Recently, the ResetLife team received a testimonial that spoke beautifully to the experience of one of our participants, not only over the 5 months he was with us, but also in the lead up to his engagement in our program. To protect his privacy, I will call him Angus.

Angus was like so many that we see at ResetLife – at a crossroads with life but knowing that his high-risk substance using behaviour had to stop. Daily suicidal thoughts plagued him, and a darkness followed him. He lived with depressive thoughts, hatred of himself, being consumed with guilt and shame and having no hope for the future or hope even to be able to smile again.

Watching Angus grow and experience his recovery has been a reminder for our team of the essence that fuels our professional resilience.

Our work is hard, it is challenging, frustrating, and at times can seem fruitless. But then you get people like Angus who help reinforce why we do what we do. We all need a few Angus’s throughout the year to fill our cups of professional resilience, to be that light in the storm, to hear their stories reminding us of the impact we have on people’s lives.

Within the ResetLife program, we form close relationships with our participants, after all, we see them three to four times a week for at least 16 weeks. We get to experience their ups and downs, their wins and their losses, so when they reach the end of the program, it is a big sense of achievement not only for the people like Angus, but also for our staff.

The team that worked with Angus extended beyond ResetLife to include First Step Legal. We all know it, but it needs to be said again, what we do at First Step is unique and amazing in the way we collaborate to give our clients the best possible chance of living lives with hope and optimism for the future – a life, that for many like Angus, has been a pipedream and not achievable.

At Angus’ graduation and farewell there were a few tears shed as we were able to reflect and celebrate how far he had come and to hear of his newfound happiness, optimism and hope for his future.

This time of reflection was shared with current ResetLife participants which in turn, provided our newest members of the program with hope for their own future whilst they navigate the turbulent times of early recovery.

Firstly, I would like to publicly say well done to all involved with Angus, and secondly, well done to everyone at First Step who show up, day in, day out, to give people like Angus the chance to experience their best possible lives.

Benn Veenker
ResetLife Manager