Finally back!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 662
Finally back!
Hey everyone! I haven't been on here in I don't even know how long but I just wanted to give a quick update and say to everyone!
I don't count days but I do count mile stones (3 months, 6 months, 1 year, year and a half etc. etc. I have over a year sober which is the longest I have been clean since I was 15 (26 now). I am still going to counseling once a month, going to my doctor every 6 months (for medicine for bipolar type 2) and have continued to stay off the grid so no one knows what my phone number is or where they can find me. The last thing I want is some of my old junkie friends- been over that for over a year we have nothing in common and friends you use with aren't friends to begin with.
The last two months I have implemented a diet change that takes out refined sugar, carbs, caffeine , and dairy which my doctor recommended for the best mental health for in combination to my medicines for even better mental health. I have also started walking 4-6 miles very day which has made me feel amazing physically. What I am basically saying that it isn't only about not using- it is about a whole entire life change. Being on the proper medicines, going to counseling, eating a specific diet, and staying active every day. There is no single way to make your recovery strong- you just need to do what your body is telling you and always move forward.
I also have decided I am going for my masters to become a substance counselor so I can help others and share my journey. Never just get comfortable with your recovery- always move forward and keep bettering yourself!
I am so glad to be back and am looking forward to talking to everyone again
I don't count days but I do count mile stones (3 months, 6 months, 1 year, year and a half etc. etc. I have over a year sober which is the longest I have been clean since I was 15 (26 now). I am still going to counseling once a month, going to my doctor every 6 months (for medicine for bipolar type 2) and have continued to stay off the grid so no one knows what my phone number is or where they can find me. The last thing I want is some of my old junkie friends- been over that for over a year we have nothing in common and friends you use with aren't friends to begin with.
The last two months I have implemented a diet change that takes out refined sugar, carbs, caffeine , and dairy which my doctor recommended for the best mental health for in combination to my medicines for even better mental health. I have also started walking 4-6 miles very day which has made me feel amazing physically. What I am basically saying that it isn't only about not using- it is about a whole entire life change. Being on the proper medicines, going to counseling, eating a specific diet, and staying active every day. There is no single way to make your recovery strong- you just need to do what your body is telling you and always move forward.
I also have decided I am going for my masters to become a substance counselor so I can help others and share my journey. Never just get comfortable with your recovery- always move forward and keep bettering yourself!
I am so glad to be back and am looking forward to talking to everyone again
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 662
Thank you guys! This is the first time I am actually fully throwing myself into my recovery and what I get out of my recovery is more than I could have imagined or dreamed of! For the first time I know that I am giving it my all and that has changed it all in my recovery. For the first time my addiction does not define me and that sure does feel great!
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 662
This is a perfect example why I will always try to make SR part of recovery no matter how hectic and busy things get! The support here always reminds me that no matter where you are in your life or your recovery that reaching out to others is so important- staying connected is a huge part of recovery.
A lot of the posts on here are of people in the first couple days, weeks, or months in recovery. The more of us that can be examples of that anything is possible no matter what s going in our lives, no matter how hard it can seem, and no matter what drug or quantity of drug you are on that- IT IS POSSIBLE AND IT WILL COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
A lot of the posts on here are of people in the first couple days, weeks, or months in recovery. The more of us that can be examples of that anything is possible no matter what s going in our lives, no matter how hard it can seem, and no matter what drug or quantity of drug you are on that- IT IS POSSIBLE AND IT WILL COMPLETELY CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Hi, AR. And congratulations on your success.
I don't necessarily like being the messenger in this case, but I've felt a responsibility to do it before, and I'm going to do it again. I think that this is an important enough and prevalent enough issue to say something about it.
I don't know you at all, so this has nothing to do with you personally. Please bear in mind that I have a great deal of both clinical and research experience in addictions, and I'm not interested in discouraging you from pursuing that which you want to do. I'm working on the assumption that you either are or are not familiar with working in the field of addictions.
Many people after some time in sobriety are lifted up by the often astonishing changes in their lives and in themselves. There is also often a prevailing sense of gratitude that can push us in the direction of wanting to help other people in meaningful ways, sometimes by pursuing a career in addiction counseling. Many people go into it with a great deal of enthusiasm and with the best intentions, work very hard, and become excellent at what they do. The other side of this reality is that the work is extremely demanding, often difficult and sometimes works against feelings of fulfillment. Though this may not be important to you, the pay is most often abysmally low. There is not an insignificant amount of people who wished they’d made a different choice.
I can't speak of where you are in NC, but the field is and has generally been flooded with people who made the choice to work in counseling. This is due in part to what I've described above. Many recovering addicts and alcoholics pursue careers in addiction counseling, and most places who hire them seem to prefer people who are in recovery, rather than people who've never had problems with addictions. It's very easy to burn out quickly in this field and, after time, the generally low pay, few and meager raises in salary, and the limited opportunities for advancement catch up to many.
