Lead Changes Recovery Center

10/15/2026

💜🐴 A Little Update from Leanne at Lead Changes Recovery! 🐴💜

Sometimes even those of us who spend our days helping others heal have to slow down and focus on our own recovery!

I wanted to share a quick update with our clients, families, and community partners. I recently underwent surgery to repair both my ACL and meniscus. The surgery went well, and I am happy to report that I am home, recovering, and experiencing minimal pain so far!

I was fortunate to receive donor tissue for my ACL repair, allowing my surgeon to complete the reconstruction without having to harvest a graft from another part of my body. I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of tissue donors and the medical professionals who made this possible.

Of course, those who know me know that sitting still isn't exactly one of my strengths! Between teaching, counseling, horses, sheep, and everything else life brings, slowing down is going to be a challenge. But just like I remind my clients, healing takes time, patience, consistency, and a willingness to do the work—even when it isn't easy.

💜 What does this mean for Lead Changes Recovery?

We are still OPEN and providing services!

For the next few weeks, I will be conducting appointments primarily through Telehealth while I recover and work through the initial stages of physical therapy.

✅ Individual Addiction Counseling will continue.

✅ Substance Use Evaluations can be scheduled.

✅ Relapse Prevention and Recovery Support will continue.

✅ DOT SAP services remain available.

✅ Family Support and Education appointments can continue.

✅ Evening and weekend Telehealth appointments will remain available as my recovery schedule allows.

🐴 Equine-assisted sessions and other in-person services will be temporarily limited until I am physically able to return to the arena safely.

Your recovery and progress are still important to me, even while I am working on my own!

💜 Additional Support During My Recovery

I also want to reassure our clients and families that we have made arrangements for additional professional support during this time.

A fellow Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) has graciously offered to help provide support when needed, particularly if a client experiences an urgent situation or needs additional assistance while I am recovering.

Please don't hesitate to reach out if you are struggling, have questions, need additional support, or need to adjust an appointment. We will work together to determine the most appropriate next steps.

For an immediate mental health or substance use crisis, please call or text 988. If there is an immediate danger or medical emergency, call 911.

💜 A Reminder About Recovery

One thing I frequently tell clients is that recovery is rarely a straight line. There are good days, difficult days, unexpected setbacks, and times when we have to adjust our expectations.

Physical recovery really isn't that different.

Sometimes progress means pushing forward. Sometimes it means resting, asking for help, following the treatment plan, and trusting the process.

I fully intend to practice what I preach—even if my horses and sheep don't understand why I'm not out there doing chores!

Thank you to our clients, families, referral partners, and community for your understanding, patience, and support during the next several weeks.

Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center remains committed to providing compassionate, individualized care throughout Montana and North Dakota.

📞 406-939-1263
💻 Telehealth appointments available
💜 New clients and referrals are still welcome!

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

Recovery is possible. You don't have to do it alone.

10/03/2026

💜 SOBRIETY DIDN’T SAVE MY LIFE… IT TORE IT APART FIRST.

That statement may sound strange when we spend so much time talking about everything recovery can give us.

But sometimes, before recovery gives something back, it reveals what has been lost.

When alcohol or drugs are removed, there may suddenly be nowhere left to hide. The emotions that were numbed are still there. Relationships may need repair. Trust may have been damaged. Finances, health, careers, and families may have been affected. And sometimes the person looking back in the mirror doesn’t even know who they are without the substance.

Early recovery can feel less like being rescued and more like everything falling apart.

But falling apart and failing are not the same thing.

Sometimes what feels like destruction is actually the beginning of rebuilding.

Recovery gives us the opportunity to look at the pieces and decide what we want to carry forward—and what we are finally ready to leave behind.

And slowly, something begins to happen.

What was lost can begin to be regained.

