Aug. 19, 2022 — Amongst hockey followers, Kevin Stevens is a legend. A member of a number of groups, together with the Boston Bruins and the New York Rangers, the now 57-year-old was particularly identified for being a Pittsburgh Penguin throughout the staff’s Stanley Cup championships in 1991 and 1992.
However the Bostonian can also be a recovering addict whose life modified dramatically when he was 28 years previous and made “one dangerous choice” one night time.
“I had by no means executed medication in my life, however somebody caught cocaine in entrance of me,” he says. “I didn’t know what it was, however I attempted it and that modified my life for the following 24 years.”
Stevens cast a protracted and sometimes well-publicized battle for sobriety with many challenges alongside the way in which, together with an opioid habit due to an enormous hockey harm (in addition to persevering with to make use of cocaine) and an arrest for dealing oxycodone in 2016.
When he entered a responsible plea in 2017, he vowed to show his life round. Ever since, he has devoted his life to assist others via Power Forward, a nonprofit he began in 2018 that’s centered on elevating consciousness about habit.
Deliver on the Canines
At this time, Stevens, who at the moment works as a Nationwide Hockey League (NHL) scout, and one among his board members, Michael Hamrock, MD, a main care and habit medication physician at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Boston, have launched a singular therapeutic methodology to the record of choices for folks in restoration.
Referred to as the DOER (Canine Possession Enhancing Restoration) program, a skilled help canine — on this case, a golden retriever named Sawyer — can be despatched to reside with 12 males dwelling in a sober dwelling within the Boston space, in a program that’s the primary of its variety within the U.S.
“For everything of my follow, my sufferers have advised me again and again how a lot their pet canine have improved their bodily and mental health, so I believed we must always add this to one among our choices,” Hamrock says. “I do know it will assist.”
The day Sawyer was launched to the residents as a part of a pilot program was a joyful one, Hamrock says.
“We introduced Sawyer to the yard and, whereas on a leash, he went to every resident individually,” he says. “They began patting him and enjoying with him. I might see the large delight of their eyes.”
The objective: So as to add extra canine to this system, over time.
“I consider conferences, drugs, religious care and having a sponsor assist with restoration,” he says. “However canine can present security, forestall loneliness, enable you reestablish relationships, enable you discover objective and worth and provide unconditional love.”
And with overdose deaths within the U.S. reaching record levels last year, Hamrock says the time is now to persevering with innovating.
“We all know the danger elements for coronary heart illness, however we want a greater understanding of the mind illness of habit,” he says, noting that the acronym GAMES affords a great way to quantify the 5 threat elements: G (genes), A (age of first drug use), M (handled or untreated mental health points), E (publicity to opioids as a remedy for, say, chronic pain) and S (stress, particularly from adversarial childhood occasions) is an efficient solution to quantify threat elements.
However a well-trained canine can mitigate a few of these elements.
“We all know canine can reduce stress and improve psychological well being,” he says. “We additionally know that pet canine will help with accountability, create a caring setting, and fill the void of nurturing. We are able to actually see a distinction.”
Ask Stevens and he’ll inform you he’s enthusiastic about how service canine may play a task in serving to addicts keep in restoration.
“I feel what Michael is doing is fairly neat,” he says. “When he introduced this concept to the desk, it made sense. Canines are so nice for folks they usually’re that vivid spot in your day. Providing these residents the possibility to deal with one thing will make all of the distinction.”
