Sarah is a dancer and water quality analyst with a degree in sustainable business and environmental studies. She started drinking at eleven, and her alcohol use escalated in high school and college. Having relapsed after a treatment in Chicago, she chose the women's residential program at ATS.

“It was exhausting,” she says, “They made you focus. Having that structure was imperative to my recovery."

She discovered dance as part of her recovery process and is now part of a Traverse City dance troupe. “For me, it’s such an outlet,” she said, and she is even considering becoming a dance therapist to help others heal. 

When asked for some advice she’d give to others seeking treatment, she shared, “There’s a false comfort in using—you know what’s going to happen.” She added, “But you’re worth a second shot—at life and being free from chemicals. It’s such an amazing life!”