Ever work steps with therapist.
 

For more than one reason I can't/don't want to attend local ACoA meetings. Even if I wanted to attend I would be lucky to get to 1 a month. I do have therapist I see on a regular basis.

What are your thoughts on working program with her? I brought it up and she seems very knowledgeable. In fact she talked as if she knows about it first hand. I thought about going in next appointment with my big red book and asking her if we can chew through it and have her guide me.

Seems like it should work?

Thoughts?

Cant hurt to try it? Give it a shot! I hope it works out for you : )

I'm with Spalding - couldn't hurt. Even if you end up with a modified step therapy thingy, it can't be any worse than doing nothing.

I do attend meetings, and I do the steps with a fellow traveler. I am also thinking of finding a therapist to do them with, or to get another perspective on them. Why not?

A friend of mine once said: It makes sense to avail oneself of all the help one can get.

My problem with it is a practical one. I can't find a therapist who does, or could. I live in the UK. When I search I can find loads stateside, but none this side of the pond.

... Or my searching is as flawed as my thinking. Go on I dare someone to tell me the truth :-)

It's worth a try!! I'm interested in hearing how it goes for you!

I've had two therapists over the years, both were great!!

I find that meetings and the ACA steps help me understand the "big picture." Talking with other ACA's relieved me of the fear of being "unique", that I was somehow flawed or "broken" as a person. ACA showed me that what I have is just a form of PTSD, no different than any other person who was raised in chaos.

Therapy gave me specific actions and exercises with which to repair my injured self. I used to be painfully shy, ACA showed me that my shyness was just absence of experience in social settings. Therapy showed me _how_ to develop social skills, one little bit at a time.

My personal experience is that I would have healed with either ACA or therapy, doing _both_ made the healing much, much faster.

Mike :)

I did not formally work all of the steps with my therapist last year but I made him aware I was working them. It was exceedingly helpful during Step 4 as it was during that time I realized I was ACoA and I had a lot of FOO to review. Having a therapist helped Step 4 immensely.

It definitely cannot hurt to ask. Best of luck!

To complete step 4, my sponsor suggested that I write my life story to find patterns in my behavior. IT was LOONG, but well worth it.

At step 5, my sponsor stated that since we were different gender, that I might want to find a male sponsor (VERY few males in my AL-Anon groups).

Without a sponsor, I turned to my counselor. I read my entire life story to him in our sessions. Not all of the sessions were the life story, but it was the bulk of sessions for several months.

I went to counseling before I went to AL-Anon. My counselor was the one that suggested AL-Anon. I do both things for my recovery. I need ALL of the help I can get.

That's pretty much what I did for a very long time...was not ready for groups yet. It was super helpful.