News at BestCare Treatment

Counselor finds new hope, faith

 By Duran Bobb
 Spilyay Tymoo

At one time Michelle Wells-Elliott wondered if she still had a soul left, as a prisoner of addiction. “I was homeless,” she said. “It was that bad. I was doing a lot of jail time. I was running the streets. I just didn’t care anymore.”

At the height of her addiction, Michelle lost her mother. “That’s my biggest regret. I was in full-blown addiction while my mother was on her death bed.”

Guidance came to Michelle in the form of a court order, when Heather Crow-Martinez was sent to do an assessment on Michelle in jail.

“I remember people would see me back then,” Michelle said. “They’d think—‘Oh, I can’t believe this is what she has become. This is where she’s at in her life.’”

Heather became Michelle’s mentor. “It was nice to just have support. She had faith in me. She held my hand from the beginning, and I never had that kind of faith while I was using.”

Michelle went to treatment at Visions of Hope in Redmond on February 14, 2006. The program lasted 28 days, but the lessons for life continue.

“I moved on to a half-way house. I was scared, of course. Being in residential treatment is such a safe haven. You’re surrounded by people striving for a common goal.”

In the days to come, Michelle found a new goal, having realized that what might have been considered a weakness in the past could be a strength for tomorrow.

“I started COCC in the summer of 2008, majoring in addiction studies. It was tough! I’m not going to lie.”

In December of 2010, Michelle tested at the state level, to become a certified drug and alcohol counselor.

“In order to earn your CADC1, you need to complete a 250 question test. That was hard to obtain.”

Her husband, Richard Elliott, and her three children Desirai, Tosha and Richayla ignited new inspiration in Michelle. “It’s amazing how much support they were to me through this time.”

Michelle knew that she was on the road to being a better person. “I was learning how to live a different way of life, other than having drugs to cope. I learned different ways of dealing with stress and every day living. I was getting myself back. I was getting my family back. I was stepping up.”

While doing her internship for school, Michelle heard about and applied for the position of recovery coaching at Bestcare Treatment Services in Madras.

She started work on April 16, 2010.

“The most challenging part? Sometimes I’ll get the same friends coming into the group sessions that I facilitate today. You talk about that being strange. But I always make sure to ask them if they’re okay with this.”

On the contrary, Michelle’s presence in the classroom seems to deliver new motivation to those participants who knew her before recovery.

“Some of them will say, If you can do it I’ll bet I can do it. They see that I’ve lived it, breathed it, and they see what I’m doing today. It gives them hope.”

“I have a lot of respect for her,” one participant said. “Michelle tells us how she was, what she’s like today and how she got here.”

“The high-point today is that I have my family back,” Michelle said. “People actually trust me again, I’m amazed! There was a day when that was never heard of!”

Michelle has found her honesty, her self-respect, the respect of others, trust. “All back. I have a house, my job, my children. It doesn’t happen overnight, it takes work. What you get into it is what you’re going to get out of it.”

Today, Michelle finds peace in the fact that she was able to witness the birth of her grand-children. “My oldest grandson is 4. The middle is 5 months yesterday. And my precious granddaughter was just born on February 25.”

A group of friends gathered on February 14 to celebrate Michelle’s 5th birthday in recovery. “That’s like being a baby in recovery, because I have friends that have 25 years sobriety.”

But there’s hope, she said. “There’s light at the end of the tunnel. It might all seem bad at this moment, I know—but in reality it’s just taking a step. Saying, I need help. You’d be amazed when you say that, how many people will be there to hold your hand.”

Today, Michelle is reminded of her soul. “Every day, there comes a reminder of spirituality. I still have my soul and I understand why God protects it now. I know my mom is proud of me in heaven”