Testimonials Title here
testimonial subtitle here
“I sincerely hope that more and more people who are dealing with addiction will discover CRAFT and use it to help their loved ones. I realize that we are just starting on a path to recovery but feel CRAFT has already been a big help thus far.”
“As always, you provide such great insight and support. With each response I understand more clearly. Thank you. I find the effect CRAFT has on me also helps me be a better parent, particularly since I’ve learned to relax and make my self-care more of a priority.”
“Reflecting on the year since my resolution, my lesson is that anything can happen. I learned to let go of some of the things that were beyond my control and to identify what I could do that would help.”
“In the past year, we have been practicing calm talking with love and catching him doing things right. He has been able to achieve better sobriety, more confidence in himself and allows us to be involved in advising him on important career decisions. Our house is a far more peaceful place!”
“I can’t state to you enough how great this e-course is. It is practical, informative and empathetic to the addict and the loved one watching just the same. The CRAFT method is a godsend because it is much more humane in my view. This isn’t an easy process, however I have learned so much along the way.”
“Learning CRAFT skills gives me a lot of confidence. Now I know I can be helpful in a small amount of time whereas before I spent all the time sorting out what was helpful or not.”
“I have greatly benefited from CRAFT and from Allies in Recovery. You have helped me to recognize the mechanisms at work and to understand my own role in them. I am also now able to understand the concrete steps in the preservation of my own emotional health and that of the rest of my family.”
“I used the CRAFT method to have the talk with him on Wednesday, and that was what allowed him to open up and talk a bit and then agree to get more help.”
“Approaching my loved one’s use with CRAFT has had such an impact on me. It has lightened the burden of living with my son’s substance use disorder and is helping me rebuild my life and my relationship with my son. I know patience is key, but it’s so nice to finally see a glimmer of hope. Thank you Allies in Recovery, CRAFT, and this entire community.
I’ve read so many of the blog postings and recognize so many of the challenges of living with a loved one who uses. I’m hesitant to be too optimistic, but I do continue to be hopeful.”
“Your website is excellent. I’m particularly impressed with how professional and creative you have made it. Even the artwork is wonderful. But most of all, your passion, compassion, competence and love for the visitor are abundantly clear. I think your site will be very helpful for the families of those struggling with substance abuse. I personally found it educational and inspiring.”
“The biggest takeaway from Allies in Recovery for me has been calmness and self-care. I am an emotionally needy person. I find online as well as face to face communities can help meet those needs while framing my thinking.”
“Your group helped us to see that we were not helpless and that our son needed to take responsibility for his actions and we needed to let him. We may not have done everything as well as we should have, but he is still sober, and that’s a blessing.”
“Each email and post offers me insight. They are constant lifelines to maintaining my balance. Thank you. “
“This site saved my emotional life. My family is not united in our responses but I am hopeful they will use this site and we can better understand each other. Thank you.”
“I listened to the detach/attach podcast on my way to work this morning. It is sensational! You have a wonderful way of covering the specifics while at the same time conveying the underlying concepts of detach/attach to build one’s understanding.”
“Thanks to Allies in Recovery, CRAFT and the podcasts, my loved one is starting treatment.”
“Our son is finally doing well in recovery and we are thankful for that. He acknowledges our love and support now and is very grateful as well.”
“I found permission through this site to take care of myself. The sense of support, not only through the stories of others, but also from the great responses, suggestions, and words of encouragement have been critical in helping me center my thinking. I know the road is long and the roller coaster of emotions isn’t going away, but I can tell I’m thinking differently. Knowing I have somewhere to turn to for support and guidance is making a huge difference, and I will remain hopeful that CRAFT and my ever improving ability to apply it will help my son find his way back to us and all that his life has to offer. Thank you Allies in Recovery!”
“I reached my son. At first the conversation was strained. We were disagreeing about treatment issues.
Then I made myself switch to CRAFT communication: deliberate listening, “I” sentences instead of “you” sentences, “Tell me more”, “That must be difficult”, “I hear you saying that ___”.
Within a few minutes of this he started opening up about his housemate’s death.
CRAFT helped me give him a safe space to talk about the peer he’d lost. Thank you, CRAFT.
“I am impressed with Dominique’s sound and well-grounded advice on these very challenging dilemmas.
As a newcomer, I find this is an awesome and exciting website integrating CRAFT and other evidence-based proven approaches; and it’s so encouraging to see families with addiction getting this additional support. Family involvement improves outcome. Keep up your fantastic work!”
“Sometimes just the right thing comes at just the right time. I had been especially down about this situation, and your post gave me both hope and concrete direction.”
“I am so grateful for the resources here on this site. Thank you to all who have worked to make this available.”
“I couldn’t do CRAFT effectively without the support of this community. Allies in Recovery is what has helped me see how to apply the method to my situation. You have brought clarity, strength and encouragement. You have kept me from reacting and helped me think strategically about how to best support my son. Allies in Recovery is making a huge difference and I can’t thank you enough.
I also want to thank Dominique. You always help me rediscover my compassion through the chaos. You help me re-center and help me uncover what gets in the way of me doing what’s best for my son.”
