Addiction Treatment in the New Year
ARC's Miki Arvin Shares Her Story to Encourages Others to Get Help
December 27, 2021 - With another new year on the horizon, Addiction Recovery Care (ARC), a leading provider of addiction treatment and recovery services in Eastern and Central Kentucky, is encouraging individuals struggling with substance use to reach out for the help and support they need to begin and maintain their recovery in 2022 and beyond.
“As people follow through on New Year’s resolutions, it’s very typical for us to see an increase in people coming to treatment during this time,” said Matt Brown, ARC’s senior vice president of administration. “But, even if you let the first of January come and go without making that call to get help, please know that ARC staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – and when you are ready to take that step, we’ll be here for you.”
Community liaison Micki Arvin is one of the many dedicated ARC employees working to support her fellow Kentuckians as they decide to seek treatment and get on the path to recovery. And she has a good understanding of the heavy emotions and anxieties a person can experience when they decide to get help because she’s been there many times herself. In fact, it wasn’t until Micki was making her ninth attempt at recovery – this time at Addiction Recovery Care – that she stuck with it for good.
Growing up, Micki enjoyed a normal childhood; she was a cheerleader and excelled in school, even earning her nursing degree at just 21-years-old. Soon after, she was diagnosed with polycystic kidney syndrome. The medical procedures that followed introduced Micki to pain medications, which would eventually become a five-year battle with opiates.
“I had seen addiction, but it’s a lot different when it’s you versus when you’re watching someone else go through it,” said Arvin. “I just knew that if I didn’t have that medicine, I would be sick without it.”
At 28, she went to treatment for the first time. But she struggled to follow through and would spend the next few years in and out of different treatment centers. It was during this time of inconsistency that her substance use escalated and she began to experiment with heroin – something that she felt addicted to immediately.
Micki says this is when she truly began to hit rock bottom. In just one week, she overdosed seven times. While Narcan had kept her alive, she ended up losing custody of her daughter. Things got so bad that when law enforcement arrested her, Micki actually felt a sense of relief.
“I remember looking up and saying, ‘Thank God it’s over.’ I knew that if they didn’t catch me soon, I was going to die,” Arvin recalled.
Following her arrest, Micki spent months in jail but felt little motivation to make lasting changes.
“I had accepted that this was my life now – that this was just who I am,” said Arvin, reflecting back on her hesitation to seek treatment. “I was just going to be somebody who was in and out of jail all the time and never had a different life.”
It wasn’t until her brother pushed her to seek treatment one more time that she really began to consider it and think about what the future could be like. She ended up getting connected to Addiction Recovery Care, and it was through their program that she found hope and was given the right tools to rebuild her life.
Now, with two and a half years of recovery under her belt, Micki serves as a community liaison for ARC – a role that has empowered her to serve as a lifeline for others battling addiction.
“I get to be the first voice of hope that they hear, and I get to do it with love and purpose,” Arvin said. “If I can get better, anybody can get better.”
ARC offers different types of programs, including residential, outpatient and telehealth, to meet clients’ individual needs. To find out which program is best for you or your loved one, please call (606) 638-0938 or visit arccenters.com today.
“Many people struggling with substance use disorders are hesitant to seek help,” added Brown. “Going to treatment can certainly feel overwhelming, but when you come to ARC, you won’t be going through this journey alone.”
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About Addiction Recovery Care (ARC)
Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) operates a network of more than 38 addiction treatment centers in 16 Eastern and Central Kentucky counties. The organization, headquartered in Louisa, Kentucky, offers a full continuum of care including withdrawal management, long-term residential treatment, intensive outpatient, outpatient, medically assisted treatment (MAT), vocational rehabilitation and job training. The treatment centers are holistic with CARF-accredited clinical programs, medical services directed by an addiction psychiatrist, a spiritual emphasis that includes the 12 steps and chaplaincy care and a broadening scope of vocational training opportunities for clients.
ARC has a focus on providing Treatment on Demand to ensure individuals receive treatment immediately without delay. This process includes quick enrollment into programs and transportation provided by ARC to one of our facilities. Individuals will have a clinical and medical assessment within 24 hours of arrival.
ARC accepts all Kentucky Medicaid plans (United Healthcare Community Plan of Kentucky, WellCare, Humana CareSource, Aetna Better Health for Kentucky, Passport Health Plan, and Anthem) and most private insurances.
If you or a loved one is struggling with addiction, call ARC's 24/7 addiction help hotline at (606) 638-0938. To learn more about Addiction Recovery Care, visit arccenters.com. Hope and help are a call or click away.
