I’m interested in hearing from S.A.F.E. Alumni. I have had a lot of e-mails for people who are considering the S.A.F.E. program but would love to hear from people who have completed the program. So, if there are potential clients who would like to speak with alumni, this would be the place to do it!
Thanks
Wendy
I graduated from SAFE in November 2005. It was a great experience, much better than any residential treatment I had done in the past. I still keep in contact with the great people I met at SAFE and I have been injury free since they day I left. In six days I am graduating from college, something that a few years ago seemed impossible, I am even graduating Magna Cum Laude. For those who wonder whether or not there is life after self-injure, there is and it is so much better. I am graduting with a degree in Psychology and Holistic Health and in the fall I will start training therapy dogs (like they had at Linden Oaks). Anything is possible, you just have to believe!
I came home from SAFE, March 2001. Life has been interesting since. I’ve made friend, gone places, got my own place, and even got a better jobs, I’ve also done volunteer work. Coming home was hard, things hadn’t changed at home. For a time I relapsed, but I didn’t have the same reaction anymore. Slowly I started being more with people and found support and friendship, and I have stopped injurying. It is possible to live without it, you have to want it bad enough, becasue some days are easier then others. But it’s so worth it, it’s so worth having ones’s self esteem back, ones hope back. Life is good.
I have been injury free since July 7, 2004 thanks to going through the S.A.F.E. program. I would be happy to talk with people who are interested in going through the program. It literally saved my life. I was on a one way trip to destruction and didn’t see any way out until I went through the program. There is life beyond injuring and it can be wonderful. S.a.f.e. doesn’t eliminate the urges, nor is everyday a ray of sunshine, but the program provides you with tools to stop injuring, it changes your way of thinking. I could go on all day long talking about the benefits of S.a.f.e and the wonderful people there. Thanks for all you do.
Cheri
I am still fresh from graduating from S.A.F.E. albeit the second time. This time I went through the program in Denton, TX. April 2007. I am all for keeping in touch with the people I went through the program with and anyone else who struggles from self-injury. If anyone wants to contact me, I can extol the virtues of the program in detail. grrljock@gmail.com
Ari
I graduated SAFE in december of 2006– ive had a few ups and downs but am doing really well now and amazingly better since before SAFE– they saved my life!
michelle
when my daughter was 11, she saw a tv show that talked about SAFE and found a mag article..i had no idea that she knew her mom had a problem..I was at SAFE during Jan 2001..i did the whole 30 day program..the hardest days of my life..i learned skills which help me today..my book is never far out of reach..it helps with motivation and support as to how far i have come..im so thankful for the program, the staff and the peer support i had..my life has changed so much for the better and is still changing..meeting challanges with alternatives to self injury has saved my life and i feel for the first time, hope for a fullfilling future..I would be more than happy to help and answer any questions someone may have..to start on a path without self injury takes courage and commitment..and most of all, a friend who has been there to listen..Nicki
I am so happy to see this blog on the SAFE website! I attended SAFE from Mid October to Mid November of 1999. It was a truly life altering experience. I was 26 when I went and didn’t think I could live without self injury. SAFE was indeed my last hope. Now I am almost 34 and have been SI free since I left. There have been many struggles, but I have overcome them with the help of SAFE staff and now my close friends. I have three wonderful children and am amazed to say I am not just SI free, but actually happy with life. I am grateful to the SAFE staff for what they taught me and for continuing to be a support even years later when I find myself going down a path I know is unhealthy but can’t quite figure out where I need to go. I often think of my experience at SAFE and how luck I was to go and turn my life around. I would be thrilled to talk to anyone who has questions. Pam1289@yahoo.com
Can someone help me …I would like more info on this SAFE program.
Sleeper, please email me. I can give you information.
Ari
I was at SAFE in April 2006. I must say that all the staff were amazing people. They are truly there for you.
Many of the staff were very encouraging to me with my art–they really made me feel like I could go somewhere with it.
Now Im actually getting ready to show my art at my first festival–& the safe staff had a lot to do with giving me the self esteem to go further with my passion.
I am truly grateful for all they did for me.
