when the resources were handed to her as a gracious gift – she is unable to k now what to do.  This is very common for families.

Families struggle with denial, they minimize – they are sure that their loved one isn’t in as much trouble as they are.  They are angry, frustrated and paralyzed.  They waste thousands and thousands of dollars on treatment programs that aren’t effective when their loved one isn’t ready for treatment.

So what do you do ?  You educate yourself and stop enabling and trying to buy sobriety for your loved one.

Download the free directory 

call the I Promise Foundation if you just want someone to talk to and have questions to ask about what to do – We will help you find the programs and resources that will be right for you.

801-472-9780

We offer sober living – outpatient after care – executive and professional athlete services – publishing – offender re-entry services – LGBT treatment resources

Help your addict zombie  overcome being in a state of the living dead

Addicts and alcoholics who are deep in their denial and using are incredibly selfish and self serving.  Having a family get together is the last thing they are interested in – unless you are all gathering to smoke some dope together. ( snarky sarcasm)

MOMS – DADS – SPOUSES – hear me today.  I give you permission to not enable ongoing bad behavior just so perhaps your holiday might just have some peace.  Don’t do it.

Get help for your addict – alcoholic TODAY.  I want your undivided attention.  YOUR HOLIDAY WILL BE AWFUL unless you can help your loved one into a treatment situation right away.

Intervention for your loved one $500 anywhere along the Wasatch Front until Dec. 1st.

45 days intensive outpatient treatment for addiction/alcoholism and mental health  now only $ 500.00 for any admission before Dec. 1st.

If you can get your loved one into a program NOW – do it.

CALL 801-687-8627 for an intervention

Call 801-472-9870  for treatment options.

register by emailing nancy@ipromisefoundation.org – classes are limited to 20

Tuesday and Thursday nights from 7-9   Nov 1 through Dec. 1st ( no class on Nov 27 Thanksgiving )

Saturday class starting Oct. 29th – 9 am – 1pm  4 Saturdays through Nov. 20

If you are court ordered to attend a DUI education class this is the one.  Priced competitively – information is available for those who can use  an Access To Recovery voucher to cover the cost of their class.  Don’t delay the class will fill up fast

Prime For Life.  Prime For Life has been approved by the Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health for DUI offenders in most states. PRIME For Life is also widely used in youth diversion programs and on college campuses throughout the United States.  We use the latest scientifically based curriculum from Prime For Life Program  The Prime For Life  Program uses the latest research on brain chemistry and addiction in a user-friendly way.

Don’t delay and if you are still facing criminal charges or have an upcoming sentencing we also offer alternative sentencing consulting to help you formulate a plan.

Classes are offered at our treatment locations  961 west center st orem, ut. 84058 call 801-472-9780

Summer was so fleeting.  It barely arrived before the leaves on the hill started to change just last week.  My California genes scream for longer days, warm nights and a bit of salt in the air to hopefully fend off the inevitable snowflakes of an early October storm that I know is looming ahead.

I have been neglecting our blog as biz is just busy busy busy.  No shortage of addiction and it’s attending urgency.  In fact, I’m always a bit surprised when I look at our blog stats and I see we had a slew of readers in a day when there has been nothing new to report.  GOSH SORRY to our fans.

So many lives seem to be hanging by a thread much like my attachment to summer. Pain and suffering, drugs – booze – homelessness.  Despair is in full swing for those addicted and often the staff that is here to serve with 14 hour work days, dozens of drug tests to process and no bus passes for the weary.

The good news is we are growing and busy

We have finally finished editing our Eating Disorder Directory and the General Directory is almost done with an addiction section added to this years edition and we have been slugging out a values coupon flyer for the community to raise money for our scholarships.

Watch in the next week that the new directories will be posted for download on the web site.

As we reflected back on the year we know that folks who had the directory have sent their loved ones to  the following programs:

Ascend Recovery      Summit Lodge         Cirque Lodge            Wilderness Ministries

    Highland Ridge Hospital   Hazeldon in Minnesota and a sober house in Washington state.

Those are just the folks we  know about.  We know that several others were referred to programs and met with admissions but were not able to make it work – Detox is one of those programs that it is difficult to find funding .

We are so grateful for our friends in the community who just keep growing and building and serving – there is a new program in Pleasant Grove called Willow Tree.  We welcome them.

As we have started to compile our statistics for 2011 it is phenomenal that we have been able to help as many individuals as we have.  Some have not been ready for recovery but most embraced the opportunity and did well.  We have had 221 members come through the program and we have provided transitional housing for 198 individuals throughout the year.

We do what no one else does in the outpatient substance abuse world. No one has created a comprehensive multi dimensional approach like we have – available in one location a customized approach  – solution designed recovery.

You can do it.  You can overcome the chaos of addiction and find some peace and contentment.

call 801-472-9780   for an application  or email me nancy@ipromisefoundation.org

Day Treatment is Monday through Friday 9 am – 9 pm.  Sober living is available as well

No waiting lists – you can start today.

Our program is affordable, scholarships are available, payment plans and Access to Recovery vouchers too – do not wait to call.  We feel your pain and frustration and in our loving, empowering atmosphere we support the family in healing.

Is it easy ?  No – it can often still be a long and bumpy road but it doesn’t have to bankrupt you emotionally or financially.

Call the office 801-472-9780 ask for Dave or Nancy

go to our website  www.ipromisefoundation.org

Deer Creek is the local watering hole where locals can take a dip, BBQ up some steaks, lay in the sun, boat about and celebrate their own recovery .  Addiction recovery is much like a trek across the wilderness and those who can make the journey do have something to celebrate.  Congrads to our members who continue to solidify their recovery from the chaos of drugs and alcohol.  Congrads to those who came to our celebration sober and realized you CAN have a good time free from the influence of a mind altering substance.