I'm certain there are exceptions, and I've known a few of them, but I also think it's important to have a sense of what anyone making this choice is getting themselves into. Regularly dealing with what is predominantly among the worst kinds of human behavior is depleting on the very face of it, despite the fact that there are also times when we deal with the very best that people have to offer.
So, I would do as much research as you think you need before taking the plunge, perhaps even arranging to speak with people who've been working in the field. For many people, the work itself is inherently rewarding, and carries them through a meaningful and fulfilling career. It's just not for everyone.
There's a job posting here in NYC for an addiction counselor that I've been following for years after getting sober in 2011 after my relapse, and I'll tell you why. I thought I might start by doing addiction counseling to get back into the field, and that I would be an easy hire due to my background and experience. I knew several people who did that kind of work, in addition to my own experience, and asked them about what they felt about their work. I soon came to the decision that it would be better for me to start elsewhere before I could secure the kind of work best suited to my background and interests. And, in fact, my heart wasn't in it.
Anyway, the ad has remained posted, disappearing for a month or two a time. The location is in one of the better neighborhoods in the city, though that has little to do with the salary. For the first three years or so, the posted salary was 18K until it finally rose to 20K. More recently, it’s posted as 25K. In a time when it seems as though so many people are looking for work, and in a field that’s flooded with counselors, many of them who’ve earned a CASAC or its equivalent, I have to wonder why the same ad continues to reappear every so often, especially given what I know about the work.
If this is what you want to do, part of your dream, or another way to practice your purpose in life, then please move forward with it as best you can. Even so, it won’t hurt to take a realistic look at whatever it is you choose to do to build a better life for yourself.
I don't necessarily like being the messenger in this case, but I've felt a responsibility to do it before, and I'm going to do it again. I think that this is an important enough and prevalent enough issue to say something about it.
I don't know you at all, so this has nothing to do with you personally. Please bear in mind that I have a great deal of both clinical and research experience in addictions, and I'm not interested in discouraging you from pursuing that which you want to do. I'm working on the assumption that you either are or are not familiar with working in the field of addictions.
Many people after some time in sobriety are lifted up by the often astonishing changes in their lives and in themselves. There is also often a prevailing sense of gratitude that can push us in the direction of wanting to help other people in meaningful ways, sometimes by pursuing a career in addiction counseling. Many people go into it with a great deal of enthusiasm and with the best intentions, work very hard, and become excellent at what they do. The other side of this reality is that the work is extremely demanding, often difficult and sometimes works against feelings of fulfillment. Though this may not be important to you, the pay is most often abysmally low. There is not an insignificant amount of people who wished they’d made a different choice.
I can't speak of where you are in NC, but the field is and has generally been flooded with people who made the choice to work in counseling. This is due in part to what I've described above. Many recovering addicts and alcoholics pursue careers in addiction counseling, and most places who hire them seem to prefer people who are in recovery, rather than people who've never had problems with addictions. It's very easy to burn out quickly in this field and, after time, the generally low pay, few and meager raises in salary, and the limited opportunities for advancement catch up to many.
I'm certain there are exceptions, and I've known a few of them, but I also think it's important to have a sense of what anyone making this choice is getting themselves into. Regularly dealing with what is predominantly among the worst kinds of human behavior is depleting on the very face of it, despite the fact that there are also times when we deal with the very best that people have to offer.
So, I would do as much research as you think you need before taking the plunge, perhaps even arranging to speak with people who've been working in the field. For many people, the work itself is inherently rewarding, and carries them through a meaningful and fulfilling career. It's just not for everyone.
There's a job posting here in NYC for an addiction counselor that I've been following for years after getting sober in 2011 after my relapse, and I'll tell you why. I thought I might start by doing addiction counseling to get back into the field, and that I would be an easy hire due to my background and experience. I knew several people who did that kind of work, in addition to my own experience, and asked them about what they felt about their work. I soon came to the decision that it would be better for me to start elsewhere before I could secure the kind of work best suited to my background and interests. And, in fact, my heart wasn't in it.
Anyway, the ad has remained posted, disappearing for a month or two a time. The location is in one of the better neighborhoods in the city, though that has little to do with the salary. For the first three years or so, the posted salary was 18K until it finally rose to 20K. More recently, it’s posted as 25K. In a time when it seems as though so many people are looking for work, and in a field that’s flooded with counselors, many of them who’ve earned a CASAC or its equivalent, I have to wonder why the same ad continues to reappear every so often, especially given what I know about the work.
