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Local program focuses on the rehabilitation needs of women

The Herald-Dispatch - 4/18/2018

By NIKKI DOTSON MERRITT

Staff Writer

WAYNE - Misty Martin is taking a stand for the women she helps to rehabilitate from substance abuse at Marie's House.

Martin, who has a background in abnormal psychiatry; over 25 different certifications in related fields and a bachelors in Clinical Psychiatry with a minor in Biochemistry, is the community engagement specialist and programmer for the cognitive-behavioral intervention program and government supervised peer-to-peer sober living facility.

Most of the residents of Marie's, however, end up just calling her mom. It is her drive and mother-like spirit that both endears them, but also pushes them hard to be their best selves.

Due to safety concerns, the identity of each resident is kept semi-private from the public, but talking with each woman reveals some of the same stories of confidence and humanity Martin extends to the women.

"She is like our mom, she pushes us hard and makes sure we stay in-line, but at the same time she helps us to believe that we can do this - that we can succeed," one of the women said. "Since being here I have more confidence in myself, I know what I am worth and what I can do."

The vision of Marie's is to aid in the respite, recovery and reeducation of female, nonviolent offenders, while working to instill a sense of health, home, purpose and community within each participant in the hopes that future generations will be deterred from walking the same paths.

It takes into account how women and men are hardwired differently, and uses science and proven studies to combat substance abuse from within.

"A woman doesn't respond the same way a man does," Martin said. "It's irresponsible to think a woman is going to respond every time to the same treatment a man will.

That is our main goal here - we look at each woman individually and we help her to be true self."

Marie's House is an extension of a collaborative, diverse team effort of professionals committed to providing services and support that promote and increase individual capacity to self-direct care, culminating into an overall healthy existence all while providing an environment founded on stability, safety and compliance within a framework of purposeful support.

During the average stay of close to a year, residents will receive cognitive-behavioral training, gender specific and trauma-informed reduction and will pursue full time education or employment.

It uses evidence based practices that have been proven to be the platform for not just program success, but continued success of all graduates after completion.

Martin said man times the program means so much to those who complete it, they almost always return as a volunteer or just to visit.

The goal is to help each woman reveal the underlying reason for addictions, understand and change their thinking patterns and employ their learned skill sets. This helps them to stay sober, reduce recidivism and redevelop their futures through employment and higher education opportunities.

Once a woman is sentenced to a stay at Marie's House, she receives intensive supervision, an individualized treatment plan and daily recognitive training.

Interventions include group therapy, criminal conduct and thinking for change, relapse prevention and co-occuring disorders and anger management.

Residents come from all over the state.

"This is about finding out why each woman is a substance abuser, and helping to change those behaviors," Martin said. "We rebuild each resident to be their real selves, not who they are on drugs."

The program is funded using federal grant monies funded by the Justice department's Blending Initiative along with other community donations and fundraising. The service is intended to support all individuals who have a history of and/or are at risk of being in the penal system, meaning it is designated for those who have served time in prison.

Martin is the broker and facilitator of a wide range of community based and collaborative efforts and strategies designed and intended to support the varying needs of those served at the house. She worked closely with the courts to develop the program, and is using her background as a means to come up with the best solutions for those served - women. She also works to create synergy.

Her drive comes from the deep desire to be service oriented, and her journey to figure out where that fit in and who it would best serve.

"Without any proof of justice, I believe in the difference in people. I am huge on the idea that someone can be different," Martin said. "At my core, I am a humanist. I believe in and I care about people."

Though Martin has no drug addition or any substance abuse record, she said knows what it is like to watch someone struggle with an illness they have no control over. And, she added, that she had all these skills combined from her professional training and personal life that she felt needed a place to be used all at once.

"I had all these skills and all these goals, all this knowledge and there was no place for me. I felt like there was no where for me to fit in and just, use it all at once," she said. "'I was driven to fill the gaps - and every time turned around there were more gaps - and so became a hunger for me. It was a desire to help these women.

It's more than a passion, I see the reflection in my having children in the community - we have to have something for them if anything else."

So, then she was approached by the circuit court for an undefined position with an idea for a facility for those apart of the Wayne County drug court. And with the demographic and the struggles she said she personally knew from the area, she was able to develop Marie's House.

Marie's House works with alternative sentencing officers and courts to ensure that legal parameters of supervision are upheld and assist the resident in building a responsible, yet personal, relationship with the court at no cost to that person. The facility can house up to 8 residents at a time, and involves 24/7 supervision, scheduling, chores and ensuring the general health of each woman.

"We partner with Prestera and others to screen each woman and make sure she is healthy," Martin said. "They are given medical care, therapy and they complete the program."

The program offers in-house educational retraining addresses cognitive-behavioral conditions and interventions such as critical thinking and tactics, addictive thinking patterns, reprogramming the ego, owning your program, denying manipulative tactics, 8 dimensions of wellness and 10 models of coping skill technique and practices.

Additional intervention and secondary growth tools include individual mental health therapy, NA/AA meetings, 12 steps of recovery and attendance of Region 2 Workforce to focus on obtaining a GED or employment readiness skills through the EXCEL program.

Higher education opportunities also continue though Marie's House with local venues of higher education such as Mountwest Community and technical college and Huntington Junior College.

Farther development in social responsibility is obtained by participation in community service and other structured volunteer relief efforts.

"My girls put in A LOT of time volunteering around the community," Martin said. "They do nearly 220 hours each during their stay."

According to Martin, there is a reason rehabilitation is not successful on average, though Marie's is seeing success.

"Why do we keep developing here or here, and then we stop. There is a reason we are not successful - we accept the limitation. Well, I am a person that does not accept any limitations," she said. "I don't like the word no. If you tell me no, there is someone that will tell me yes. It's not just my faith, its who I am. All these years and have all this knowledge and now I can breathe and show that it is worth it.

These are good people. Some come from nothing, some come everything - and I will stand for them. For each and every one of them I will stand when no one else will, when they can't for themselves yet. I will stand."