“CRAFT has been a life-saver for me and my daughter. In the first day of the modules, my husband and I learned how to position ourselves and how to have conversations with her. No more dramatic pleas with reminders of how bad things had become. I listened then spoke calmly and offered information on services she could reach out to. The first thing that changed was her hopeless attitude.”
“Allies in Recovery has been a lifeline for me. It has enabled me to deal effectively with my son who has struggled with alcoholism for over 10 years.”
“The Allies in Recovery videos are very practical as well as empathetic to both the loved one and substance user. They try to help you see their side of it. The website in general helps you get the focus back on yourself, but also gives you actions to take to help your loved ones. I love the CRAFT method and had read a lot about it; this website puts it in an easy to use format. I also like that there are professionals and experts behind everything.”
“Your responses ground me and give me a rational approach to my son’s problems.”
“Your site brings me tremendous comfort. Knowing I’m not alone in this battle makes the battle seem winnable”
“I want to thank you for all of the care you give to families and other loved ones who are trying so hard to battle this horrible disease.
The modules, the blog, the connection with others fighting just as hard is amazing. Please continue on. We are eternally grateful. May God bless you all for the wonderful work that you do.”
“We are using CRAFT to build the bridge and it is helping to calm things down and it has certainly helped my anxiety level. I’m noticing I’m talking more with my son (even though it’s very brief) rather than interrogating him, which is pretty much what our conversations consisted of before discovering CRAFT and Allies. This is a nice change.”
“I am so grateful to have found this community. I need support and feedback, especially being a single parent. I have watched several modules and find them very helpful. I look forward to continued interaction with everyone here. It is saving my life.”
“Over the past year, I have been applying what I learnt from Dominique, Allies in Recovery, and the CRAFT community – little by little. As I started to work on my own recovery through self-care and by staying connected to other parent support groups, I began to learn how to release control of trying to fix my son’s substance use disorder. This propelled me to a better place, mentally and emotionally. Now I can more clearly understand the insights and suggestions Dominique shares on this site. I also realize that we have to be patient – with ourselves and with our loved one. I know there is still so much for me to learn, and my recovery is not a linear or a smooth path, but it is a path forward and I hope my son will join me on it one day.”
“We really have done and seen it all but CRAFT was the first time we were able to bridge the gap between tough love and keeping in contact. My daughter says I saved her life and she seems really grateful and is in a good place”.”
“Thank you does not even begin to express how much I appreciate your support.”
“Our daughter is feeling very positive about herself for a change. She sees how far she has come and is creating a plan for (her words) “a healthy and happy life.” She is making some tough decisions and standing her ground to get what she needs. We couldn’t be happier for her and we marvel at how strong she is.
CRAFT has coached us on how to operate as her help and support with a minimum of inserting ourselves into her problems. We have had good tools to work with and for that we thank you all. We are looking forward to watching this woman grow in her recovery with a strong network of peers, counseling, and family support. Never lose hope.”
“This site is so hopeful in what seems like a hopeless situation much of the time. Thank you so much for all you have done and continue to do.”
“You taught me how to give positive feedback, how and when to withdraw, when to disengage, and how to temper my anger so that we didn’t fall into the same patterns time and time again.”
“Allies In Recovery has impacted me and my family in such a positive way. I am much stronger and better able to take care of myself because of it. I also have a special place in my heart for Dominique. She has no idea what a difference she has made.”
“The weekly support calls are really helpful and Kayla has established easy interactions, even with some varying attendance. Her emphasis on self-care and staying connected to a loved one is reinforced in each call and covers both practical and emotional details.”
“Thank you for your guidance through all of this. I honestly believe that it is practicing CRAFT that has gotten us to where we are today. It hasn’t always been easy for me to follow it but I know when I do, I see much better results than when I don’t.”
“I can’t imagine the wreck I would be today had I not found Allies in Recovery. Coming here reminds me that my son is not his substance use disorder. He is so much more than that and he deserves my love and compassion and I deserve love and compassion, too.”
“I am so happy to share that my nephew is coming up on his 1-year anniversary of sobriety and I am so proud of him. I cannot express how grateful for all the support, kindness and education you all gave me.
He successfully networked and started meetings the day after we landed in LA, completed his intensive outpatient program and found a sponsor who is amazing. He also got a job that he has held for 6 months and is now living with a few other friends who are also sober. He continues to network and is thriving. I am so grateful and he is very proud of himself, which is huge!
One of the most important lessons was and still is: it’s not about me, it’s his journey. I only provided an opportunity and could not have done it without Dominique and Allies in Recovery.”
“When I read posts like these, I feel hopeful for the plan I am working on. It all boils down to love, for my loved one and myself.”
“I recommend this site to all the family members I encounter on this journey with our loved ones. I agree with Dominique that you are taking care of yourself by sharing here. I originally began practicing CRAFT to help my son, but have found that it has helped me as much, by learning to control my emotions so the highs and lows are less extreme and therefore less exhausting.”
