Day 3-AA
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
Day 3-AA
Well, I got my assessment from the substance abuse counselor. Guess what? I'm a drunk! 
"You're self referred?"
Yep.
"And you de-toxed yourself?"
Yep.
"Let me tell you about our group therapy....."
I'm not a group therapy guy. My insurance company also leaves me with a nice $4000 bill at the end. So for right now, I'm going the AA route. It's not like the IOP program is going anywhere, right?
I just don't see that program as being the most effective for me. I fear I'd be bored to tears, and that would kill some motivation.
On the way home I stopped at a little carryout and got a 24-ouncer....... of Monster energy drink. Holy crap I coulda bought 2 beers for that price. Guy in front of me in line, 11:30 AM, buying a 12 of Bud light. He was glancing around to see if anybody he knew saw him. That stiffened my resolve.
"You're self referred?"
Yep.
"And you de-toxed yourself?"
Yep.
"Let me tell you about our group therapy....."
I'm not a group therapy guy. My insurance company also leaves me with a nice $4000 bill at the end. So for right now, I'm going the AA route. It's not like the IOP program is going anywhere, right?
I just don't see that program as being the most effective for me. I fear I'd be bored to tears, and that would kill some motivation.
On the way home I stopped at a little carryout and got a 24-ouncer....... of Monster energy drink. Holy crap I coulda bought 2 beers for that price. Guy in front of me in line, 11:30 AM, buying a 12 of Bud light. He was glancing around to see if anybody he knew saw him. That stiffened my resolve.
Member
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 426
Yeah I know that feeling at the store. That 'I wonder if they remember that I was in here yesterday" feeling and that "wonder if they know what I am going to do with that handle of vodka". If they ask i'll say "oh i'm having some friends over...it's great for mixing with juice". I had it all planned out. They never asked. They probably guessed correctly the truth...if they were not srunks, they were smarter than me.
Good luck and keep up the good work
Good luck and keep up the good work
Member
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: South Dakota, USA
Posts: 1,429
I did not go to IOP either. It was recommended to me but I thought I would try AA and see if that worked. For me, it did. But I would encourage anyone who may need more to do as much as needed to maintain sobriety. We have to be willing to go to any length to achieve our sobriety goal. Good luck, and put in the work. We will get out of it what we put into it. 
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
What's annoying is I can't find a meeting in my area until 8:30. That's a horrible time for me to be passing the seven or so carryouts between here and there. Trying to find a 4:00 somewhere. Little rough right now. Anxious as hell. Pulse is up. Well, it's less than 72 hours so I assume I'm still de-toxing.
Helped just to type that.
Helped just to type that.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
I too went directly to AA....tho I had no idea of what
it was about or what to expect.
Nary a pre-conceived notion....
I've been an active AA member for years...
had many ups and downs...sad and glad times ..but...
one thing I've never been.....is bored in AA!
Enjoy your new adventure ....
it was about or what to expect.
Nary a pre-conceived notion....
I've been an active AA member for years...
had many ups and downs...sad and glad times ..but...
one thing I've never been.....is bored in AA!
Enjoy your new adventure ....
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
welcome to the club!
LOL, I remember getting mad at a therapist I was seeing because they were billing my insurance company $150 and all we did was BS about tv and the news. I'll show him.... I'm gonna quit his therapy and go do some of that free AA stuff!
Yer right though, I guess if aa ever stops working, I can always hit that therapist back up again.
LOL, I remember getting mad at a therapist I was seeing because they were billing my insurance company $150 and all we did was BS about tv and the news. I'll show him.... I'm gonna quit his therapy and go do some of that free AA stuff!
Yer right though, I guess if aa ever stops working, I can always hit that therapist back up again.
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
I decided to go to 90 meetings in 90 days, which I feel got me off to a good start. Some people will tell you that 90/90 isn't enough--and it isn't, if all you do is drag your butt to a meeting, sit there, and go home when it's over. Most people do best in AA if they get a sponsor and work the steps. There's a guy in one of my groups who's fond of saying, "Why join a 12-step group unless you're gonna work the steps?"
The main advantage of IOP is that it's structured and there's some built-in accountability. If you go to AA on your own, you have to supply the structure and accountability--which is why a sponsor comes in handy.
When you go to meetings, listen to people sharing, who really seem to have what you want. Talk to those people before or after the meeting, and ask one of them to sponsor you. A sponsor is really like a mentor, or guide, to help you work the steps. If the first person you ask doesn't work out for some reason, you can ask someone else.
The main advantage of IOP is that it's structured and there's some built-in accountability. If you go to AA on your own, you have to supply the structure and accountability--which is why a sponsor comes in handy.
When you go to meetings, listen to people sharing, who really seem to have what you want. Talk to those people before or after the meeting, and ask one of them to sponsor you. A sponsor is really like a mentor, or guide, to help you work the steps. If the first person you ask doesn't work out for some reason, you can ask someone else.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
Well, I found a 7:00 AA "Beginners Meeting", so that's where I'm headed.
There's no way I can thank you people enough for the help you've given me these last couple days, getting through the very very early stages. I've seen myself in so much of what you've said, and I can relate to so many of you. You've really helped solidify my thinking towards sobriety.
A neighbor, my kids' 4-H leader, dropped by with a couple bags of clothes for the kids. Her kids are older and they're doing a closet cleaning. I walked out to her car, and I wasn't drunk, and I was fully aware of it at the time. It was a great victory to me.
I'll check in after my meeting.
There's no way I can thank you people enough for the help you've given me these last couple days, getting through the very very early stages. I've seen myself in so much of what you've said, and I can relate to so many of you. You've really helped solidify my thinking towards sobriety.