If this is what you want to do, part of your dream, or another way to practice your purpose in life, then please move forward with it as best you can. Even so, it won’t hurt to take a realistic look at whatever it is you choose to do to build a better life for yourself.
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 662
I don't even know where to start with all the inappropriate presumptions that you decided to make. For starters I now currently work in a methadone clinic as a counselor and the reason I work there is because I was compltely disgusted with how their counselors had no idea about what addition really is or feels like. I already have a degree in psychology...I already have a job lined up in a doctor's office where the atmosphere is the complete opposite that you described and I would know that because I have been seeing that doctor for years on and off. As for the pay, it is significantly higher then what you stated and anyway it is not an issue as my salary is not going to be the one taking care of the house or our family when we choose to have one.
To take it on yourself to basically tell me I can not handle the job, that it will be a shock and I will not handle it well, that the pay is so low when it is not in my case, and that basically you know everything which in fact everything you said is not true but it is completely accurate in my situation. It is unfortunate that this is the situation that you have dealt with- maybe it is time to find a better opportunity because not all experiences are as negative as yours.
I was not even going to answer, but the fact that you found it appropriate to make a comment like that is not only horribly inaccurate and depressing to anyone else who might be thinking about it decided if you thought it you HAD to say that to me made me figure maybe I HAD to answer you.
To take it on yourself to basically tell me I can not handle the job, that it will be a shock and I will not handle it well, that the pay is so low when it is not in my case, and that basically you know everything which in fact everything you said is not true but it is completely accurate in my situation. It is unfortunate that this is the situation that you have dealt with- maybe it is time to find a better opportunity because not all experiences are as negative as yours.
I was not even going to answer, but the fact that you found it appropriate to make a comment like that is not only horribly inaccurate and depressing to anyone else who might be thinking about it decided if you thought it you HAD to say that to me made me figure maybe I HAD to answer you.
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
I'd truly like to bring all this to a quick resolution, AR. I have no desire to fight with you. I have nothing against you or your plans for the future. Nor am I against the idea of counseling for addictions. And I don't see any of that in my comments. Being an addiction counselor is fulfilling for many people. It's as much a calling as it is a career. But, as is true of many jobs that involve helping people who are in a great deal of distress, it's not for everyone, and I think I did a good job of explaining why that is the case.
I'm very surprised at your anger towards me. I made no presumptions or accusations about you, and no statements about you personally, or about anyone else on the planet, except to assert my ignorance relative to your knowledge and experience. If you can show me where I did this, then I'm happy to apologize for doing so. There may be something in it for you as well if you choose to look for any personal insult that I may have given.
I began my comments by stating, "I don't know you at all, so this has nothing to do with you personally." And then, "I'm working on the assumption that you either are or are not familiar with working in the field of addictions." That's all of it.
I'm not an addiction counselor, nor have I ever been one. I'm a psychologist. I've worked on intimate terms with many counselors at residential, outpatient, and hospital-based facilities for about two decades, both clinically and in the course of doing research. I also have friends in the field, most of whom I've met in AA.
I think it's important to look at the addiction treatment industry as a whole instead of focusing on an individual situation that is anomalous in comparison with the entire field. Your training, education and experience are significantly different from the overwhelming majority of people who work under the title of "Addiction Counselor." Very few people in that field have the kind of background or work in the kind of setting that you've described.
Until relatively recently, one only needed a high school diploma or GED and have some time "in recovery" to be an addiction counselor. That all changed with the introduction of the title of Certified Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, commonly referred to as "CASAC." The last time I checked, a person could earn the certification in eighteen months or less.
In many but not all states, the minimum requirement for the title of Addiction Counselor is CASAC certification. The minimum requirements for the CASAC are a high school diploma or GED. It often helps to be in recovery. The most common settings for addiction counselors is in state-, county- or city-run facilities, and nonprofit organizations, each of which are notorious for offering low salaries. The addiction treatment industry relies on hiring people at low salaries, and with minimal educational requirements for its very existence. If this were not the case, the whole industry would collapse. Having a masters degree in social work or psychology among these practitioners is a rare occurrence and, as was the case with me, are typically hired on a part-time and/or consulting basis at a pay rate that the industry simply cannot either afford or sustain.
Again, I don't know how wide your experience is or has been in the industry except for what you described in your post, but the facts and the statistics on all of this are readily available and easy to find. I didn't make them up. All you need is a connection to the Internet. If I had one, my whole point is that it's not a good idea to get into a helping field, in this case, addiction counseling -- with, admittedly, not knowing your background -- without educating oneself about what the reality of the work is all about for a majority of people in the field.
I want to reiterate that I made not a single comment about you personally. I'm at a loss as to what it is you seem to want me to apologize for, or to acknowledge that I stated as a means of demeaning you or your work.
