 |
Why did I create a new recovery program when there are already plenty available?
Well, for starters, there really aren't a lot of alternatives to the half-dozen or so major established programs, and that leaves a whole lot of people out in the cold, struggling alone against addiction with nowhere to turn.
But we'll get back to that soon.
I suffer from a dual-diagnosis substance use disorder - namely Alcohol Use Disorder, which some programs refer to as "alcoholism" or "their disease." I won't debate the issue of labels here, I'll just tell you my own experience.
For over 30 years, I have used alcohol excessively in spite of mounting problems of an increasingly serious nature. I've lost friends and family, suffered serious physical, mental, and emotional injuries, been arrested multiple times (totaling three long years in jail), become homeless, and reached several points where I seriously considered suicide.
During that entire time, I had been in and out of AA, but for many personal reasons, it just wasn't a good fit for me. Some will say I didn't work the program, or that I was "constitutionally incapable of honesty," and so on. I never found this sort of shaming and shunning to be helpful in my recovery.
Court-mandated treatments did nothing for me, either. If a person is forced into recovery, their odds of success are less than average. Motivation for true change has to come from *within* - not from any external authority.
I also got into SMART Recovery, even going so far as training to be a meeting facilitator, but ultimately it felt too much like a hodge-podge of trendy tools than a complete, comprehensive program. Of course, "your mileage may vary."
So I moved on to Dharma Recovery, which I love and continue to study, but its specifically Buddhist flavor doesn't resonate with me the way I need it to. I'm a product of American culture and need something that speaks to that.
And I even did AVRT - the now-defunct "Rational Recovery" method by Jack Trimpey. I got a year sober out of it, which was great, but ultimately I found it to be a one-trick pony, and when the pony got tired, the booze came back. Even so, we use an adaptation of AVRT which we call SAVE in this program - we just don't use it as our only answer for everything. As a supplemental tool within the overall program, SAVE can work wonders.
However, despite somehow putting together a few years sober here and there over three decades, it seems that in order to reach the point of being inspired to create this program, I had some more "field research" to do in the ugly matter of being a mean, rotten, falling-down drunk. Maybe your problem isn't drinking, but I bet you know what I mean anyway.
Eventually, not so long ago, and after another disastrous relapse, I realized that if any program was going to work for me, I'd just have to go ahead and create it myself. I had just turned 50 and I was "sick and tired of being sick and tired of being sick and tired." I repeated the phrase an extra time so you can get a sense for how desperate I was to get off this roller coaster that had taken nearly everything from me, and would next take my life.
So, while broke and homeless, I used an overly large chunk of what little money I had to buy a domain and a hosting plan, and I got to work. What you see here is the result of that work - 30+ years of lived experience in battling the toughest enemy I'd ever faced.
I wanted to include a "tribute version" of the 12 Steps because of their proven effectiveness in helping many people in their recovery journeys - but I also realized it's not 1935 any more, and the language needed updating to make it more inclusive, less heavy-handed about God and religion, and more oriented to today's ongoing research in the substance use disorder field. There's been a lot of change in those 90 years, and change is what recovery is all about.
So I did that. Not everyone will agree with all of the revisions and additions I made, and that's OK. Just like the original 12 Steps, these are intended as "a suggested path of recovery." You can modify my modifications, if it works better for you. Be sure to tell us your experience with these revised steps, so we can work together to build a better program.
Finally, I added some of the best tools I took from SMART Recovery, CBT and DBT therapy, mindfulness, and other treatment modalities that have established their own track records of success for many people. But this program isn't just a mish-mash of "recovery stuff," it is a carefully-designed holistic approach that offers enough options that participants can successfully "take what works and leave the rest."
There are no sponsors. There are no group leaders. Nobody tells you what to do but yourself. There is no requirement for membership other than a desire to end your addiction(s). There are no fees, dues, or costs, besides the time and energy you'll need to put into the program to make it work for you.
Today, I'm still homeless. I'm still facing legal problems. And guess what? I'm still SOBER - thanks to applying the steps and techniques I'm giving you here.
My goal is not to oppose AA or other programs, nor to lure away their membership. If it's working for you, keep doing it. But if, like me, you've found yourself struggling with working the existing programs and suffered because of it, this may finally be your solution.
I hope and pray this will save other lives in addition to my own.   
|
