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Jerry Souris, CARC
Text Mr. Souris to schedule your Free Initial Session:
(702) 793-3553 recoveryourmind@gmail.com jerry.souris@arcstofreedom.com My name is Jerry Souris.
I am a recovering addict and survivor of abuse and PTSD. I grew up in Northwest Indiana about thirty miles from Chicago. I spent a little over half of my life in the Midwest, and I currently reside in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a child, I had many adverse childhood experiences including physical and mental abuse that affected me emotionally. This, in turn, caused me to want to use controlled substances and behave erratically --- not only in my childhood, but in my adulthood as well. I have two siblings that are deceased as a result substance abuse. As a direct result of growing up within a dysfunctional family, I was forced to endure abuse of many kinds. I remember being depressed at the age of three, but I didn’t then understand what depression was. The abuse continued throughout my adolescent years all the way through high school. I used my first controlled substance at the tender age of nine. On a cold snowy January day while walking to school, I was struck by a truck and dragged for one hundred feet on the roadway. Consequently, I sustained life threatening injuries that have affected me for all of my life. It seems like yesterday that I was lying in the hospital with a complete fractured femur, broken collar bone, ripped lung and head injuries that caused a concussion. Even though I had sustained trauma from the injuries; I was grateful to my higher power that I was alive. I remember feeling “so good” after I received my “medicine” which was administered several times daily through and IV infusion. That’s all it took to expose me to the cycle of addiction. I was given pain medication for eight consecutive weeks to tolerate the physical pain that I was enduring. I became addicted to the Morphine and finally the Doctors weaned me off of the pain medication. Several months later, I began to get excruciating headaches as a result of the accident. After a medical evaluation, I was prescribed a pain medication called Emperen to “help” with my headaches. Again, it felt great --- but it was only a temporary solution, to a much larger problem. Next, I began to experience anxiety as a result of the “trauma from the accident”. I was taken to a psychologist evaluated and prescribed Valium to alleviate my panic/anxiety issues. Eventually, I became addicted to the Valium and was weaned off of the medication. After detoxing from valium, I was prescribed an anti-depressant called Elavil. That medication made me very tired and it was very difficult for me to concentrate. I graduated at the age of seventeen so that I could “go to College.” In reality, I just wanted to get out of the dysfunctional family environment. I finally moved out of my childhood home when I was seventeen and began taking classes at Indiana University NW. I was so happy to be free --- to be out of the dysfunctional and abusive environment that I had known all of my life. I was finally on my healing journey! But tragedy struck again, and my addiction was reactivated. When I was seventeen years old, my brother committed suicide while using controlled substances and alcohol. This forever changed my life. I began to self-medicate to obtain some type of relief from all of the trauma…nothing seemed to help! I again, was prescribed medication for anxiety and depression, and the cycle of addiction continued. Finally, when I was thirty-one years old, I was taking valium for anxiety and decided I was going to stop taking the medication on my own. I had severe withdrawal symptoms and admitted myself into a rehabilitation facility for treatment. It was there that I was introduced to the “cycle of addiction” as a disease concept. I learned so much from the professionals all for a tidy sum of $30,000.00 (fortunately my insurance covered 100% of the cost). I have been free of substances since that time, however, I have experienced anxiety, depression and many other forms of behavioral and emotional issues. My relationships with others were distorted and unstable. I just couldn’t seem to “feel good” and no one, including myself, understood why. I became associated with ARCS while I was online searching for information to improve myself. I wanted to make myself better, stronger and more knowledgeable relating to the disease of addiction. I also wanted to understand how the abuse and trauma that I had endured all of my life was related to it. After carefully researching the ARCS organization, I contacted my ARCS professor and signed up for the free initial class. After attending my first ARCS Class, I felt such a sense of belonging --- largely due to the passionate and caring instruction from my Professor. I realized that I had made the correct decision in joining the ARCS organization. ARCS has provided me with convenient weekly classes, study modules and all of the other tools that were necessary for me to understand and learn about the both the Cycle of Addiction and the Cycle of Abuse. ARCS has helped me to understand how abuse, trauma and addiction are related. Throughout the training, I was able to communicate the feelings that I had experienced but repressed all of my life. I finally felt like I was in a safe arena because of the format that the classes provide. ARCS provided me with the support and skills I needed to to delve down deep inside of myself --- so that I could understand why I was behaving in the manner that was causing me great harm, both physically and emotionally. And, not only did I receive the tools I needed to heal, but I also have the knowledge to help and train others. As the classes progressed, I began to better understand how to help others to heal and thrive the road to recovery. I am passionate about having been given these gifts --- the ability to heal and the chance to help others. I am now Nationally board certified as a CARC I and CARC II, and I am the happiest that I have been in thirty years! ARCS has been a blessing, for me. I am here to help you --- not only with your recovery from wounds, but also with your quest to find and experience true happiness and well-being. |
Free Initial Consultation
Sliding Scale Fees I specialize in recovery from: Abuse Trauma Substance Addictions Behavioral Addictions Other I work with: All adult populations Session Formats: Online Telephone Types of Sessions: Individual Small Groups Large Groups Interventions *Coaching Certification Classes |
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