As July comes to an end we are excite for what is ahead – Access to Recovery vouchers are opening the door to services for many , many people in our community who would otherwise continue to suffer because they do not have the funds for treatment.  The I Promise Foundation is a contract provider for IOP, recovery support as well as many other therapeutic services.  Call us @ 801-472-9780 and ask about the Access to Recovery vouchers.  We are the most comprehensive program available in Utah County and we happily work with other providers to coordinate services.  You can afford treatment for your addiction problems.

More updates :  Congrads to Bobby Low , our resident All American pole vaulter, high performance coach, PhD candidate on his new job @ Aetna in their health and wellness program.

Our offices have new paint !  wahooooo it is starting to look very modern and thanks to the men for laying the new floors.

New men’s sober house coming soon in Springville

the 2011 edition of our addiction resource directories will be going to print in August to be ready for September Recovery Month. We will have an Eating Disorders directory and our general resource directory.  growing big time. !!!

I read yesterday in a weather article that the horrific tornado activity in the South is to blame on the storms over Utah.   Of course I would then say that the storms over Utah should be blamed on the Arctic air that comes down from Alaska/Canada mixing with the moisture from the pacific Northwest…. and dumps rain and snow.  But then who do we blame – do the storms really start in Russia or China before they  get here…. Whose fault is it anyway?

I don’t know anything about weather except what I see outside – snowing on April 30 and that bad things happen to people all the time.  Life is messy.  I also know when bad times hit as they have in the South – good people gather together and help each other.  The American spirit runs deep in the souls of our citizens an they reach out and lift up people in need.  Not because the government orders it but because it is the right thing to do.

I’ m sorry if today’s snow in Utah will bring more tornadoes ahead as our cold air mixes with the warm air of the South.  No one is to blame – not climate change, not global warming – not driving SUV’s.  It just is.   All you can do is be prepared and call yourself to action when you are needed.

Boy Scout motto ” Be prepared”

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Whatever your addiction crisis is – if you need affordable – flexible treatment for someone you love call us 801-472-9780.

Bundle up

What that tells me is life happens and you just have to find a way to break through the cold ground, fight against the elements and bloom anyway.

I had an interesting question pop up the other day when a couple of my neighbors were over and we were talking about a young man we all knew who was struggling with his cocaine addiction and his folks just don’t want to talk about it.  Typical.  So the question was –  what do you say to the parent who says ” It’s not my fault he does drugs”.

I know it’s a trick question.  There is an emphasis in therapy and treatment ( IMO) to instruct a parent that it’s NOT their fault a child is doing drugs/boozing, etc.   – Whew, I’m not to blame – they think quietly to themselves – good – I don’t have to change.

And just so there is no misunderstanding – I am NOT a therapist.  But  I have raised 5 children and one is an addict/alcoholic and I know exactly what a parent feels when substance abuse shakes the family foundation to it’s very core.  The guilt, shame, confusion, unmet expectations, anger, disappointment and so on.

Back to the question – I answered with a ” maybe it is their fault ”  the gals totally freaked out at me.  hahaha, not so simple

So here is the return question-

Can a parent raise a child – teaching that child ( or not teaching ), disciplining, praising, guiding ( or not), tucking the child in at night…etc.  without having any responsibility for  their role – for their actions – for their participation in the family unit?  So when things go goooood,   parents are always there wanting to take credit but when things go bad… the parents say ” it’s not my fault”.

Well, maybe it is your fault- because of how you treated your child growing up they were not able to make good decisions ( I know I am simplifying ) and that led to future bad behavior.  Parents are far from perfect and things happen  - life is messy but that is where accountability and awareness come into play and I think parents need to have some ownership.

Now some parents actually DO give their children drugs and alcohol – They actually do shoot up or booze togther and even those parents often will deny any culpibility.   It’s crazy evil what happens to some children.

For the most part – the parents that I know are good people – they have done their very best to raise their children. There are no guarantees that even being the perfect parent protects a child from his own bad decision making  and clearly they are not the one’s putting a needle of heroin in their child’s  arm.     So – where the difference lies – is not in placing BLAME but in accepting responsibility for being the parent and maybe – just maybe we all could have been better at our job. Because sometimes our “best” is not very good.

No, it is not my fault my son abused alcohol to the point of addiction – he chose to get booze, drink booze and ruin his life.  But as his parent I have ownership in how he was raised and how maybe – just maybe something we did or didn’t do created a belief in his life that led him to drink.

Or even more wild is – you know science now says that there is a genetic pre-disposition for addiction – well I guess that  does mean I am to blame since those genes came from me ( and my hubo)

Pointing out fault or blame is weak and has no merit .  But accepting responsibility and ownership is an exercise in creation.

We all have  agency to choose – abusing alcohol or drugs is a choice and they choose – even in addiction when the choice mechanism has become damaged – they still choose.

and so does the parent – they choose to react – they choose to be disgusted – they choose to disown – they choose to be in denial.

It took a long time for me to be free from my own guilt and confusion over what my now adult son has chosen to do – but it did not free me from my own responsibility to say I’m sorry this happened, I’m grateful I have learned so much from his experience because now I can love him more and I work on forgiving myself  for the things as a parent I could have done better and forgiving him for his part.

Relationships take two to tango and in a family – it takes everyone who wants to heal to participate. I can throw away my broken flip flops and get a new pair but I won’t throw away my broken family – they are worth healing and saving.