Thankyou Kindly!!
Wow! I left treatment one week ago and being home is so hard. It is so different and being a single mom brings about its own issues. I learened a lot there and my counsler here has been very supportive. I miss the staff they were always available and being home is hard not always having that support. Yet I passed the program and need to move on with my life right?
I went to SAFE when I was 17 (I’m 24 now). I didn’t actually complete the program, so I was only there for 27 days, which is pretty damn close. 😉 It wasn’t easy, nothing worth doing ever is. I think one of the things that helped me the most about the program was the attitude of the staff. They pushed me to challenge myself and really, to stop feeling sorry for myself and to do something about my my life and what I was doing. The group sessions were very helpful, along with the assignments in “Bodily Harm”. Being held accountable for my actions was one of the best things I encountered there.
I would definitely reccommend going to SAFE. It’s hard work, but this hard work helps in building self-confidence and trust in yourself.
Take Care,
Maia
Is there a way to get a manual or some of the helps online? I live in Utah and can’t find a support group in this area nor a therapist who handles many of these clients. My daughter is 20 and has been cutting as well as dealing with alot of depression, anger, hurt, etc. My email is caannette@yahoo.com if anyone can help us.
Hi, my name is Laura but I go by updrd. I have been to SAFE and it was extremely helpful. I’m 41 now and have been injury free for many years. It feels good to be pretty much so free of the desire to injure. Every once in awhile I get the urge and that is when I usually do an impulse log or call someone or just go on the NoFEAR yahoogroup. I have supports, but what I think I find to be most helpful is doing an impulse log. It helps me figure out exactly what is going on and what I can do about it. It keeps things simple for me and simple is what I need because I complicate the hell out of things. A person has to find out what is right for them, but I’m telling ya, it is worth giving up. It may not seem so in the beginning but my life, as hectic as I make it, has been somewhat more simple now that I don’t injure anymore. Good luck to all who go to SAFE and those that cannot. You can do it.
Hello Safe Alternatives Alumni, Staff, and Administrators,
My name Is Brian, I attended Safe Alternatives Denton, this last summer. Now that I look back and process on it, I would say it was absolutely one of the most positive life changing expeirences I have ever undertaken. I learned more about myself than I ever could anywhere else from anyone else, and I was able to stay safe doing it!!! The challenges were many and mighty, I would recommend this to anyone who has an issue with self injury in a second. And would go through the program again tomorrow! I have been able to re-gain the stability I have not been able to find in years, Attain a relationship with my family that is solid again with trust, and closeness that I thought would never happen again, and work through issues I once stuffed so deep that the mere mention of them would get me to injure. This all has been since I have left Denton, I would say I have come along way. It’s awesome what happens when You see more than a book, and it’s put in practice on a daily basis.
My sincere thanks goes out to the therapists who pushed when they had to.
Brian S.
i graduated from SAFE in december of 2006. it was amazing aftewards. at the two week mark through the program, i started feeling changed, and i didnt know how it happened. but it was amazing. and i was so happy that the people around me worked as hard as they did!! i had some ups and downs, also i small relapse or two, but other than that things have been great!! and life with out SI is much better on the outside, than it is on the inside.
Hello all,
I am happy to have found this blog site. I came here because I was looking for information (again) specifically on S.A.F.E to pass along to a friend. You see, there is a person in my life, a close friend, one who is struggling right now with SI. She is only 23 years old and I see so much of myself in her. That’s because, I too, was a SI. I am placing a lot of emphasis on “used to” because after attending the September 1998 S.A.F.E program at MacNeal Hospital I have only SI’d one time. That one time was 7 years ago.
I will always remember everything that Wendy & Karen told us at S.A.F.E and it is because of them, and me, that I am a survivor. What they gave me I treat like a precious gift and I share it with everyone that needs it. I feel proud to say that I no longer SI and YES, there truly is life after SI. I have made it, so can you. Just don’t ever give up.
I just found this site tonight and after registering I am finding it a bit difficult to navigate around in. Perhaps my membership has to be approved or something first? Like for instance, how do I make a new topic under a certain category?
