No amount of comfort is enough when there is a look of terror on someone admitting to treatment for the first time. “I want to be that little girl!” A woman in her late 40s is sitting in front of me in my office, sobbing as she stares at a black and white picture… Continue reading Views From A Rehab Counselor
Tag: personal stories
Me, My Psych Meds & My 12-Step Recovery
Now that I have double-digit sobriety, I have no qualms about pulling aside people who disparage the use of psych meds in meetings. As I sat in my jail cell I had to question the admonition I got from an old-timer at a 12-step meeting I frequented. “If you trust your Higher Power enough, you… Continue reading Me, My Psych Meds & My 12-Step Recovery
No More Attendance Sheets In AA
Having court-ordered people at our meetings is like being, “a little bit pregnant.” We are either anonymous or we are not anonymous. Our Traditions are important to Alcoholics Anonymous. We also want to see AA continue to provide a way out for alcoholics. The responsibility statement located on so many meeting walls says it all.… Continue reading No More Attendance Sheets In AA
All My Friends Are Junkies
Once we switched our attention away from getting high and learned how to stay sober, we quickly realized that if we put at least one percent of the same effort it took to get trashed into other areas of our lives, the results were astronomical. All of my friends—each and every last one of them—are… Continue reading All My Friends Are Junkies
What Sets Suboxone Apart From Other Medication-Assisted Treatments?
When taken as prescribed by an opiate addict, Suboxone doesn’t allow me to avoid or escape reality. This is one way it differs form other MATs. I’ve used the same pharmacy for over a decade. The tech filling my prescription this morning was the same one that had filled my Vicodin prescription for four years,… Continue reading What Sets Suboxone Apart From Other Medication-Assisted Treatments?
International Conference of Secular AA Coming To Toronto In August
All members of AA are welcome to attend the conference, which takes place August 24-26 in Toronto, ON. The third biennial conference of Secular AA (ICSAA 2018), with a theme of inclusion and diversity, will take place in Toronto, ON from August 24th through August 26th later this summer. The conference will take place at… Continue reading International Conference of Secular AA Coming To Toronto In August
Touching What (I Thought) Was Gone
In the last 36 hours I’ve been to five meetings, sat three times in meditation and sobbed on a friend’s couch. But I’m OK. Love, in my experience, has meant seismic emotional shifts and condemnation, turning even “what do you want for dinner” into a combat zone. I was in a rage-fueled, co-dependent relationship with… Continue reading Touching What (I Thought) Was Gone
Clean, Sober And Using Suboxone
Suboxone users deserve a safe space, in and out of the rooms. And we deserve to proudly call ourselves clean and sober. It was pretty apparent when I began taking Vicodin for migraines that I was going to have a problem, but I was too ashamed and afraid to ask for help. On the… Continue reading Clean, Sober And Using Suboxone
