‘He is back to the kid he used to be’ A mother’s emotional story of her son’s recovery

When Sarah first noticed changes in her son, Mason, she had no idea how quickly things would spiral out of control. Mason, once a straight-A student, seemed to transform overnight into a troubled teenager ensnared by addiction. What began as subtle shifts in behavior quickly escalated into crisis and turned into a nearly year-long nightmare.

“Nine months of hell,” Sarah remembers.

Desperate, Sarah sought help, reaching out to treatment centers for help. What she found was disheartening. “I hate to say it, but it felt like a money grab,” Sarah recalls. “Right away ‘let’s talk about money’ instead of ‘let’s talk about your kid.’ Dropping your child off across the state to people you don’t even know … it’s scary. So, when you’re talking to somebody on the phone, you need to get a good feel.”

Then Sarah found Ember Recovery, YSS’s Residential Addiction Treatment program. Ember Recovery provides a successful, individualized, and evidence-based recovery program in a safe, homelike atmosphere for youth ages 12-24. When she contacted Ember, the conversation took a different turn. “It was instant — they wanted to know about my son, about what was happening. They talked to him, and I felt at ease.”

Still, the decision to send her son to YSS was one of the hardest Sarah has made. As they drove three hours to the residential treatment center, her heart was filled with anxiety.

“I was nervous the whole way,” Sarah says. “Once we came in and I met the staff, I felt way better. They explained everything to us; told us what would happen; here’s what we’re going to do; here’s where we are going to go. When we left, I felt relieved.”

Over the course of his time at YSS, her son underwent a transformation that Sarah can only describe as miraculous. “He is back to the kid he used to be,” Sarah says. Gone was the sneaky, untrustworthy teenager. In his place was the son she remembered—open, honest, and happy. He talked about his feelings, shared his struggles, and, for the first time in a long time, seemed genuinely happy.

One of the aspects that made Ember Recovery stand out for Sarah was the program’s emphasis on nature and practical life skills. Far from being an institutional environment, YSS provided her son with opportunities to swim, hike, and fish — activities that helped him reconnect with the world around him in a positive, sober way. “It’s not like an institution,” Sarah says. “He took up fishing big time. We bought him a new fishing pole, and he’s got a tackle box now at home.

The structure of the YSS program also played a crucial role in Mason’s recovery. With clear goals and milestones to achieve, Mason was able to see and feel his progress.

“It’s almost like a competition with yourself,” Sarah explains. “This is what he has to do, and then he gets that fulfillment for moving to the next step. And I saw that. My son was like ‘guess what, I got to move up.’ I thought the goal setting worked really well.”

Her son graduated from Ember Recovery’s program in August – but for him and YSS the work doesn’t stop.

“Moving forward, YSS was awesome because they are providing an outpatient for him,” Sarah says, referring to the continuum of care provided by YSS and Ember Recovery. “We’re going to continue to work with YSS when we go home. Which is really a great perk. Most programs are only 30 days. YSS is at least 90 days and they are like ‘let’s continue to work.’ ”

As she reflects on her son’s struggles, Sarah has one piece of advice for other parents facing similar struggles: “Act fast. Don’t let it go, and don’t think it’s just a phase.”

And most importantly: “There is hope.”