💜 Trust can be rebuilt.
🩵 Relationships can begin to heal.
💜 Families can learn how to connect differently.
🩵 Physical and emotional health can improve.
💜 Confidence can return.
🩵 Dreams can become possible again.
💜 Purpose can replace simply surviving.
🩵 Self-respect can grow where shame once lived.

And perhaps one of the greatest things we can regain is ourselves.

Not necessarily the person we were before addiction. Recovery isn’t always about going backward and finding an old version of ourselves.

Sometimes it is about meeting someone entirely new.

Someone who has learned boundaries.
Someone who can sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of immediately escaping them.
Someone who knows asking for help is a skill, not a weakness.
Someone who understands their triggers and patterns.
Someone who has learned that a setback doesn’t erase every step forward.
Someone who discovers that life can contain joy, connection, purpose, and peace without needing to numb it first.

Recovery doesn’t promise that everything lost will return exactly as it was. Some relationships may not come back. Some consequences cannot be undone. Some wounds become part of our story.

But healing means those losses don’t have to write the ending.

At Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center, we believe recovery is about far more than stopping alcohol or drug use. It’s about understanding what the substance was doing for you, healing what needs attention, developing new skills, rebuilding connection, discovering purpose, and creating a life you want to remain present for.

You may feel like you’re standing in the ruins right now.

That doesn’t mean your story is over.

Sometimes the ruins are where rebuilding begins.

Sometimes what was lost can be found again.

And sometimes what you build in recovery becomes stronger, healthier, and more authentic than what existed before.

💜 You can heal. You can grow. You can rebuild.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

10/02/2026

💜 Recovery can leave the problem untouched.
Stopping alcohol or drug use is an important part of recovery—but sometimes stopping the substance doesn't automatically resolve what made the substance feel necessary in the first place.

For many people, substance use began as a solution.
A way to quiet anxiety.
A way to numb pain.
A way to escape memories.
A way to feel confident or connected.
A way to sleep.
A way to cope with loneliness, stress, grief, trauma, or emotions that felt overwhelming.

The problem is that the solution eventually creates problems of its own.
When alcohol or drugs are removed but the underlying need remains, it can be easy to recruit another way of changing how we feel. Food. Gambling. S*x. Shopping or money. Work. Relationships. Po*******hy. Exercise. Social media. Even behaviors that appear healthy can become problematic when their primary purpose is avoiding what we still haven't learned to face.
This is why recovery is about more than abstinence.

It is learning to ask:
What was the substance doing for me?
What was I trying not to feel?
What need was I trying to meet?
What happens inside me when I can no longer use my old solution?
What healthier skills can I develop instead?

Removing an unhealthy coping strategy matters. But sustainable recovery also means developing emotional regulation, coping skills, boundaries, connection, self-awareness, accountability, and healthier ways of meeting our needs.

At Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center, we don't just look at the substance. We work with the whole person and become curious about the patterns underneath the behavior.

Because sometimes the most important question isn't: “How do we make this behavior stop?”
It's: “What does this behavior tell us still needs attention?”

💜 Stopping the solution isn't the same as resolving what needed it.
Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

09/23/2026

💜🩵 More Options. More Access. More Opportunities for Recovery.

Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center is now credentialed as an IN-NETWORK provider with Curative!

This means individuals with Curative insurance will soon be able to receive eligible addiction counseling services through Lead Changes using their in-network behavioral health benefits.

Expanding insurance options is an important part of making treatment more accessible—especially in rural communities where finding an addiction professional who is both available and in-network can be difficult.

At Lead Changes, services include individual addiction counseling, substance use evaluations, relapse prevention and continuing care, family support and education, and equine-assisted therapy. Telehealth allows us to serve individuals throughout Montana and North Dakota, in addition to in-person services in Glendive.

💜 Now in network with:
Aetna • Cigna • Blue Cross Blue Shield • Allegiance • PacificSource • Curative

Coverage and benefits vary by individual plan, so we encourage clients to verify their specific behavioral health benefits and cost-sharing requirements.

