MLJ88

I have been struggling to find Nar-Anon groups in my area- seriously the closest one is an hour away. I found an Al-Anon group about 30 mins away but It only meets once a month. My church recently started a group called 'Celebrate Recovery' from my understanding- it's more tailored toward recovering addicts but the leader did tell me that they have family members of active users who are attending as well, and that they do have a support system put in place for loved ones of addicts.

I was really hoping to find Nar-Anon, but I need some sort of a support group. Do you think it will be beneficial for me to be in a group that offers support to both recovering addicts and the loved ones?

Kindeyes

Quite honestly, anything that has the potential to work for you is worth investigation. Sometimes......the support of other people who understand because they've experienced something similar is what we need. Don't discount anything that might help you.

I know a lot of people who go to Al-Anon. I've never been to Celebrate Recovery but if they have something in place to benefit the loved ones of addicts, I'd say it's worth a try.

I've also done private therapy, yoga, and meditation. It all helped.

I think the most important thing is......take care of you......whatever that looks like to you.

gentle hugs
ke

MLJ88

Thanks and I think your right- something is better then nothing. I am considering some private counseling as well. But one step at a time- and I think I need to start with a support group.

lizwig

I agree with Kindeyes. All support is good. My son is an addict but I attend al-anon for the same reasons you state. I also attend an open AA meeting a couple of times a month. I get something different from each group. From al-anon I feel I get tools to help with my acceptance, boundaries, etc. In the open AA meeting I find the hope I tend to lack sometimes. This meeting shows me people can recover and lead very productive lives once THEY commit to wanting sobriety. I care about the people in both meetings very much and am always appreciative of all I've learned from them. I've heard good things about Celebrate Recovery as a support system as well. I know how much courage it takes to walk through those doors but can assure you, once you do, you'll wonder why the heck you waited so long!

BlueChair

Ive looked into Celebrate Recovery because Im not intersted in either al-anon or nar-anon for myself. I am really drawn to Celebrate recovery and there are several people here who have shared with me their great experiences, maybe they will see your thread and post to you.

Some of the things I like about it are they dont use any labels, and it is recovery for all types of things hangups, hurts, harmful behaviors, whatever ails you ! They are christ centered which I like and they use the bible and scripture. I have done a lot of reading on Rick Warren who is a founder of the group and read his book A Purpose Driven Life and it was really good. I also ordered the celebrate recovery daily devotional and its truly based on scripture.

I talked to someone at the local church where the meetings are held and she answered all my questions, no beating around the bush, no being vague, nothing that left me with unanswered questions or doubts.

Also what I like is they have a large group service with everyone, and then they split off into separate groups based on men/women and then what type of thing ails you. The one by us also has a full dinner before it begins, but you dont have to do that part.

I havent tried one because Im doing counseling twice a week, one session with my husband. I would like to tell him about the program, and see if he would like to attend with me, but right now he is doing all this counseling also and its almost more than we can both handle. When things slow down Im going to try it, hopefully he will try it with me.

If you go please report back on it, or send me a message Id love to hear your experience.

MLJ88

Thank you so much for your feedback.

Lizwig- yes the exact reason why I wanted Nar-Anon was to help me with my acceptance and boundaries. So I really hope I find that with celebrate recovery. I need to accept my husbands path that he is on- and right now I am not there at all. I am scared to walk through those doors, but I'm sure I will not regret it.

Blue chair- wow thanks- you have provided a lot of insight about celebrate recovery. I didn't realize it was a support system for all things in life- I thought I was really for people in recovery for alcohol and substance abuse. So thank you for that. I need to do some research on it. I do like that it is faith based, bc right now I'm really looking to get as close to God as possible. I went through a period of losing my faith bc I let my AH disease take me to a dark place- I'm just recently finding my way back to God and loving it. I will give you feed back as soon as I have gone to a meeting- I look forward to checking it out.

LoveMeNow

I took a 10 week class (support group) called Untangling Relationships, Codependency from a Christian perspective. The book was a workbook as well. It was the best thing I have done for myself, that and therapy. I learned so much about myself, my own codependent issues (which I believe everyone has to some degree or another) and the support was great. You could check with your local churches as many are offering it in my area. I, also, attended a bible study on fear which was very helpful too.

