Interview Reflection Paper

I did my interview with a relative who we’ll just call “Sarah” for the remainder of this paper for
confidential reasons. Sarah has been struggling with her addiction since the age of 28. She started
experimenting with drugs in her late teens. First it was marijuana, all of her friends and even family
members were smoking the drug. By the time she reached her earl y 20’s Sarah started
experimenting with cocaine which eventually lead to her addiction to crack cocaine. By the time Sarah
was addicted to crack cocaine she was already married and a mother of 4, one boy and three girls.
Her son was 8 years old and the girls were ages 6, 5, and 3 years old. Her husband was not nor ever
was a drug user. He loved her and their children dearly and was trying anything and everything to get
Sarah the help that she needed, but at the time Sarah had no interest in receiving any kind of help
even after she found out she was pregnant again. Sarah didn’t believe she had a problem at the time,
however she admitted using the drug multiple times during her pregnancy. Sarah delivered her baby
boy in January of 1993.

Sarah stated that she tried quitting the drug during her pregnancy and also after she had her baby but
struggled, meanwhile her husband was also struggling trying to work and take care of 5 children now.
Sarah also stated that on a number of occasions she wouldn’t come home because she was at the
“crack house” with her friends. It got to the point where her husband wouldn’t give her any more
money because he knew what she was going to do with it. When Sarah’s funds were cut off she
started stealing to support her habit. Sarah admitted to steeling from grocery stores, department
stores and even family members including her own husband, she also admitted to prostituting herself
for money and/or drugs. This resulted to her being arrested multiple times between 1994 and 1997. In
this time frame she also had 2 more children, both boys one born in 1995 and the other 1997. This is
when she realized that she had hit rock bottom, she was facing jail time for her crimes, had 7 children
that she did not spend time with and a husband who has just about gave up on her. Sarah was on the
verge of losing everything she had left.

On October 16th 1997 she was incarcerated for past crimes she had committed, she was sentenced
to 1 year in jail and 2 years of probation. During Sarah’s incarceration she went through her detox
phase, during the detox phase she was experiencing cravings, anxiety, irritability, insomnia and
depression, she even had thoughts of suicide throughout this process. This process lasted for several
months. Sarah stated that this was the hardest part of her incarceration. Looking back Sarah is
thankful for having to serve the time because that helped her through her first steps of becoming
sober. Part of her probation was her being required to meet with case worker and also having to take
random drug test through a program called ZCI for 2 years. As of October 16th 1997 Sarah has
remained sober. She now looks back and thinks about everything she put her family through and
feels horrible. “Don’t get me wrong, it is an everyday struggle.

I’ve thought about using several times throughout my sobriety, but that’s part of the struggle. I then
look back at all the hurt and pain I caused everyone including myself and that’s what keeps me
sober”. During this interview Sarah was very emotional, and remorseful. We took 4 breaks within an
hour timeframe for her to compose herself. At first I was a little bit sketchy on doing this interview but
at the end of the day I am thankful for having to do it because I got on a more personal level with
Sarah. Even though I’ve known her all my life I feel like this brought us a little closer, and now she
knows that she has someone else to come to if she ever finds herself struggling with her sobriety or
any other trials she may be facing. If I was Sarah’s worker I would put her through detoxification
process, followed by cognitive behavioral therapy as well as some type of motivational therapy. I
would also recommend her to find some type of support system to help her live a drug free productive
life.

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