Crissie Brault
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Crissie Brault is a Bloomington woman whose journey to sobriety has been fraught with arrests, the loss of her children, relapse and for now, sobriety.
Brault entered a rehab facility in Anderson during the summer of 2018, where she agreed to document her daily struggle to remain sober. In the videos, she is brutally honest about facing her fears and the loss of drugs in her life.
“I’m scared. I’m really scared of what’s next, of what’s to come, what’s going to happen,” said Brault in one video entry.
In some videos she is calm, talking about being baptized. In others she recalls nightmares that keep her awake at night and have the potential to trip her up.
“These memories, why does this bother me? This sh** plays in my head over and over and over in my head,” said Brault.
Throughout her time at the facility in Anderson, she made remarkable progress, attending AA and NA classes. But late in her stay, she broke a rule and ended up in the Monroe County Jail.
After five months, Brault expected to be sent to Rockville Prison in the fall of 2018. But Judge Marilyn Diekhoff was willing to give her one more chance. She was sent to the Indiana Center for Recovery in Bloomington. And that’s where she got help with her nightmares.
Brault works with a trauma specialist at the center. And that specialist uses a therapy called EMDR, which stands for eye movement desensitization and reprocessing. It’s a therapy involving eye movement and after several sessions, it allowed Brault to reprocess or rethink about the trauma she had endured.
Brault’s story is far from over. She is nearly one year sober and continues to stay in the recovering community in Bloomington, going to classes and volunteering her time. She’s also been fitted with dentures, which is giving her a much-needed confidence boost.
For now, Brault is sober and working to stay that way. We’ll keep you posted on her progress.
It’s estimated there are 23.5 million Americans who have an illicit drug or alcohol problem. Just 2 million will get the help they need. Relapse rates for drug addicts are between 40 and 60 percent.