Recovery Hero: Kristen Harper

My name is Kristen Harper and I have been in recovery for eight years.

I’m most proud of being able to arrest the cycle of addiction in my family. It was difficult to watch my mother leave when I was only nine years old and then have her fate met from the disease of alcoholism many years later. Recovery has allowed me to have a loving, honest, open relationship with my daughters and family that I never dreamed was possible. It opened doors to my mindfulness meditation practice and helped to deepen my relationships.

Being a single mother, juggling work and a divorce set me into a spiral of anxiety and depression where my alcohol use was gradually increasing. My lowest point was seeing my daughters faces as they looked up at me saying, “We don’t like it when you drink mommy….” It was at that moment I realized I was becoming my mother and my daughters were the image of myself as a little girl, wishing my mom would stop. I decided I needed to stop the cycle of suffering and addiction, and knew I couldn’t do it on my own. If I didn’t, my little girls would lose me like I had lost my mom.

Today I am committed to my sobriety and recovery daily! My work and my recovery are no longer separated as I recently made a career change from teaching 14 years, to working for Springs Recovery Connection as a Peer Recovery Coach Supervisor. I am currently attending AA meetings, participating weekly in Dharma Recovery and Open Heart Sangha meditation meetings, sponsoring two women and have begun taking classes for my Certified Addiction Counselor training.

Thank you Kristen!