Another insurance network. Another opportunity to make recovery services easier to access.

Recovery is possible. Treatment works. Hope is real.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

09/20/2026

09/20/2026

💜🩵 Celebrating National Addiction Professionals Day! 🩵💜

Today, Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center is taking a moment to celebrate our very own addiction professional—Leanne Hoagland, LAC, DOT SAP.

Addiction professionals have the privilege of walking alongside people during some of the most difficult—and sometimes most transformational—chapters of their lives.

This work is about so much more than substance use.

It is about listening without judgment.
It is about understanding the why behind a behavior.
It is about helping people recognize strengths they may have forgotten they possess.
It is about accountability AND compassion.
It is about teaching new skills, rebuilding relationships, setting boundaries, navigating setbacks, and celebrating progress that others may never see.

Most importantly, it is about remembering that a person is always more than their addiction, their diagnosis, their worst decision, or the hardest chapter of their story.

At Lead Changes, that belief guides the work we do every day.

💜 Educate — because understanding reduces stigma.
🩵 Support — because people weren’t meant to navigate recovery alone.
💜 Empower — because sustainable change belongs to the person making it.
🩵 Change — because people can learn, heal, grow, and create stronger tomorrows.

Whether the work happens across a counseling room, through telehealth, alongside a family, or sometimes beside a 1,500-pound therapy partner 🐴, the goal remains the same:

Meet people where they are and help them discover where they want to go next.

Today we also recognize the addiction professionals everywhere who continue showing up, challenging stigma, advocating for their clients, educating communities, supporting families, and reminding people that recovery is possible.

People. Purpose. Possibilities.

💜 Treatment works. People recover. Hope is real.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

09/16/2026

💜 The version of you you’ve been dreaming about is being built by the choices you’re making today.

Recovery can feel overwhelming when we look too far ahead.

We may start thinking about everything that needs to change, everything that needs to be repaired, or how far we still have to go. But lasting change isn’t usually created through one enormous decision.

It is built through the choices we make over and over again.

Choosing to show up for counseling.

Choosing to call someone instead of isolating.

Choosing to attend the meeting when you’d rather stay home.

Choosing a boundary even when saying “no” feels uncomfortable.

Choosing honesty when hiding would be easier.

Choosing to recognize a trigger before reacting to it.

Choosing to try again after a setback.

Choosing to believe that your past does not get to make every decision about your future.

Some days, progress will feel enormous. Other days, the victory may simply be not going backward.

Both matter.

Recovery isn’t about waking up one morning as an entirely different person. It is about learning, practicing, growing, and gradually becoming someone who responds differently to the things that once controlled them.

The person you want to become isn’t waiting somewhere at the finish line.

You are building that person right now.

One decision.
One boundary.
One conversation.
One new skill.
One day at a time.

At Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center, we believe people have the capacity to learn, grow, rebuild, and create lives with meaning and purpose.

🐴 Equine-assisted therapy is available, but horses are always optional.
💜 Licensed in Montana & North Dakota
🩵 In-person & Telehealth
💜 Evening & weekend appointments
🩵 Self-pay & sliding-fee options
💜 Aetna, Cigna, BCBS, Allegiance & PacificSource accepted
🩵 Montana Medicaid coming soon

Recovery is possible. Your choices today are helping build your stronger tomorrow.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

09/15/2026

Not everyone will make you a priority—and that can be a difficult truth to accept.

Sometimes we spend so much time showing up for other people that we slowly stop showing up for ourselves. We rearrange our lives, ignore our own needs, tolerate unhealthy patterns, and keep giving because we hope that eventually someone will give the same effort back.

But making yourself a priority isn’t selfish. ❤️‍🩹

It can mean setting a boundary without feeling obligated to defend it. It can mean saying “no” when something is costing you your peace. It can mean recognizing that you cannot control another person’s choices, recovery, behavior, or willingness to change.