MLJ88

LMN- I will look into that. I know that I have codependency issues and I really need to tackle them. I have spent so many years focused on my AH- even before he struggled with addiction. Somehow I have always put his needs before mine, somehow I have let it control my life. Over the years I have become dependent on him and through that I have developed a fear of living without him. I need recovery in the worst way.

allforcnm

I cant share about Celebrate Recovery specifically, because my husband and I both worked recovery through the therapy route, and handled spiritual aspects by becoming more involved with our own church. That is what I wanted to share with you – our church participates with Saddleback church (where Rick Warren is Pastor), and they offer multi week series that Ive found very helpful. The one we are currently doing is called ’50 Days of Transformation”. We have done several others and they have all been very good. Saddleback website also has lots of book recommendations, free sermons, and other info. Thought you might want to check that out as Pastor Rick is the backbone of Celebrate Recovery.

hopeful4

Good Morning!

I am a leader at our local Celebrate Recovery. I have been attending for four years. I am codependent, my husband is an alcoholic that uses Xanax also.

CR is for anyone with a hurt, habit, or hangup which from what I can see is everyone LOL. Ours has a dinner all together which some attend and some do not. We then go to a large group which has some worship combined with either a lesson or a testimony. The lessons and testimonies are wonderful!

You then break into small groups according to what your issue is, men go w/men, women with women. Our women's groups are: Chemical Dependency, Codependency, and Everything Under the Sun. The small groups to me are the meat and bones of the program. It is where you share what is going on in your own life and it gives you a chance to really open up. I have also done a 12 step study which goes back and examines your own life and was an amazing and freeing experience for me.

Our CR has been going for quite a while and is extremely well run. We have tons of support from the church also. I truly think you should try it out and see if it's for you. They should offer a Newcomers Class that you would attend one time that explains it all.

I really hope you go. CR is what pulled me out of a horrible place I was in and actually taught me how to recover myself.

And what the above poster says, CR was founded at Saddleback Church. I went to the CR Summit there and it was a life changing experience for me. Rick Warren, John Baker, and Johnny Baker are amazing people. Their programs are wonderful and alot of them are online.

God Bless!

MLJ88

Thank you so much for all the feedback! I am currently looking for a sitter for my son so that I can attend CR tonight. I hope I can find one bc I am really looking forward to giving CR a try. I need this right now. I need to help myself while my AH goes through his battle.

Kindeyes

MLJ88
Please remember that just because something doesn't appeal to one person, it doesn't mean that it doesn't have value for you or others.

I hope that Celebrate Recovery helps you with coping with your husband's addiction. As I mentioned before, anything that helps you is worthwhile.

Here is the link for the Nar-Anon Meeting look up.....I'm not sure where in Michigan you are but there are quite a few meetings throughout the state....they just may not be close to you.

http://nar-anon.org/naranon/taxonomy/term/51

gentle hugs
ke

hopeful4

Check with your CR. Ours has a sitter avaliable to you free of charge, they are wonderful people. They also offer a program for children and for teens. Yours may not have that set up yet b/c they are new, or they might. Hope you enjoy going!

MLJ88

Kindeyes- thank you and yes I do really want to find Nar-Anom but unfortunately the closest one is an hour away, with a toddler it's not easy getting a sitter for that long. So in the mean time I am going to check out CR and hope they can provide me the support I am looking for. I'm also going to do a lot of my own Nar-Anon homework through the Internet and whatever resources I can find to supplement what I learn at CR.

Kindeyes

I think its just great that you are looking for help and have come to realize that this is a burden that does not have to be carried alone. I have never been to Celebrate Recovery but I'm supportive of anything that helps the loved ones of addicts...addiction is just to heavy to try to handle alone. I've had to employ LOTS of things to really find relief, peace, understanding, and compassion.

I'll look forward to your future posts! Keep taking care of you!

gentle hugs
ke

Ann

This is a Step Study for Codependents written by Melody Beattie, the author of Language of Letting Go and Codependent No More...two excellent books that have helped many of us in our recovery here.

It was printed here with permission by her people and I hope it helps you at home when you are unable to get out to a meeting...



http://www.soberrecovery.com/forums/...ependents.html

MLJ88

Thank you so much Ann! I can't wait to start reading it.

cynical one

Does anyone know what CR's philosophy is on whether or not substance abuse is a disease or a behavior? I've never been able to find that.

Kindeyes

Going to try again.

MLJ88

Cynical one- I will try to find that out for you. When I can get to a meeting. Unfortunately I was unable to track down a sitter for tonight so I have to sit this one out ( so bummed). My church offers day care for the weekend services but they haven't put it in place yet for this group (the church just started the group). I'm hell bent on going, so I'm already tracking down a sitter for the next meeting.

I will give everyone feedback after I go to the first one. I will call the thread " my first CR meeting."