Storytelling

Challenge and selection

I am a social worker, I am part of a project called "Bringing the light back into my life." A program recently created in the mental health clinic where I work, with the purpose of giving back to people addicted to drugs and alcohol the light they lost when they fell into this dark hole, from which they come out with a lot of will and company, this The project has borne many fruits, and we have achieved the purposes proposed at the beginning of it. My job is to help people overcome their addictions to drugs and alcohol, face their problems, and solve their needs regarding this decision of their own that they make when entering our rehabilitation program. The tool I use in this project is storytelling, since these people feel very identified when listening to others who have overcome addiction speak, since it is a very difficult state to face, which requires several things, will, support and someone who understands your situation.

Application

At the beginning of the project, we met Simon, a 17-year-old young man, who was admitted by his parents since he was addicted to methamphetamines and cannabis, it was an extremely complex case, since we were dealing with an adolescent who in his conscience still He did not understand the importance of his recovery, he escaped, they brought him back, and so on repeatedly; One day, in one of the many talks we had with people who told us about their experience in this world of drugs, Taylor, a 38-year-old man who had been sober for more than 10 years, told us how his addiction to age began of the 15 years, how he lost his family, was in jail and a hundred unfortunate situations that he had to go through in order to make the decision to rehabilitate, this story moved Simón a lot, and with the days he was a little more open to us, making significant progress.

Insight and approach

With the storytelling tool we were able to find a very interesting result in our work group, since people in situations such as those that addicts have experienced, only want to be understood, listened to and supported, to feel that someone else in the world also A similar situation occurred and they were able to rehabilitate, have a normal life, family, study and many things that are lost by falling into this unfortunate situation, each person has their own story and their own path, but when they feel identified they are motivated Much to continue with the treatment, which in the future, having more people with more stories to tell to help give a voice of encouragement and strength to our patients, would bring many more positive results for our program.