I'm very surprised at your anger towards me. I made no presumptions or accusations about you, and no statements about you personally, or about anyone else on the planet, except to assert my ignorance relative to your knowledge and experience. If you can show me where I did this, then I'm happy to apologize for doing so. There may be something in it for you as well if you choose to look for any personal insult that I may have given.
I began my comments by stating, "I don't know you at all, so this has nothing to do with you personally." And then, "I'm working on the assumption that you either are or are not familiar with working in the field of addictions." That's all of it.
I'm not an addiction counselor, nor have I ever been one. I'm a psychologist. I've worked on intimate terms with many counselors at residential, outpatient, and hospital-based facilities for about two decades, both clinically and in the course of doing research. I also have friends in the field, most of whom I've met in AA.
I think it's important to look at the addiction treatment industry as a whole instead of focusing on an individual situation that is anomalous in comparison with the entire field. Your training, education and experience are significantly different from the overwhelming majority of people who work under the title of "Addiction Counselor." Very few people in that field have the kind of background or work in the kind of setting that you've described.
Until relatively recently, one only needed a high school diploma or GED and have some time "in recovery" to be an addiction counselor. That all changed with the introduction of the title of Certified Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Counselor, commonly referred to as "CASAC." The last time I checked, a person could earn the certification in eighteen months or less.
In many but not all states, the minimum requirement for the title of Addiction Counselor is CASAC certification. The minimum requirements for the CASAC are a high school diploma or GED. It often helps to be in recovery. The most common settings for addiction counselors is in state-, county- or city-run facilities, and nonprofit organizations, each of which are notorious for offering low salaries. The addiction treatment industry relies on hiring people at low salaries, and with minimal educational requirements for its very existence. If this were not the case, the whole industry would collapse. Having a masters degree in social work or psychology among these practitioners is a rare occurrence and, as was the case with me, are typically hired on a part-time and/or consulting basis at a pay rate that the industry simply cannot either afford or sustain.
Again, I don't know how wide your experience is or has been in the industry except for what you described in your post, but the facts and the statistics on all of this are readily available and easy to find. I didn't make them up. All you need is a connection to the Internet. If I had one, my whole point is that it's not a good idea to get into a helping field, in this case, addiction counseling -- with, admittedly, not knowing your background -- without educating oneself about what the reality of the work is all about for a majority of people in the field.
I want to reiterate that I made not a single comment about you personally. I'm at a loss as to what it is you seem to want me to apologize for, or to acknowledge that I stated as a means of demeaning you or your work.
Member
Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Upstate NY, USA
Posts: 141
Endgame, if you feel like it, you could look at my reply to your reply on my "Day 1" post. This might help you to not be "at a loss". Oops, it's actually "" New day 1, pink cloud resident reporting"
EndGame
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: New York, NY
Posts: 4,677
Okay, so I looked.
First, I don't see that your thread or my comments in your thread have anything to do with my comments in this thread, and I don't know why you made the choice to do a crossover thing with it.
I didn't respond to your reply because I didn't believe that I had anything helpful to say in response to your comments.
Second, in answer to your question, "EndgameNYC, not sure where you got that I was saying "I can't". " I didn't ever write that you said "I can't." What I wrote was, ""I can't" used to be one of my favorite things to think and to say."
Your post provided a context in which I could discuss how self-defeating I used to be about many things, and that other people are or can be the same way when it comes to doing things to get sober, and in taking on any kind of real challenge in life generally. I thought that it was obvious that I wasn't speaking to you personally. I apologize for having offended you.
Third, I don't know where you got this: "If playing the "pompous to the newcomer" role helps your sobriety, by all means, have at it," but I don't think it's warranted. What helps me in sobriety is to see people learning from their suffering.
That's all I got.
First, I don't see that your thread or my comments in your thread have anything to do with my comments in this thread, and I don't know why you made the choice to do a crossover thing with it.
I didn't respond to your reply because I didn't believe that I had anything helpful to say in response to your comments.
Second, in answer to your question, "EndgameNYC, not sure where you got that I was saying "I can't". " I didn't ever write that you said "I can't." What I wrote was, ""I can't" used to be one of my favorite things to think and to say."
Your post provided a context in which I could discuss how self-defeating I used to be about many things, and that other people are or can be the same way when it comes to doing things to get sober, and in taking on any kind of real challenge in life generally. I thought that it was obvious that I wasn't speaking to you personally. I apologize for having offended you.
Third, I don't know where you got this: "If playing the "pompous to the newcomer" role helps your sobriety, by all means, have at it," but I don't think it's warranted. What helps me in sobriety is to see people learning from their suffering.
That's all I got.
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