Testimonials

My brother in law spent four months at Seven Ponds. And how he got there is amazing. We have been doing cocaine and whiskey together for 15 years. We are very tight and have both been in and out of treatment places throughout Florida for at least 10 years. This last year he was on a very nasty run and started in with heroin, something we both agreed would never happen to either of us. But it did. I was in Tampa with him on Valentines day helping him buy a car for his wife. The car salesman was a very cool guy and he could see my brother in law was loaded.

He suggested that we go inside and chat. In 20minutes he was driving us to a medical detox center where my brother in law stayed for about a week. When he was about to be discharged, our car salesman friend showed up and wanted to buy lunch and talk. It was not about buying cars it was about getting into a treatment program. As it turned out he was a recovering heroin addict who found a special program on-line that changed his life. He offered to pay for the flight out there and to accompany my brother in law.

Twenty-four hours later they were landing in Dallas with a Seven Ponds shuttle waiting for them. We all expected my brother in law to turn it around and run. Amazingly he took the 90minute ride up north into Oklahoma and onto Seven Ponds ranch. According to him he had no idea why he agreed to travel 1300 miles to a ranch in Oklahoma to get help for his addictions. Some way he knew he was supposed go there.

We did not hear from my brother in law for two weeks. The car salesman stayed with him for three days, and it turned out that he knew everyone there because he had spent 6 months at Seven Ponds getting off heroin almost 3 years ago. His passion was not selling cars, but loving his wife and their 3year old daughter, and helping addicts move into Seven Ponds.

My brother in law still is blown away by his Seven Ponds experience. He talks all the time about the peace and stillness, the beauty, the therapy dogs, the daily activities, the wilderness treks, and he loved the huge library and meditation center. Our whole family is planning on driving to Oklahoma next year after my brother in law and me both have one year clean.

My time at Seven Ponds started 4 months ago. To be honest, my wife called their 800 line the day after my sons first birthday. I was using meth and alcohol and had been fired from my job of 12 years. Her deal was pretty clear, either I find a place to take me with no insurance and very little money or she was going to leave, for good. I drove down to Seven Ponds from Kansas, they invited me to stay for a couple of days and I stayed for seven, no charge. When we finally sat down to talk about how I could come into their program, I knew I had no chance because I had very little money. But their operations director Chris told me that they had grants available for folks like me, and that I could move in with a $2000 entrance fee. The other monthly fee would be paid for by their grant provider over the next 60 days. They also placed me in a medical detox at no cost and scheduled both doctor and dental appointments at no cost. I called my wife on my tenth day here and we both starting crying. This was a miracle, we had tried to get into 13 programs, but never had the money.

Today I started with kayaking in the big pond, had meditation and free thought exercises, great community meeting, went over to feed and pet the horses, and now going for an excellent mountain bike ride. We have a great dinner planned with horseshoe tournament afterwards. My family is going to skype in this evening. This place is so clean and organized I look forward to every day.

It is weird to think I could end up in such a great program. The Doctor says it was meant to be, part of my journey and my path. I will always remember this place and these people.

 

After my brother came to live at Seven Ponds for several months he came home as a completely different person. Everyone who knew him or of him was shocked at the unbelievable change in his entire being. He was facing ten years in prison for three DUI’s and two counts of carrying a concealed weapon, each with serial numbers that had been erased by a grinders wheel. My brother was a tall, handsome as any movie star cowboy, 28 years old, who lived off our father’s fortune. He was referred to Seven Ponds by his attorney who pleaded with the court to give him one last chance to turn his life around. Nobody and I mean NOBODY, gave him a chance.

This is my testimonial as to the almost mystical and life saving way of Seven Ponds. The entire ranch was cut out of raw virgin land by its new owner, a well-known therapist and educator who had retired from the University of California in 2007, and immediately proceeded to travel the world for over three years studying the world’s great havens of peace, light and conversion.

Not to take up too much of your time, allow me to highly recommend this exquisite habitat as a most effective choice when seeking sobriety, self-renewal, enlightenment, and restoration. I still visit often.

 

I made the choice to come to Seven Ponds mostly because of the wilderness program. I love the outdoors and to be able to camp and kayak and fish seemed a good way to deal with my alcohol and drug issues. I had been in treatment before and was wondering how they were going to have an effective program without heavy emphasis on 12 step. It was amazing how they set up their daily routine that included everything from morning kayaking to afternoon meditations to scheduled therapy sessions and workouts in the gym. My schedule was for the most part designed by me, and I was amazed that there were no video presentations about 12 step and AA concepts, actually no video at all.

What I began to realize was that this program was completely centered on me, and how was I going to change my thinking, my self-image, my value system. For me the whole day, every day was not about using but about why I was using. The decision not to use was mine and it all came down to my thinking at the time of craving.

When I left Seven Ponds, I left behind all the guilt and shame that was glued to me for years. I had a new connection to what they called “eco-therapy”. That my sobriety could be driven by my love of nature. I rarely attend meetings anymore, I am busy learning from my fishing trips, biking, hiking, camping, and activism to save our forests.

There are lots of ways to learn how to stop addiction in your life. At Seven Ponds I found one that really fits me. I highly recommend this place.

 

I had been strung out on meth and cocaine since 2016. I was sitting at the lunch table at a major refinery in El Segundo struggling to get my lunch down. One of my coworkers sat down next to me and told me I needed to get into the hospital, I just looked at him and starred off into nowhere. He called 911 and I was quickly taken to the hospital and into intensive care. After ten days of detox I was referred to a treatment program for drug addicts, the sixth one in the last 18 months.

I entered the program and like all the others I hated it. A week into it I was assigned a counselor, recovering guy who used the same drugs I did and knew some of the people I knew on the streets. Two or three days later he called me into his office and told me this program was not going to work for me. He told me I needed to get away and try something completely different. He gave me the number to a place in Oklahoma called Seven Ponds. Two days later I was flying into Dallas. I was picked up by a Seven Ponds Armada carrying two counselors and three dogs. We stopped for a smoke and some food and pretty soon I was puling into this remarkable ranch, that made me cry.

Three months later I was back in the refineries, with my family, a different person. All I can say is that their program is so much different than anything I could imagine. The people, the vibe, the programs, the peace. It worked.

Seven Ponds is one of the most remarkable places I have been to in a long time. My daughter is here and I visit her every other week. Sometimes I think I am getting as much out of her stay here as she is. I give her credit for searching out and finding Seven Ponds. I have had her in several residential programs in the past three years, but none compare to the peace and freedom of this beautiful place. I can see and feel my daughter letting go of her old world. And there are only eight residents here. It feels like a retreat, and my daughter is so busy with her activities. This evening I have volunteered to cook dinner for the whole community; and do the dishes. I so highly recommend Seven Ponds .