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Simma Lieberman Shares Her Success Story in Overcoming Drug Addiction
By Daniel Casciato
Author and professional speaker Simma Lieverman has been clean an sober now for nearly 21 years from a heroin addiction. Lieberman, 55, first started experimenting with marijuana and amphetamines when she was only 14 years old. "I very quickly became an intravenous user," she recalled. "During the 20 years of my addiction, I quickly lost friends and alienated myself from my family."
Lieberman later dropped out of college because she couldn't make it to her classes. "It never occurred to me that it was because of the drugs and alcohol," she said. "My addiction was so severe that it became my life and I was addicted to the lifestyle."
Lieberman ended up in a 12-step program when she was 34 years old, but also has to employ the healing power of support from other people, adopt stress management techniques, acquire new role models and substitute other, more healthy activities in place of the addictive ones "I knew I had to do something to change my life around," said Lieberman. " I am still clean and sober but, unfortunately, many of my friends have not made it and died as a result of their drug use and overdose."
Since becoming clean and sober, Lieberman started her own business and has become a nationally renowned public speaker. She is currently writing a book on overcoming fear and self-doubt.
Through her business ventures, Lieberman creates inclusive environments in which people and organizations can do their best work. She specializes in creating a diverse workforce and is one of the authors of the book "Putting Diversity to Work." In addition, Lieberman has published numerous articles and her ideas have been featured in many publications, including Bread and Butter, Restaurant Hospitality, Human Resource Executive, Monster.com, Redbook, Essence, Black Intelligence, Newsday, and Restaurants USA.
She has developed a process know as "Diversity, Difference and Dialogue" to make difficult conversations easier to conduct and to develop better inclusion techniques. Through this process, people at all levels are able to communicate better and be more comfortable with one another, which leads to more creativity and better working relationships.
Liberman said that when you allow self-doubt and fear to rule your life, you miss out on numerous growth opportunities. You predict the worst for the future and believe that nothing good will every happen to you. As a result, you may never try anything new and refuse to take even low-level risk. This type of self-doubt leads to vicious pattern of discounting either other people or situations that could actually help you reach realistic goals. While self-doubt and fear come in different forms and from different sources, you can learn to break through them. That is precisely what she learned to do in order to recover from her drug and alcohol addiction.
For years, Lieberman said she lived daily with her own self-doubt and fear. Growing up in a lower income family in the Bronx, N.Y., she heard over and over again that people like her could never really become successful. She felt she wasn't as good as other people because she didn't have the money and nice clothes that some of the other girls in the neighborhood had. "I also was quite shy and not a member of the popular crowd," she recalled. "Eventually, I began to internalize messages from exterior sources and became a troublemaker."
Even though she managed to do well on tests and graduated from high school at age 16, Lieberman still had very low self-esteem. Her life was defined by what other people thought of her. In her own words, she just didn't believe in her ability to accomplish anything. She blamed everyone else for her lack of money, healthy relationships and happiness. She lived in constant fear, but was afraid to admit it.
"My life had become a mess and I was strung out on drugs and alcohol," she said. "At one point, I thought I was going to die so I knew I had to turn my life around." At that point, Lieberman overcame whatever self-doubt and fear she had and sought help. That is the crucial first step for any addict, she stressed.
"Always ask for help," Lieberman said. "Don't be concerned about what other people may think. Pickup the phone and call someone. Find that one person who believes in you and can help you get through this crisis."
Second, have a vision for your life. "Think about what you want to do with your life," she explained. "Visualize a different and better life for yourself." She also recommends surrounding yourself with more supportive people. "If your friends are all addicts, they don't want you to get help, so make some new friends who are better equipped emotionally to help you through your bad days."
Finally, she advises addicts to go to an Alcoholic's Anonymous (AA) or Narcotic's Anonymous (NA) meeting. Go by yourself or take a friend along for moral support. Today, Lieberman has a successful speaking and consulting business. She has many close friends and an II-year old son.
"I know it may sound easy telling others how to overcome an addiction, but having gone through it myself, I understand that it's not," she emphasized. "Have faith in your own ability to overcome your problems. Change your attitude, believe in yourself and don't be afraid of your fears."
For more information on Simma Lieberman, visit her Web site at www.simmalieberman.com.
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