Amazing Stories of Hope

HPR gave me the tools to re-enter the world with confidence in my newfound sobriety. Before making my decision to attend this facility Paul spent multiple hours on the phone with me and my family answering our questions and concerns, and taking time to really get to know me and understand where I was with my addiction. Our phone calls put me at ease. Despite the fact that I had to travel halfway across the country to attend HPR, I went in with an extreme sense of calm and security knowing that Paul and the rest of the HPR staff were there to help me.

The program is built to focus on the individual, rather than feeling lost in a crowd of 20-30 people, the house only keeps 6 guys at a time, which made me feel focused on. The smaller group quickly results in the closeness of those at the house. During my stay at HPR, I got incredibly close with my housemates; watching movies, playing disc golf, going on hikes, playing pickle ball, shooting pool, making music together or just sitting out talking by the fire at night, and when I needed alone time, the house is more than big enough for me to step away from the group and have some solitude.

When one person would graduate the program, a new member would replace them in a matter of days. I especially enjoyed this because you can quickly go from the “new guy” where everyone is looking after you, making sure you are settled in okay and overall just showing you the ropes, to being one of the guys who is showing the newcomer how things are done. This gave me a feeling of being welcomed that quickly turned into me having a feeling of great pride and responsibility when it was my turn to show a new guy how to settle in.

As my stay got longer I got more responsibilities, these were all optional, but I truly wanted to give back as much as I could. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to look after the Quill, one of the Ranch’s donkeys during her pregnancy. On my first day looking after her she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy and I am forever grateful to have been able to start every day looking after the two of them during the latter part of my stay. Small things like that make you feel important, useful and needed, which is extremely important in sobriety.

What I loved most about my experience at HPR was that the amazing team there has gone to great lengths to curate a program that allows you to customize your sobriety. There is not any one meeting, one program, one exercise, etc that works for everyone in sobriety; what may work for one person may very well not click for another, and this is where Healing Pines truly shines. We had access to meetings across the city/virtually that allowed us to explore various approaches to sobriety as a group. Going in with five or six other guys into your first time at a meeting made it a lot easier, you felt less singled out, and going as a group would always spark insightful conversations back at the house.

We attended AA meetings, NA meetings, Dharma meetings, and watched online clips of sober focused documentaries, podcasts, and lectures. It is important to remember that sobriety is not a “one-size-fits-all.” There were times we would attend a meeting and someone would share something that I did not fully agree with or relate to, but a housemate might have really learned something from that share, or vice versa. The best part about this is that there are no meetings or lessons that I ever felt were a waste of my time. If I did not agree fully with what was being said, I at least grew further in my own beliefs in realizing “huh, I don’t think that would work for me, but I am glad it helps others” and that is probably the greatest lesson I learned at HPR, having an open mind and finding out what works for my sobriety.

The location is breathtaking, the staff are incredible, and I could easily continue this review with countless positive things to say, but I have run out of characters so I will end with this: If you have made it this far in this review and are still on the fence, don’t be, you will not find a better place than HPR!