Wess is doing extremely well. Having finished reading PREHAB with her, she immediately called several of her "friends" she felt could benefit from the book and/or my counsel. This was followed by a phone call from her mother, my first wife asking if I could take in a temporarily homeless young man, whom I shall refer to as Gabe (since I call him that anyway even though it is not his name). He's been here now 2 days. Gabe is a sweet boy, 18, quiet and reserved but with a startlingly honed sense of humor. He has absolutely no direction at all to move to and through. His mother has been placed into observation in a mental ward in Sacramento and he was staying with his father in Texas, but they could not get along. Apparently, his father drove him to LA and dropped him at the bus station. Somehow my ex found out (I think she is friends with his mom) and, well... Then yesterday, a friend of Wess', whom I shall call Anna, flew up from LA for an indefinite stay. She is 24and waife thin. She has suffered terrible personal physical and psychic trauma. A traffic accident at 18 left her in a coma for a few months, then a year rehabbing physically so she could walk again. Mixes of various drugs prescribed by physicians and gotten off the streets soon led her and her young husband through the perilous world of opiate addiction. He OD'ed in her arms and died and she hasn't been all together here since. There is a great deal of drug use and pain. That was a few years ago now and 23 rehab centers later she is here and I am hoping I can find a way to motivate her to live, truly live, again. She can't remember her dreams and she clutches onto her pain like a frightened child holding a special dolly tightly against her chest at night. Anna uses her pain as a compass for her passing in this lifetime. She navigates daily through waters of suffering and fear. Somehow I must help her learn to stay clear of rough seas and sail only through the placid waters of her wildest dreams. Only there will she find a new course to take; and there to formulate a new plan of action.
As for Wess, I believe she is better now than she has been in a couple years. I am really grateful for the opportunity to help alleviate her pain and proud that she is sticking to it, working out regularly now, and starting to form her plan of action for her immediate future. I am trying to let both girls absolve themselves from any past, negative experiences and to stay intent and focused upon only the absolute here and now. It's a constant struggle to over rule old tapes-to cease refering to the past and to disallow past impressions to affect present behaviors. With bruised and damaged folks like Wess and Anna, this process takes continual reformation and extreme patience. If all goes well these two can be a strong source of encouragement for one another now and in the future.

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PREHAB: The Essentials for Successful Change
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