The women learn how to discuss their emotions and how to deal with triggers that bring on drug cravings.

"We want each other to succeed in life," Vermillion said. "Sober living is the best thing I've ever done."

Other pathways

For Nathan Anderson, 24, the path to recovery began in the Utah County Jail.

After racking up more than a dozen meth-related charges, he was ordered by a judge to stay in jail until he finished the On Unit Treatment (OUT) program — a 30-day life-skills course.

Despite years of drug use, it was his first round of treatment. And it worked.

"It was amazing to me," Anderson said. "I thought I had a decent understanding of how life worked, but almost on a daily basis I had these 'aha' moments, a little different way of viewing something."

At age 20, he learned to accept his disease and fix his thinking errors. And once out, he hasn't gone back.

"In my situation, once I tried to get clean, I stayed clean," he said. "I've been clean for over four and a half years. Life just keeps getting better."

Jamie Talbot is anxious to have a story like Anderson's. At age 26 she has already been through inpatient drug treatment seven times, outpatient programs five times and was close to prison.

While sitting in jail, away from her two children, she realized she had to change.

She heard about the Papilion House, and after her release, was granted an interview and welcomed in. Now, she can't imagine where she'd be without the Papilion house.

"I have two jobs, I see my kids on a regular basis, I'm getting married to their dad," she said. "I don't have very much, but I'm grateful for what I do have. I've worked for it, I didn't steal it."

She's been clean for nearly eight months.

The role of relapses

"(A relapse) doesn't mean treatment is a failure, it means that the individual's brain is still drug affected, still experiencing addiction," said Shawn McMillen, executive director of First Step House, an inpatient and outpatient treatment center in Salt Lake City.

The average addict requires treatment seven times before he or she can stay clean on their own, said Seanna Williams, program manager for Utah County's Drug Offender Reform Act (DORA) treatment program for addicts with felony charges or who are first-time parolees.

"Most people have years being an addict," Williams said. "Why would we assume that in three to five months they're all of a sudden going to get it?"

Talbot had used drugs since she was 14. Her brain was changed. She couldn't escape in weeks.

Although Anderson never relapsed, he said it can often be someone's best tool.