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Finding the Road to Recovery

Navigating Life’s Speed Bumps

A client in the Pinellas County Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) program recently shared her journey to recovery recalling the various speed bumps along the way.  Starting around eight years old, bouts with depression, thoughts of suicide, anxiety, and self-esteem began disrupting her life.  While a supportive family environment helped her weather the storm early on, she had more traumatic experiences over her young adult life:

  • Alcoholism
  • Divorce
  • Loss of several close friends and family in a short period of time
  • Suicidal attempts
  • Homelessness

Finally, during a recent hospitalization in a crisis unit, the client was approached by the AOT team for engagement and enrollment into mental health services.  

AOT is a Court-Ordered program where eligible individuals have a history of mental illness, lack of follow-up care with outpatient treatment providers, and up to three crisis unit admissions in the past three years.  Services offered in this program include psychiatry, medication management, counseling, intensive outpatient services, and case management services.

Recovery reveals joy, creative outlets, and motivation to learn

Enrolling in the AOT program has provided the much-needed detour towards recovery.  Her choice to engage was hard, but there is no turning back now. The AOT team has surrounded her with kindness, caring, and helpful resources with no strings attached. 

The AOT team reports that she really opened herself up to the support and has been taking 110% advantage of the services. She’s worked tirelessly to get herself to this point. They are so proud of her!

She has since secured stable housing, consistent levels of service, and has been absorbing all of the support, books, resources and more.  She is getting healthy in all aspects of her life and is even going back to college.  “I am the happiest I have ever been,” she told her AOT team.

You are not alone.

For help call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at
1-800-273-8255.

The Pinellas County Assisted Outpatient Treatment Program is a grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and administered by Pinellas County Human Services