Please allow me to reintroduce myself! My name is Joval Webbe, MAT, MSN, RN and I’m a behavioral health/ psych/ mental health/ detox nurse! 🥳 What does that all mean? I’m a registered nurse and work at a residential detox facility serving men and women who are detoxing from drugs and/ or alcohol.
I just need to get through today. I don’t wanna feel this. I hate this. I just want to get to the other side. I just want to be sober.
My detox clients
All of which are things I’ve heard clients say. Detoxing is hard. That’s an understatement. Alcohol withdrawal can be fatal. It can kill. Read that again: Alcohol withdrawal can kill. They are hurting. When my clients plead for the worst to be over, I tell them the same thing:
Unaddressed wounds don’t heal. If I cut my arm severely but don’t acknowledge it, it won’t heal, it gets worse! And healing hurts. After I notice the wound, I have to clean it so it doesn’t get infected and it stings. Whether I apply pressure to stop the bleeding or clean it with alcohol, it’s gonna hurt. But the hurt doesn’t last forever. It’s temporary. You’re hurting right now, and I know it’s hard, but you’ll get through this. So take this one moment, one deep breath, one hour at a time, and you’ll get to the other side.
Me to my clients and any and er’body who’s hurting
They hear me. They always do. When we’re at or near our bottom, at the end of the day we all just want to be heard and understood. We need to know that our pain is understood, has a purpose. We need to know that our words and pleads don’t fall on deaf ears. We need to know that what we’re feeling, no matter how abnormal it is to us because we haven’t felt this feeling before, is actually normal or expected.
We give “comfort meds” to help minimize the symptoms of the withdrawal. It’s simply humane, you know? When someone has cancer, we give them meds to help relieve the pain. When someone has a drug or alcohol addiction, we give them meds to help relieve the pain– the muscle aches or spasms, the pins and needles or burning, headaches, nausea, tremors, anxiety, hallucinations. And of course we give meds to mitigate seizures, a possible outcome as the body is trying– fighting!– to find it’s way back to homeostasis.
I offer my clients meds, say a silent prayer, and hope they fall back to sleep.
Sleep. A time when the body miraculously repairs and restores itself. Heals itself. And all we have to do is get there, sometimes. Allow ourselves to rest.
When our mind races and our body aches, sleep is understandably so much harder.
When clients struggle to sleep, in addition to giving meds, I tell them about the 4-7-8 method. Inhale for 4 second, hold your breath for 7 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. It physiologically slows our bodies all the way down. Do 5 rounds, break for a few minutes, do 5 rounds again, and hopefully you’ll be sleeping before it’s time to do the third. That’s surely always been true for me! I usually don’t even finish the second round. Ha!
I’ve been hesitant to share the simple things with my clients that I know work. I told one client who normally sleeps really well but woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t go back to sleep. He was the first and certainly not the last I told about 4-7-8. Days later and he’s still thanking me for sharing this tidbit with him! Baby, once he told me it worked like magic for him, I’ve been spreading the news like wildfire! And not only that, but I’ve been doing it again, too!
I’m a do as I say and as I do nurse! Not the do as I say but don’t do nurse.
Me (a whole registered nurse!)
So I told another client who was struggling on the first night of withdrawing about the 4-7-8 method. He was overcome with fear and worry about what to expect in addition to the physical symptoms of withdrawal. And you know what?! He was able to get some sleep!
I love my job. I’ve found my people! They are my people and I am theirs. I belong to them. My heart aches with joy that I’ve finally found what sets my soul on fire:
I do yoga with clients.
I share holistic wellness skills and strategies with my clients.
Clients ask me to pray for them.
Clients ask me to pray for me.
They share their hearts, their hurts, and their histories with me.
I gently hold and lovingly, with grace and compassion, reflect back the truth of who they are and whose they are as a child of God.
I warmly welcome them back with smiles and hugs when they relapse and with words of affirmation and encouragement.
I do for my clients what I wish someone did for me.
I do for my clients what I did for myself.
I do for my clients what I continue to do for myself.
I do for my clients what others did for me when I couldn’t do it for myself.
I live better and make better choices so I can serve my client better. So I can show up 1% better for them because they’re worth it.
I am the hands and feet of God.
I do for my clients what I can do only with God’s grace, mercy and strength.
I get to do for my clients what God would have me do.
One client asked me if I could do anything in the world, what would it be? I told her.
This! I’d be doing exactly what I’m doing now. I became a nurse because I wanted to help other people go from where they are to where they want to be. To help them across the bridge of becoming. I know how hard that journey is and I know my life’s purpose is to help people do that and I’m always eager to do that in any way I can. And this job allows me to do that in a very uniquely amazing way and I love it! I love getting to meet you and serve you in this very unique way.
Me to a client
She was surprised. I knew she was my people because she asked the question– that’s my question! I knew she was my people because most people are so disassociated from themselves that they don’t even know what they like and enjoy. They don’t know what their vision is.
I must say, as I proofread this post, I’m blown away. I’ve been in this job for about a month and it already, surprisingly, feels like home. It– the work, the clients, the coworkers, the challenges, the purpose, the love. It may have taken 11 months to seek and find this position, but I am home. I am exactly, precisely where I need to be, and I am exceedingly and abundantly blessed.
