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BALM Testimonial:
Lucy Tomkins, ACC, CBC
Certified BALM Family Recovery Life Coach
United Kingdom
In brief, I have a twenty-eight-year-old son who has been in recovery from drugs and alcohol for over five years, and in February 2015, I took the huge first step in looking after myself and asked my husband of thirty-two years to leave. I had set a boundary after he came out of rehab eight years ago that I would support his recovery, but I would not support a relapse or his addiction if he chose not to reengage with his program and be honest with me. It was at this very scary time of my life, aged fifty-six, that I found the BALM on the internet and did the second huge step in my self-care and called Bev. A few weeks later, I enrolled in the coaching program and started my BALM education.
I had thought that I was just enrolling in a program to become a family recovery coach, to help the families of loved ones struggling with substance use disorder. I had no idea what an impact the BALM was going to have on me. I have learned more about myself in the last two years than I have in my entire lifetime. I have grown into the person I can love, trust, rely on, and believe in. I have finally started to grow up at age fifty-eight!! Well, perhaps not in everything, but it’s a start.
In the beginning, everything I listened to, read, and was taught, I thought, “Oh, that would really help my son or my husband, never me.” In my mind, I was not the screwed-up one in need of fixing. Now I hungrily digest everything for what it can do for me–how I can learn and grow from it. My job is to role model how I can live the most fulfilling, purposeful, happy, joyous life I can.
There is not enough room here to list everything I have learned through taking the BALM, but all I can say is that I am so grateful every day that I stumbled across it back in 2015. It has transformed my life. Is it a perfect life now? Absolutely not. Are there challenges’? Yes, most days. Do I feel I now have the tools, support, and education to deal with them? Absolutely yes.
Thank you, the BALM, Bev, and my wonderful cohort–I owe you all. xOxO
If you would like more information about the BALM Comprehensive Family Recovery Education Program CLICK HERE
If you would like more information about the BALM Family Recovery Life Coach Training Program CLICK HERE