Leah Hill helps adolescents and young adults navigate substance use at Strong Recovery in Rochester. Her work as a counselor draws on professional training and on her own experience of stopping drinking in 2017 after years of worsening alcohol use, depression and a crisis that brought her home to western New York.
Hill, who grew up in Wayne County, works as a Substance Use Disorder Counselor 2 in Strong Recovery's Adolescent and Young Adult Clinic. She described recovery as an ongoing practice and said her job cannot take the place of the support she needs for her own sobriety.
A crisis and a return home
Hill was adopted as an infant and raised by a white family. She said questions about her identity as a woman who is half Black and half Seneca Indian, of the Turtle Clan, were part of her childhood despite a loving and stable home. She began drinking at 12 and said alcohol initially quieted anxiety and depression.
She later won a Division I volleyball scholarship to George Washington University, taught through Teach for America in Phoenix, lived in Italy and returned to Phoenix. She now sees those moves as attempts to escape feelings that followed her from place to place. Her drinking escalated even as her life appeared successful to others.
During her second stay in Phoenix, Hill said her drinking and depression deepened into a suicidal crisis. She called her brother Zack, then living in Dubai. He stayed on the phone, arranged for friends to reach her that night and flew to Phoenix. Hill said his response was loving but direct: Her family would welcome her home, and she needed to seek help.
With Zack beside her, Hill called their parents and booked a flight to Rochester. She said her last drink was at Rochester International Airport on Aug. 20, 2017. The date marks the start of her sobriety, not the end of the work she faced.
The difficult early months
Hill described early recovery as a period of physical withdrawal, cravings and emotions she had long tried to numb. She said she experienced post-acute withdrawal symptoms affecting sleep, mood and concentration. Despite holding a bachelor's degree and two master's degrees, she recalled being unable to read a single paragraph of a book at one point.
Rebuilding trust with people close to her was another challenge. Hill credited her brothers, parents, friends, sponsor and therapist with offering patience and respect during that period. She said their presence helped her feel dignity again and shaped the support she now tries to offer others.
Hill first became a certified recovery peer advocate and worked for two years at Catholic Charities Community Services. After earning a Credentialed Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor credential, she joined Strong Recovery. She said the position lets her combine professional counseling with an understanding of why a person may keep using a substance despite serious consequences.
Her experience does not make every patient's path the same as hers. Hill said it helps her meet patients and families without judgment and see the person beneath behavior that loved ones may struggle to understand. She described kindness and human connection as important parts of the support she received and now wants to pass along.
Staying attentive to recovery
Nine years after her last drink, Hill said she remains alert to patterns that can surface in other behaviors. She recalled recognizing a familiar reward-seeking cycle during a week when she repeatedly bought scratch-off lottery tickets. The episode reminded her to rely on people who can notice warning signs she might miss.
Those people include her boyfriend, family, sponsor, colleagues and others in recovery. Hill said continuing sobriety requires awareness, honesty and connection, separate from her responsibility to patients. Her work, she said, can be meaningful without becoming the foundation of her own recovery.
Strong Recovery offers therapy, medication treatment, peer support and family support for people dealing with substance use. The program lists (585) 275-3161 as its contact number for those seeking care.
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