From smoking her first bong at six to nine stints in jail: How a drug addict nicknamed 'Rocket' was able to use her powerful story to quit - and now she's two years clean
- Renae 'Rocket' Bretherton started using drugs aged six- both parents were users
- She has now done nine stints in prison- all of which have been related to drugs
- During her last sentence at Darwin Correctional Centre she worked on a podcast
- Birds Eye View has helped her to reshape her view of herself and change her life
- She is now an inspirational speaker and is helping women get jobs on the outside
A woman who has had a lifelong battle with drugs leading to nine stints in jail has transformed her life through a prison podcast.
Renae 'Rocket' Bretherton was six years old when she came home from school and was given her first bong made from a BBQ sauce bottle by a group of people smoking marijuana in her house.
Both her parents were users and she was taught that 'drugs weren't wrong'.
But after recently completing her seventh drug-related sentence at Darwin Correctional Centre, Rocket has emerged with a different view of herself.
Renae 'Rocket' Bretherton (left), 37, has found meaning in life through helping other incarcerated women since working on new podcast Birds Eye View
New podcast Birds Eye View, made inside prison, has empowered the 37-year-old to tell her own story and reshape her identity.
'I've always been a pretty angry person. Like not a 'pretty angry' - a f**king angry person. And I had no release, I had no control over my anger for a long time,' Rocket explains in episode one of the podcast.
'I haven't really got a story apart from drugs. I mean drugs have been my story since I was five years old. It's my identity.
'It becomes your best friend, it becomes your lover, it becomes your brother, your sister, your parents. It becomes everything you're missing in your life.'
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Rocket, who has Noongar heritage, was raised by Wakka Wakka family on Bribie Island in Queensland.
She often spent weekends in foster homes with her older brother as a result of early exposure and dysfunction at home and said while other children were given crayons and pencils to colour with, she was given pot to trim.
After drugs being her story for years, sharing and exploring her life experiences made her realise that she is more than just a 'junkie'. She has now been sober for 26 months.
Rocket has been served seven prison sentences at Darwin Correctional Centre and two at a Brisbane jail- all of which have been related to drugs
'Until recently, I was just going to go out and get back on the drugs. I've seen no point in changing,' she said.
'I just feel it's important to let people know that I'm not just a junkie or a drug user. I'm not just a number.'
Birds Eye View, the result of a two-year storytelling program, incorporates narrative therapy- a process that involves a person exploring the various story lines within their life to gain a deeper understanding of who they are.
David Denborough, the coordinator of a master's degree in narrative therapy and community work at the University of Melbourne, says people's identities are shaped by their stories which are influenced by history, politics, gender, class and race.
'It's not as if we have one fixed identity, it's not as if it's some essential, unchanging self. It's a different understanding of identity, one that's shaped by story and also by culture,' he told the ABC.
Narrative therapy stipulates that people can become focused on 'dominant' story lines- fixed perspectives of life experiences- which then informs how they view themselves.
The 37-year-old has a new goal of helping women in prison to gain employment once they are released. She is pictured at the launch of the podcast
For example, one may focus on how many times they have failed in intimate relationships or in jobs, and perceive themselves as a failure overall, rather than assessing the other relationships or roles in their life that have been successful.
Through looking at alternative story lines, people can begin to identify other, positive, traits of theirs that may become overridden by concentrating on those that have become dominant.
'There are always multiple stories of identity. It's just that some have become dominating, more powerful than others,' Mr Denborough said.
'It can make a real difference for people to be able to name problems in their own words and terms rather than in words and terms that have been given to them by others.'
Since accepting a more complex view of herself, Rocket's life on the outside has adopted new meaning.
She is using her voice to speak up and advocate for women in prison by helping them find jobs when they are released.
Birds Eye View is a podcast made inside Darwin Correctional Centre that shares inmates stories and experiences
She has begun creating relationships with businesses that are willing to help with employment and has become an inspirational speaker, attending prisons to share her story with inmates.
Rocket hopes to set up an organisation like Sister Inside, which advocates for the collective human rights of women and girls in prison and their families, and provides services to address their individual needs.
She has set up a gofundme to raise money for her to attend the Sisters Inside conference and learn more about how to set up the NT's first peak body for women who have lived experiences of incarceration.
'I want to work with people who are drug addicts, from backgrounds where I come from,' she said.
'I want to work on myself so I can help some people because if I can stop one person going through what I went through, it will probably make my life worthwhile.'
