Good for you stairs.
....and even for the AA crowd, "go to any lengths" right? That sounds like a good "length" to go to for you Stairs.
I did outpatient for 3 yrs (+ or -). 2yrs were court-ordered, the last one was because I liked it. Still like it.....just couldn't afford it - for now.
One word of advice I'd offer: Don't EXPECT it to feel good.
Therapists have a tough job....if they tell you what you need to hear, you may not like hearing it. If you don't like it, you may go somewhere else to hear what you want to hear. If they just tell you what you want to hear......are they really helping you?
My experience in therapy was similar to doing 4th step inventory and 5th step sharing - it set me free in a lot of areas.........but it kicked my butt along the way. If it was a pleasant meeting.....or a pat-me-on-the-head session.....I'd get bothered and call the therapist out. Hell, I was there to get some work done.... I have all the delusional drinking buddies in the world to tell me what a great guy I am.
I had a lifetime of professional body-burying. My psyche was full of rotting corpses only I didn't know where they were. Sure could sense them though, ya know? A good therapist will have some ideas on where to look.....and some tools on how to help you dig that stuff up. As for dealing with what I discovered.....I can't say enough about AA and the steps. That's where I learned to live life WITH all that crap.......to do it sober.....and to do it with a smile at the end of the day.