April 30, 2025
From fighter to father: How addiction care changed his life
Travis Taylor has substance use disorder and mental health conditions. At one of his darkest moments, he found hope through our addiction medicine team.
Taylor (left) with his girlfriend, Alicia Jones. He hasn’t used drugs or alcohol in more than 2 years.
Travis Taylor started using drugs and alcohol when he was 12 years old. He grew up around violence. For much of his youth, he was in and out of various juvenile justice programs.
He never learned how to handle difficult situations other than to fight. At 17, he was placed in a youth correctional facility for possession of meth at his high school. That’s when he experienced suicidal thoughts for the first time.
“I thought to myself, ‘I should be at prom right now, but instead I’m sitting in jail,” he said. “I felt like I was already too far gone to turn things around.”
This is Taylor’s mug shot after his arrest for fighting. “Ultimately, my anger cost me 15 years of my life.”
When he was 21, he was sentenced to prison for 6 years for fighting.
After serving 3 years of his sentence, including long stretches in solitary confinement due to fighting with other inmates, he decided to work on improving himself. He took business classes, joined an anger management program, and earned his high school equivalency diploma.
But when he was released, he had a hard time maintaining a job and felt like he lacked many basic life skills.
He continued to have mental health challenges, including manic depressive episodes. But he struggled to find the help he needed. He began drinking alcohol and injecting meth again.
Consistent, compassionate care makes a difference
Shortly after his best friend died, Taylor overdosed and experienced drug-induced psychosis. He found himself in an emergency room on suicide watch.
That’s where he met Anna Coleman, a licensed clinical social worker and a member of Kaiser Permanente’s hospital addiction medicine engagement team. Her team is on call 7 days a week to support patients who are having any kind of crisis that involves substance use along with other mental health conditions.
“Our team is skilled at helping people feel safe when they’re scared and disoriented,” Coleman said. “We just want to offer compassionate, nonjudgmental care in whatever capacity they’re ready to receive it.”
Taylor (right) with Yarger (left) at the Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center in Clackamas, Oregon
Coleman introduced Taylor to Justin Yarger, a peer support specialist. Yarger and Taylor turned out to have a lot in common. They’re both big guys with tattoos and many similar life experiences, and they felt an immediate bond.
“That was the first time in so many years I felt the acceptance I'd been longing for,” Taylor said. “When I shared my phone number, and he said it was his old number, I couldn’t believe it. The whole encounter was like a spiritual awakening.”
When Taylor left the hospital, he continued to use meth. But Yarger kept reaching out and offering to help him.
Just a month later, Taylor decided it was time to change his life.
Kaiser Permanente’s addiction medicine team helped connect him to a 90-day program for people who have both substance use disorders and mental health conditions.
Giving back to his community
Taylor holds his daughter, Maria. “I am a ’90s country music guy, and I love the Brooks & Dunn song called ‘My Maria.’”
Taylor hasn’t used drugs or alcohol for more than 2 years.
He served for a while as a peer support specialist through Kaiser Permanente’s addiction medicine program. And he’s currently working as a certified alcohol and drug counselor.
His goal is to eventually become a director of an addiction counseling program.
“It means so much to pursue a career that helps other people who are going through the same things I did,” he said. “My life has changed tremendously.”
Taylor recently had a daughter. And he’s still in close contact with Yarger.
“He's actually my neighbor now,” said Taylor.
Learn more about mental health and addiction care at Kaiser Permanente.