And sometimes it means choosing yourself—even when someone else doesn’t choose you.

Recovery and healing are not only about what we leave behind. They are also about learning that our needs, wellbeing, safety, goals, and future matter too.

💜 You are allowed to protect your peace.
💜 You are allowed to have boundaries.
💜 You are allowed to stop overextending yourself.
💜 You are allowed to make yourself a priority.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.

Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Therapy Center LLC
Licensed in Montana & North Dakota | TeleMed & in-person services | Evening & weekend appointments | Sliding-fee options | Insurance accepted | Equine-assisted services are available but never required.

09/14/2026

Addiction doesn’t always look like chaos.

Sometimes it looks like someone who still goes to work. Someone who still takes care of their family. Someone who smiles, shows up, and tells everyone they’re “fine.”

But underneath the surface, things may be quietly changing. ❤️‍🩹

Honesty becomes harder as hiding, minimizing, and explaining become part of everyday life. Relationships begin to feel strained. Trust erodes. Loved ones may find themselves watching moods, avoiding certain conversations, or wondering which version of the person they’ll get that day.

Self-worth can change too. Shame grows. Anxiety increases. The substance that once seemed to provide relief can eventually become part of what keeps the cycle going.

And the future doesn’t usually disappear in one dramatic moment. It can happen through small losses over time—missed opportunities, damaged relationships, abandoned goals, financial consequences, health concerns, and days spent simply trying to get through.

But addiction does not have to write the ending.

💜 If you are struggling: Recovery can begin with one honest conversation, one request for help, or one decision to do something differently today. You do not have to have everything figured out before you begin.

💜 If you love someone who is struggling: You can care deeply about someone without taking responsibility for their recovery. Support and compassion can exist alongside boundaries. Protecting your own wellbeing does not mean you have stopped loving them.

Healing starts when the truth becomes louder than the addiction.

At Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Therapy Center LLC, we believe recovery is about more than stopping substance use. It is about rebuilding trust, relationships, identity, purpose, and hope—one step at a time. 🐴💜

Licensed in Montana & North Dakota | TeleMed & in-person | Evening & weekend appointments | Sliding-fee options | Insurance accepted | Equine-assisted services available but never required.

09/13/2026

💜 “He heals the wounds of every shattered heart.” — Psalm 147:3

Healing doesn’t always mean forgetting what happened.

It doesn’t mean the pain never mattered, the loss disappears, or the difficult chapters of our lives are somehow erased.

Sometimes healing means learning that our wounds do not have to determine the rest of our story.

In recovery, people often carry much more than substance use. There may be grief, trauma, shame, broken relationships, disappointment, loneliness, fear, or years spent trying to survive circumstances that felt impossible to face.

For some, alcohol or other substances became a way to quiet that pain for a little while.

Recovery asks us to begin doing something different—to slowly learn how to feel without escaping, grieve without becoming consumed, forgive without forgetting, rebuild trust, accept support, and discover who we are beyond the things that have happened to us.

And for many people, faith becomes part of that journey.

Faith doesn’t promise that life will always be easy. It can remind us that even when we cannot see the entire path ahead, we can still take the next step.

At Lead Changes Recovery & Equine Assisted Therapy Center, we believe recovery is about more than stopping substance use. It is about healing, growth, connection, purpose, and creating a life you no longer need to escape from.

You don’t have to have everything figured out today.

You don’t have to heal everything at once.

Just keep taking the next step. 💜

🐴 Equine-assisted therapy is available but always optional.
🩵 In-person and Telehealth services
💜 Licensed in Montana & North Dakota
🩵 Evening & weekend appointments
💜 Self-pay & sliding-fee options
🩵 Aetna, Cigna, BCBS, Allegiance & PacificSource accepted
💜 Montana Medicaid coming soon

Recovery is possible—you don’t have to do it alone.

Heal. Grow. Change. One step at a time.