I want to start off by saying that there is no amount of words that can describe the gratitude and love I have for Beachside. The facility feels like a home filled with kindness and compassion when love and support is all you need when I walked in at the most vulnerable time of my life. This place is special, it's not like other treatment facilities and I have been to a fairshare of them. This place is a miracle factory and I have seen so many of my peers and myself come in broken, hopeless, burnt out, and on death's door and the treatment team provide the tailor made TLC to each patient to give them the tools to see the light and not just survive the darkness we come in unable to navigate but to thrive through it all.
This place took me from the worst time of my life to a scared girl caught up in the Florida rehab scam scene that had witnessed the horrors of the treatment facility and was just battling to find the will to do life and find a reason or a purpose to live and not want to die. Lee ( the amazing intake lady) was the first woman I saw and felt like my grandma and soothed my anxiety and made me feel so safe. She sat with me and answered all of my anxious questions and helped soothe me through all the tears and shaking. I will be forever grateful to her for walking me through the doors and helping me find the courage to give treatment one last try.
As soon as I walked in I could tell it was different from other facilities. There was nursing staff, snacks, chippers and hopeful patients, and a gorgeous clinical facility always nicely decorated with cute little balloon art to whatever event is going on by Maria. My peers and I during our stay would jokingly call it Beachside Resort and Spa.
The staff is incredible and the therapy is unmatched and incomparable to anywhere I have ever been. I was hopeless and had been in and out of treatment and crisis management units before entering Beachsides doors. This place genuinely saved my life but guided me in the throws of addiction and Borderline Personality episodes to realize what I thought were imperfections and reasons to end my life are actually a very strong part of me and that I am made up of many tragedies and successes that helped create the person I am today. Beachside helped me find my purpose when I felt like I had none.
Jason's DBT groups are by far my favorite and really helped me navigate my emotions and helped me understand myself in a profound way. I learned that my trauma tells me to jump to extremes of emotion to help me survive, but I do not have to be in survival mode all the time. I learned techniques to escalate my emotions before doing something destructive, how to give into impulses sometimes without it being detrimental to myself and those around me, and how to properly communicate how I am feeling to others without feeling like I need to scream or hurt myself to communicate the pain I am feeling. My absolute favorite thing he taught me is asking myself if the emotions I am feeling fit the situation that is occurring and finding the right emotion to triage the situation because most things are actually WORKABLE and I do not have to break down or do something extreme like hurting myself or being manipulative. He taught me rejection is part of life and that is something I struggled with the most. It is okay to feel rejected, it sucks, it's tough but in reality why would I want to be with someone who does not value the person I am and it is their loss. Truth is they've probably been rejected too. His groups made me realize that I really want to be a therapist and specialize in DBT to help those who struggle like I do.
Munico, my therapist and the assistant clinical director helped me accept kindness and made me realize that therapists are genuine people in this world. Before her I always looked at therapists as people who are just paid to listen then done with you. She changed my perception entirely. Her patience with me while struggling to accept that I had been in an abusive relationship and have detrimental self sabotaging dating patterns changed my life. She was there through the rough discovery period and the heartbreak and the tears. She let me grieve my miscarriages and my old life and gave me a safe and supportive place to do so. There were a lot of times where I really fought the treatment and really struggled with acceptance and pushed me to find the strength within myself to heal. She made me realize that I am worth healing and that I can do anything I put my mind to as long as I take care of myself. She helped me reframe my perspective on life and situations and helped me find purpose and stop selling myself short. The most important lesson she taught me is I need to do things for myself and stop looking for validation in others. Perfectionism is not the goal PROGRESS is.
Sonya, my case manager and one of the most amazing people I have ever met. She goes above and beyond for her patients and always made time for me read more