Using their lived experience to help others with substance misuse

Sep. 24, 2025

By Mary Wade Burnside

When it’s Teisha Prim’s turn to participate in a Narcotics Anonymous meeting, she says, “I’m Teisha and I’m an addict.”
But when working with the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT), the terminology changes to say an individual struggles with “substance use disorder.”
It’s emblematic of Teisha’s dual life as a person in long-term recovery and also a professional who uses her experiences and what she has learned to help others — as well as how changing terms to describe the disease helps reduce stigma.
“Recovery is my whole life,” said Teisha, supervisor of the Peer Recovery Support Specialists at West Virginia Sober Living. “I separate my work recovery and my personal recovery. I work in recovery and I don’t let that become my own personal recovery.”
Her colleague Travis Teets, a Peer Recovery Support Specialist at West Virginia Sober Living, is happy to share his story of getting addicted to opioids after he had his wisdom teeth removed.
But these days, he’d rather be known as “a person in recovery that wants to help other people find their way.”
Both Teisha and Travis will be handing out naloxone and talking to community members during the Save a Life: Free Naloxone Day event organized by the Monongalia County Quick Response Team (QRT), which will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, at 10 locations around Monongalia County. Go to monchd.org to see the locations.
Funded by grants obtained by Monongalia County Health Department, the Monongalia County QRT is a multi-agency approach to reducing opioid use. MCHD has a memorandum of understanding with West Virginia Sober Living, whose employees serve as the boots on the ground by following up on overdose reports within 72 hours. Their goal: Try to get individuals into treatment, or at least connect them to services and provide naloxone, which reverses the effect of an opioid overdose.

“One in 10 usually will talk about treatment options,” Travis said. “The other nine are usually willing to accept information and talk about it further.”
Peer Recovery Support Specialists know that it’s often a matter of cultivating a relationship and waiting until the person is ready to go to treatment.
Individuals with lived experience of substance misuse, Travis and Teisha completely understand. As a supervisor, Teisha doesn’t go out on calls very often anymore. But when she does, finding a receptive listener makes her day.
“I love when people answer the door and are super excited to talk to us,” she said. “They might not be ready today. One guy was very personable. He just wasn’t ready to stop. We kept working with him and eventually, he went into treatment.”
Growing up, Teisha did well in school, where she also played sports, and had a good family environment. “I had everything lined up for me to have a successful life,” she said.
But Teisha also had a group of friends who liked to party, so when she experienced a sad time, the desire to numb her feelings pushed her toward using. She was already studying early childhood education at WVU. She eventually dropped out of college, ran around with drug dealers and had brushes with the law.
“I got put in jail and sent to drug court,” Teisha said. “I relapsed one more time and I was sent to rehab.”
After completing a 28-day program, she set about to get her life back on track. She also got pregnant. “That was a big change, learning about myself.” Her sponsor suggested she look into becoming a personal recovery coach.
After brushes with the law, Travis found help with the Jacob’s Ladder program, living on a farm in Preston County. His now 8-year-old son doesn’t really remember much about those days.
“He just learned to walk and talk when I got incarcerated,” Travis said. “He doesn’t remember me being away. He remembers visiting the farm and the tractors. He doesn’t have a clear memory that his dad was ill and had to go get help.”
Serving as a coach for his son’s basketball team puts things in perspective for Travis. When he started, the players needed a lot of direction. By the end of the season, they were running up and down the court, making shots.
“Those are the things that wouldn't have happened if I didn’t get help,” Travis said. “Now I get to be a part of that and have fond memories that will last a lifetime.”

Mary Wade Burnside is the public information officer at Monongalia County Health Department.