Tennant’s Story
Tennant was in his mid 30s and was a high powered attorney. One of the benefits of working in the legal field was that not only did he make a good salary, but he was constantly surrounded by the finer things in life. However, in order to reach his billing targets and keep his job, he needed to be able to produce a great deal of quality work for equally high-powered clients.
One of those clients offered him a snort of cocaine at a party and soon Tennant found himself addicted. Not only could he produce more work when he was using, but the high was like nothing he had ever experienced before in his life. He thought making great money was a rush, but getting high on cocaine not only allowed him to make more money, but enjoy a high at the same time.
Unfortunately, Tennant’s performance at work began to be negatively impacted by his drug use. He became obsessed with Cocaine use and began to neglect all other facets of his life. When he could not snort Cocaine any longer, because of the damage to the inside of his nose, he began using a syringe to inject the drug directly into his body.
When Tennant’s managing partner became aware of the situation, Tennant had run through all of his savings, had his home in foreclosure and was at risk of losing his job. The partner gave him a choice: go to intensive counselling to get over his addiction, or lose his job. Ashamed and faced with being entirely disgraced, Tennant entered a 4 week residential treatment program to help him withdraw from his physical addiction to the drug. He subsequently attended weekly sessions with a professional counsellor to maintain his sobriety and to investigate the underlying reasons for his use of cocaine. Through this process, and with the support of his Psychologist, Tennant learned other ways of coping with the stress of his career.
