Old 11-08-2012, 07:43 PM
  # 9 (permalink)  
allforcnm
Member
 
allforcnm's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2012
Posts: 1,927
Yes to everything the both of you are doing.

Your story is much like mine. Husband hooked on opiates, Benzos. He used for about a year and then decided he needed to stop; not because any major disaster happened, he was highly functional, held down a good job, paid his bills, etc. but he said he was tired of living that way and realized he needed to be off drugs to have the life he wanted for himself; his family, his career, his dreams.

My husband did Non-12 step rehab, no Suboxone but the key for him was the 1:1 sessions at the rehab with the doctors. He is 7+ months clean now and doing really well. He still sees his doctor once a week and will continue for a while. (He is not part of AA/NA; doesn't do meetings).

I started working with my own therapist 1:1 while he was in rehab, and it helped me so much- so I would highly recommend you going ahead and giving it a try. (I've never done Al anon).

And last, fortunately his rehab encouraged family participation and so I was involved from the beginning; and we started marriage counseling after he was about 6 weeks clean. It was the biggest blessing to us both. Obviously there were lots of issues and we went through them one by one, learned to communicate what we were feeling as he went through treatment. He also says it helped him deal with, and heal many of the things related to our marriage that had caused him guilt, regret, pain, and was previously an place of self pity for him, and an opening for his wanting the numbing effects of drugs. So I would recommend the couples counseling, even early in his recovery based on our experience.

We still had ups and downs; so expect that. But if he is serious and sticks with his plan then he can beat this. And just as a warning; he may fall again during this process, but what matters is that he gets back up, and keeps down the path. Also important is that you realize if he slips, it is not personal against you, and not your fault.

Definitely take care of yourself, nurture yourself during this time with things that bring you peace and joy, and lean on family, friends, and doggie may disagree but go ahead and vent to him if necessary. Our dog definitely got an earful; luckily he can't write a tell-all about his wacky mom and dad.
allforcnm is offline