John F. is the father of Quinn, a current member of the Phase III community. 

After hiding his substance abuse from his family for most of his teenage years, Quinn’s alcohol addiction eventually reached the point where it could no longer be disguised. Since Quinn enrolled at Turnbridge, his family has experienced the reconnection and healing of having an active member of recovery as part of the family.

According to John, Quinn struggled quite a bit throughout his childhood. “As a little kid, he was very highly emotional and quick to get upset,” said John. “Everything looked fine on the outside,” said John, but behind closed doors life was very chaotic.

As captain of the Varsity Lacrosse team and a member of the National Honors Society in high school, Quinn hid his problems very well. “Having all those overwhelming emotions is what I believe led him to the substance abuse,” said John.  “It was to quiet all that noise in his head down.” With no history of alcoholism in the family, Quinn’s parents were initially uneducated about the disease of addiction.

After eventually being dismissed from college and receiving multiple arrests, Quinn’s family started questioning what was going on. “His lawyer is who brought up the fact that something was going on,” said John. With the assistance of Quinn’s lawyer, and a family consulting firm, Quinn was enrolled in a wilderness therapy program in Oregon.

Following wilderness, Quinn and his family chose Turnbridge for extended aftercare. “We thought Turnbridge was the best place, and it has turned out to be the best place,” said John.  “If it wasn’t for Turnbridge, the best case scenario is that he would be in jail, and the worst case scenario is he would be dead.”

“It was great because we knew Turnbridge would keep him safe and the family could breathe and not have to worry about him every night,” said John.  Since arriving to Turnbridge, Quinn has made huge strides forward. His family finally has their son back, and most importantly, Quinn has found himself in recovery. Quinn’s parents will be coming down to New Haven in the next month to watch their son receive his 1 year sobriety coin.