Nov 6, 2018 4 min read

The assignment wasn’t a big deal – create a monthly sign for the Little Colonial Library in Waynesburg – but Lauren Bertovich was happy to have been given it.

“It was early in my recovery, and it meant so much to me that somebody trusted me enough to do something,” she said. “It made me make a piece of art every month, and helped me find my creativity again.”

An artist, mother and former professor, Bertovich, 36, plans to start a new career as a drug and alcohol tech at the inpatient Greenbriar Treatment Center at WHS Waynesburg, scheduled to open next week.

“I wanted to combine my love for teaching, my love of being a professor, my love of the human body and science, and now, my passion about addiction and recovery,” said Bertovich.

Bertovich possessed a proclivity for drawing and painting from a young age. After graduating from Waynesburg Central High in 2000, she studied art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, then took the next year off and joined the Army National Guard. She returned to IUP and continued with the National Guard as a mechanic. In 2005, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in interior design, then a master’s from Chatham University.

Bertovich was teaching at West Virginia University when “everything came to an apex.”

“It was almost like a nervous breakdown,” she said. “It all started with prescriptions. I hurt my back while on duty and I was prescribed pain meds. I had a heavy work load, and it was like everything all at once.”

Overwhelmed, Bertovich gave up her university position.

“I resigned and went fishing,” she said. “For, like, three months, I was in Forbes State Forest, categorizing wild flowers and drawing.”

For the next several years, Bertovich repeated a cycle of getting clean, then returning to drugs. When she got pregnant with her first child, she stopped, and was able to stay in recovery through her daughter’s first year.

“I just really couldn’t kick the habit,” she said. “I tried several times. Eventually, I felt like I couldn’t be creative or paint without substances. I think a lot of creative people feel that way. A lot deal with addiction.”

There was not one defining incident that spurred Bertovich to remain in recovery.

“It was just insanity. It was no way to live. I can’t say I ever had an overdose. I had legal problems, but even that wasn’t enough to make me stop. It was time to grow up. I couldn’t do it anymore. I’m 5 (feet) 8 (inches) and I weighted 111 pounds. It takes your soul,” she said. “I hate the person that I was. I’m from a good family, I’m well-educated, a veteran. Some of the situations I put myself into…I wouldn’t have believed you if you would have told me I would have been doing that.”

Bertovich has been in recovery since Nov. 11, 2012.

She credits her parents for their “tough love” and for not sweeping her drug use under the rug.

“It probably saved my life,” she said. “Luckily, I took care of it before my son had to deal with any of it.”

She became a mother again in 2015, and has found her creativity, without the use of drugs. She wants to share her passion with others who are new to recovery.

“It’s really important that people have something to do, especially that first six months in recovery, to keep their minds and hands busy. Whether it’s origami or doodling, you can express yourself in so many different ways. People underestimate boredom,” Bertovich said. “I’m so excited to get involved with (Greenbriar.) I feel like with with the toughness of the Army, the teaching of the university, my creativity and knowledge about the brain…I can help someone.”