Genevieve now looks back at her years of drug addiction with a sense of “I couldn’t have imagined a life without addiction.” Her addiction started in her late teens when a family member first introduced Genevieve to marijuana. She continued getting high for nearly a decade, sometimes smoking up to 5-6 times a day. By the time Genevieve left for college she was fully ingrained in the “smoking culture.” She was a good student and never got into trouble, but at night she would sneak out to get high. “I lived a second life, where no one judged me,” says Genevieve. As a result of the continued smoking, she dealt with depression, panic attacks and paranoia. Genevieve entered a college sponsored outpatient program to help her to quit using marijuana, but her sobriety didn’t last long and she relapsed. Genevieve tried to quit off and on for the next six years, but she kept relapsing. She would go as far as flushing the weed down the toilet, yell at herself to stop getting high, entertaining thoughts of getting into a car accident or even experience a stroke all to stop smoking. “I wondered how I would ever get out of this addiction,” she says. In her late 20s, Genevieve finally had reached a point where she knew she needed help. One day on a whim she Googled drug recovery centers and came across Summit Estate’s website. Genevieve picked up the telephone and began dialing the toll-free hotline. On the other end of the phone was Mike, one of Summit Estate’s staff members. Genevieve shared that she needed help and “Mike said come in right now and had he said come in tomorrow or another day, I wouldn’t come in at all,” she says. “Summit Estate’s counselor Dee made it easy to make it, by just focusing on one thing at a time,” says Genevieve. Dee sat down with Genevieve and created a personalized recovery plan. “It was Dee’s simple tools and positive affirmation that helped me overcome my addiction. When those negative ‘voices came out of my head’ – it felt like lead weights that were holding down my soul were lifted and I started healing,” she explains. Genevieve learned to express herself through art, music, poetry, and other activities at Summit Estate. “it made my soul sing,” she says. The nurturing atmosphere and caring staff created an environment where Genevieve felt safe to keep working on her recovery. “I wasn’t critical and didn’t judge myself anymore, I felt free to be who I am,” says Genevieve. Joyful Gen, as she affectionately became to be known at Summit Estate, was experiencing true joy and happiness for the first time in her life – Genevieve began to see a life free from addiction. “My word of advice is to continually work on your recovery, be open and willing to break through,” she says.