John Gokey, a recovery specialist at Goodwin House in Chicopee—CHD’s 90-day residential program for adolescent males and non-binary youth aged 13-17—knows where these teens are coming from because he’s been there himself.

He uses his lived experience to help Goodwin residents navigate their own recovery. Gokey himself has been in recovery since 2012 and describes his life until then with as terms as a “train wreck” and a “dumpster fire.” What substances did he use? “It would be easier to list what I didn’t do,” he said.

Gokey went through numerous programs in his youth until his parents gave him an ultimatum. “They put their foot down and said, ‘You’re going to do this or you’re no longer part of the family,’” he recalled. The last program he was in finally worked, but he admits that the other programs he participated in might have worked if he had applied himself. “I just wasn’t ready,” he said.

“I try to show these kids at Goodwin House that there is a life beyond drugs and alcohol,” he said. “A lot of them don’t realize that they can have fun, or get through hard times, without using substances.” Many residents have co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders. So did Gokey as a youth. “But once the drugs and alcohol were taken away, you’d be surprised to see how mental illness was no longer part of my life,” he said. Don’t get him wrong—he is well aware that mental illness is a very real disorder, but with him he felt that the co-occurring disorders were feeding off each other, and after he began his recovery, “I didn’t have these problems anymore.”

What advice would he give to parents who are thinking of enrolling their teen in a residential treatment program like Goodwin House? “Your son may say, ‘That’s not for me,’ but of the best things you can do is put your child in a protective place like this,” he said, harkening back to his own recovery: “It’s so worth it.”

Do you know any teenage boys who could benefit from the Goodwin residential program? For more information on Goodwin House, click here.