I have also been reading some of the posts and I see where some are part of a Yahoogroup. Where do I find info on this Yahoogroup?
How do I view my profile, and others, outside of the edit my profile mode?
Thanks! =)
Missy
I absolutely love SAFE!!! I miss the fact that they are now in Texas. I miss being able to call the staff. I wish they could see me now. I am now self injury from May 4th 2006. I am so grateful. I miss the SAFE program but I have also learned to depend on myself more. The most important thing I learned from BoB and he said Self Injury was a choice. No one was going to stop me… I needed to stop myself if I chose to. That took all the power I gave to the behavior and put it back in my hands. All the staff at SAFE saved my lives and I wish I could see them again… not in a bad way.
I work in the social services field now and I am able to help other people. It is so amazing, and also I get to see some of the frustration I must have people that cared so much about me through. SAFE is such a unique and amazing, wonderful program. I couldn’t imagine a day in my life without it… I now can’t imagine a day in my life with it.
All the staff there was so wonderful, and everything was great but I do miss Nurse Betty and Nurse Bob, Joanie, and definitely my one on one Sandy. I also miss my first meeting with Wendy and Karen. Such wonderful people that never ask for any of the credit! Thank you for such an amazing program.
To all those still suffering… YOU CAN DO IT!!! Believe in yourself… love yourself… that is what Safe taught me… it’s ok to love yourself. Yes we may have crappy lives in the past, but the present can begin today!! It is all possible!
Any past staff or patients, or just anyone thinking of the program, feel freel to email. I would love to talk about SAFE.
I attended S.A.F.E. in June 2007. I cannot say enough about the program and the staff! I showed up expecting the program to be tough. It was the single hardest thing I have done in my life. I had a hard time allowing myself to open up to those around me. I finally did and let myself actually cry for the first time in a long time. I felt like I was in the middle of a complete melt down and wanted to run away as fast as I could, but I stuck it through to the end!
I can’t believe how much all the hard work paid off when I returned home. I have only self-injured a few times in the last five or so months. That is a huge improvement for me and where I was at when I got on a plane in June. I thought there would never be a week or even day that would go by that I couldn’t SI. I can go months now! I feel so proud of myself for being able to say that. I have confidence in myself and my decisions now that I didn’t have before. I know that as time goes on I will be self-injury free for what I hope is the rest of my life.
I’m not perfect, and I know I’m never going to be. I do know that I have control over what I chose to do with my life now. I learned I am the one in control, not others, not my past, not my future. Here and now I choose to live and make my life worth something.
I’d love to talk with Niki, username: tigerpaws…is there some way to contact her?
I went through the SAFE program back Dec 1997-Jan 1998 when it was still at Rock Creek in Lemont. I relapsed a lot until April 98 and am pleased (and VERY proud!!) to say that 4/7/2008 I will be 10 years SI free thanks to the skills I learned through the program.
It changed my life when I finally learned to take responsibility for my actions and for my emotions. I am sure the program has much evolved in the techniques that are being taught since 10 years ago. For me, it changed me. Now, I can go weeks, sometimes months, without having the thought to resort to self-injurious behavior. After years of stopping and analyzing the who, what and why of it, the immediatte impulse isn’t nearly as intense.
I have one program to thank for this. If ever the opportunity arise, I could not recommend this program with greater praise. I would not be the woman I have become without it. From a 16 year old self-injurer struggling to survive to a 26 year old woman fighting to live her dreams. THank you for giving me my dreams and my life back!!!
~Elizabeth
I graduated from safe back in March 2005. I had just turned 15 and had been struggeling with SI for a little over a year at that point. It was tough because at first I didnt want to be there but after the first couple weeks I started to feel more and more comfortable and I was really starting to feel changed.
Here I am just over 6 years later, 22 years old, in the Army, with a 1 year old son, with big dreams and goals to accomplish. Once I left SA I never again SI. But when things do get tough and stressful I still struggle with the urges and the impulses. But I havent once done it…my scars are pretty much nonexsistent now and I dont ever want to have to look at scars like that again.
Thank you SA I truelly think you all saved my life.