It can be very hard to be in recovery when you are living in a small town that does not have a number of rehab facilities. Luckily for those trying to recover in Aurora, West Virginia, there is a recovery ranch that will help you recover from addiction. Netflix recently released a documentary, Recovery Boys, about four boys struggling to stay clean while staying at Jacob’s Ladder Ranch.
Documentary director Elaine McMillion Sheldo previously directed another Netflix documentary called Heroin(e) that also takes place in her hometown of West Virginia. Because drug addiction is on the rise in West Virginia, Sheldo wanted to be able to show people in recovery in her area. Her documentary, Recovery Boys, shows four boys at a recovery ranch in Aurora, West Virginia founded by Dr. Kevin Blankenship who has a son three years in recovery himself.
The boys stay in this camp for six months not only living in the sober houses but doing farming activities to keep themselves busy. Since farm work is never-ending and there is always new work to do depending on the season, it is a good distraction from their cravings. Not only does the ranch have farm activities to do but there is also yoga, meditation, art therapy, and music therapy. Relatives of those in recovery can visit and participate in family therapy.
We get to know the boys who are in this ranch such as how Rush is struggling with depression, Adam who is homeless and has previously relapsed, and Ryan who is a musician. Jeff has two daughters and worries about how they will be while he is in recovery. We see that addiction is a genetic trait as he has had relatives who have either been in trouble with the law or have passed away. Jeff realizes that he needs to get better so that he can be with his daughters after hearing that his three-year-old daughter got molested while in foster care. He wonders if he never succumbed to addiction if that still would have happened to her.
By the end of the documentary, we learn that most of the boys have been clean, as one who becomes a drug counselor and another gets a job in construction. This film shows that even in the smallest towns, you can always find help if you look a little closer and there is always hope in long-term recovery.
Located in Tacoma, Washington, Bayview Center’s mission is to offer clinically-driven programs and services to treat a number of substance abuse disorders along with anxiety and depression using cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, trauma therapy, yoga therapy, and more for a successful recovery. For more information, please call us 888-570-7154 at as we are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