“I don’t believe that I would have ever made it through without this program. It will still take a while to feel comfortable and trusting, but I do believe that things are looking up. I hope that others reading this get some encouragement. It has been a long road and I cherish every good day. I am sure there will still be challenges ahead, but I feel following and working this program will help me get through. Thank you so much.”
“Despite some challenges our son now has 90 new sober days. CRAFT – and your support – has been invaluable. Thank you.”
“Your perspective and support do stay with me. I also find the content on Allies in Recovery is excellent, and in a steady way! It is very helpful how your responses are specific to someone else and yet relevant to me and I assume, to all.”
“This organization is so impressive. Dominique Simon-Levine offers clear, compassionate and intelligent advice. It is a wonderful resource for families trying to support their loved ones in the challenges to recover from substance use.”
“My daughter has been clean now for two months. She has been happy and determined to move forward. She has started to gain weight by eating right and is starting to come back into our lives; answering the phone and joining family events. While I pray that this is finally the turning point, I know it may not be. However, I find hope that she is back on the right track. Even though she relapsed the day after she got out of rehab, she did not lose what she had learned there.
I thank CRAFT and this site for helping to steer me in the right direction.”
“Our son seems genuinely happy and is sober. He calls it “starting his new life.” We are happy for him. Thank you so much for helping us get to this point.”
“Thank you for this amazing resource. I do not feel so alone anymore.”
“The modules provide straightforward techniques with good details and examples that convey an appreciation for how hard as well as hopeful this all is. The discussion blog is fantastic. Dominique’s and others’ detailed responses are very helpful to get perspective and specific approaches to the problems. Seeing how others are struggling breaks down some of the isolation that can come with addiction. Coming up for Air podcasts are really great, full of down to earth, been-there empathy and concrete advice. The site is easy to navigate and updated frequently. It is a tremendous resource for loved ones and addicts.”
“I continue to ask my families to use this wonderful site alongside the work I am doing with them. I find my clients value your work and it is helping.”
“I think CRAFT is a good balanced approach that helps me keep my head in the right place.”
“In a facilitated meeting with my son and his therapist, using CRAFT, we remained calm. We both worked hard to use “I” statements instead of “You” statements. CRAFT and compassion turned what could have been a stormy, stalled meeting into a productive one. We left on loving terms.
The CRAFT process revealed to us a new way of communicating calmly and effectively.
It helped me set boundaries. It helped us shift the decision-making (and responsibility for sobriety) on to him, where it belongs. It helped me relinquish control.”
“My reaction to my son’s use didn’t change until I found Allies in Recovery.
Watching the modules and reading through the resources on this site is helping me realize what I can and cannot control. It is also helping me with my communication skills so my interactions with him aren’t so volatile. We are trying to put the constant arguing and confrontation behind us. It is difficult, but I am staying with the CRAFT method in hopes that we’ll develop a more open and honest relationship.”
“My son has made remarkable strides this year and I am thankful for the support and tips and learning the CRAFT method. Recovery is an ongoing process for all of us as we let go of the past and look with hope to the future. Day by day we grow stronger and healthier together. I could have never predicted all the joys coming our way after so many hard confusing years. I am so thankful for this site and the ways it helped me walk through the dark times with hope and a road map out.”
“Thanks to CRAFT and Allies in Recovery, my son is now in his 5th week of outpatient treatment. He loves the treatment center and said it is the most meaningful thing that has ever happened to him.
Of course a huge part of this change in direction was that my son was ready. I knew that the window when he would agree to go to treatment would be very small and Allies in Recovery helped me jump on it. I had been seeking help for over a decade and this site helped spark monumental changes in my family. We are all so thankful to Allies in Recovery.”
“As I am learning through this fantastic site, I see how my feelings of fear and anxiety have led me to react rather than listen, confront rather than seek to understand, and try to control where I have none.
“I think my son and I both survived only thanks to the support of this website. I learned to speak compassion even when I was as angry and depressed as I have ever been.”
“CRAFT has assisted me in changing my language, persuaded me to take and create a space I have control over. My day starts with a walk in nature, a coffee, listening to radio personalities: all things I can control.”
“Thank you to everyone here at Allies in Recovery for creating a program for families and friends so we can be resilient to hard times and get back to our own recovery more quickly. That resilience has been key for me.”
“I feel returned to myself and human again! I just had a brief conversation with my son and told him I have been overwhelmed and afraid and haven’t been able to tell him how proud I am of him for his efforts. He said he is trying, and I finally told him how proud I am. It felt like we reconnected. He does know what he needs to do and I will try and support that but leave the work to him.”
“I don’t believe that I would have ever made it through without this program. It will still take a while to feel comfortable and trusting, but I do believe that things are looking up. I hope that others reading this get some encouragement. It has been a long road and I cherish every good day. I am sure there will still be challenges ahead, but I feel following and working this program will help me get through. Thank you so much.”
“CRAFT cleans up your side of the street and provides a light onto the street they should walk down to get help. It’s not 100%. It doesn’t guarantee they will walk down that street, but it is the best position you can take.” Simply brilliant. Let’s keep cleaning our side of the street not only for our loved ones but for ourselves and the rest of the family.”