Originally Posted by
Suzieq17 
Still sober, 50+ days.
Researched and made the appointment today to meet with a therapist/mental health professional.
I am not going to AA, because I feel like I need deeper healing. Now sober, I am realizing I have lots of issues I need to work through so I can become the person I am meant to be.
Someone said it well in another post, I am an addict. I abused and tried all sorts of stuff before I settled on alcohol, so my problems are bigger than just being an alcoholic. I am an addict, in recovery.
I’ve posted about family issues going on, my struggle to maintain sobriety during it—and the family issues are not going away. I’m not coping well, and I needed to reach out—so I did.
Wish me luck. Nervous about it, but I cannot maintain my sobriety without addressing the underlying issues and I need help.
I’ll post progress.
Hey Suzie,
Congratulations on making that call and on your sober time. I'm not clean at the moment but when I first came into recovery back in 2012 I went to NA meetings and did nothing else. I currently see a counsellor weekly and I'm on meds for depression. I really wish I'd started seeing a mental health professional back when I first stopped using. I've needed to sort out my mental health for years but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Now it feels like a giant weight is off my shoulders.
I realised I had issues other than my addiction and that I needed to deal with them. It took me ages to book a therapy appointment. I went through my doctor but I only got 6 or 8 appointments. I finished those then booked with another service and stopped going after a few sessions. I've started seeing the same service again and in the last few weeks, we've started going into some really deep stuff from my childhood and teenage years. It's really beginning to feel positive and like a really major part of my recovery. I'm planning on doing counselling and NA at the same time.
I wish you the very best on your journey and really hope that you get what you need from your appointments. You've made such a big step and whilst it may be painful at times I find it so therapeutic, hopefully, you do too.
Good luck Suzie!!!
Natom