A neighbor, my kids' 4-H leader, dropped by with a couple bags of clothes for the kids. Her kids are older and they're doing a closet cleaning. I walked out to her car, and I wasn't drunk, and I was fully aware of it at the time. It was a great victory to me.
I'll check in after my meeting.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
Do these tokens work at Chucky Cheeses? 
Nice group. They handed around a book of the local meetings and wrote all their phone numbers in it. "Use those numbers!", I was ordered. Very relaxed. I was quite comfortable, really, since I already knew I was a drunk. Feels good.
On the way home, a cop pulled behind me, and my heartrate went up as usual. What if he pulls me over? Watch the swerving! Will he smell it? Are all the beer cans under wraps?
Then I just had to laugh. Old habits and all that crap....
Nice group. They handed around a book of the local meetings and wrote all their phone numbers in it. "Use those numbers!", I was ordered. Very relaxed. I was quite comfortable, really, since I already knew I was a drunk. Feels good.
On the way home, a cop pulled behind me, and my heartrate went up as usual. What if he pulls me over? Watch the swerving! Will he smell it? Are all the beer cans under wraps?
Then I just had to laugh. Old habits and all that crap....
12-Step Recovered Alkie
Join Date: May 2010
Location: West Bloomfield, MI
Posts: 5,797
Very cool.
Wanna make someone's night for free? Pick a couple names, call those guys, and say "thanks for putting your name and number on my packet tonight." It's a nice gesture and nobody does it anymore.
Congrats on going to the meeting too.
Wanna make someone's night for free? Pick a couple names, call those guys, and say "thanks for putting your name and number on my packet tonight." It's a nice gesture and nobody does it anymore.
Congrats on going to the meeting too.
Forward we go...side by side-Rest In Peace
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Serene In Dixie
Posts: 36,740
Those members who gave you their numbers?
They really do want you to call....just to say Hi
and Thanks......if nothing else....
It's a good way to get acquainted and when you
hit a rough spot....it's easier to call
If one does not answer...keep going down the list.
It's a good idea to make at least one contact
per day with members.
I'm always thrilled when a new member calls me!
I'm glad you did go.
They really do want you to call....just to say Hi
and Thanks......if nothing else....
It's a good way to get acquainted and when you
hit a rough spot....it's easier to call
If one does not answer...keep going down the list.
It's a good idea to make at least one contact
per day with members.
I'm always thrilled when a new member calls me!
I'm glad you did go.
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
When the sewer backed up into my basement on day four, I pulled out that meeting list and called one of the women on that list. She calmed me down, and told me to call her back later to let her know how I was doing.
I have a TERRIBLE time picking up the phone--I'm always afraid I'm bothering someone. But people really ARE glad to have someone call. It's good for their OWN sobriety. And you know what? Practicing calling really does make it easier.
I remember a newcomer once called me right after I'd come home from a meeting and was gettin' all comfy. She'd just gotten home and her roommates were taunting her to get her to drink. I got myself un-comfy and met her at a diner for dessert and coffee. She cried, we talked, she had a plan when she left.
Since then she's been in and out seven or eight times. We still go out for coffee when she shows up from her latest experiment with toughing it out on her own. She may not have stayed sober, but *I* did.
I have a TERRIBLE time picking up the phone--I'm always afraid I'm bothering someone. But people really ARE glad to have someone call. It's good for their OWN sobriety. And you know what? Practicing calling really does make it easier.
I remember a newcomer once called me right after I'd come home from a meeting and was gettin' all comfy. She'd just gotten home and her roommates were taunting her to get her to drink. I got myself un-comfy and met her at a diner for dessert and coffee. She cried, we talked, she had a plan when she left.
Since then she's been in and out seven or eight times. We still go out for coffee when she shows up from her latest experiment with toughing it out on her own. She may not have stayed sober, but *I* did.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
Well it's getting a little late now, but I'll try to call a couple tomorrow that are obviously cell phones from work. I really did appreciate that gesture.
That's terrible, Lexie. Maybe going to the apartment with a baseball bat would have helped?
That's terrible, Lexie. Maybe going to the apartment with a baseball bat would have helped?
A work in progress
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: South Jersey
Posts: 16,633
Originally Posted by BoutDamnTime 
Do these tokens work at Chucky Cheeses?
Silly, maybe, but I REALLY looked forward to getting those chips every month. I posted my sobriety date at an AA forum, and some guy in Portland, whom I've never met, sent me a "virtual coin" every month on my anniversary date for the first year.
On the way home, a cop pulled behind me, and my heartrate went up as usual. What if he pulls me over? Watch the swerving! Will he smell it? Are all the beer cans under wraps?
Then I just had to laugh. Old habits and all that crap....
Then I just had to laugh. Old habits and all that crap....
Sounds like you had a good experience. May I suggest that you "keep coming back"?
Member
Join Date: May 2009
Posts: 14,937
I could have done IOP and did some research on what that involved and the rubric that is used to recommend IOP vs. straight OP (mr. analytical here). Knowing myself better that an intake counselor who spent 20 minutes with me I felt that straight OP was a better match. I got a second opinion from my wife so I went the OP route. I couldn't justify the $4000 expense with a kid in college when AA costs me $1 per meeting.
So I went to group out patient counseling for a month and got nothing out of it, a few people with "really serious" drug issues tended to be the focus of the meetings. The information the therapist covered was so basic, I didn't get anything out of it. And in between out patient meetings he recommended going to AA, which I was already doing at the time. I found that on a scale from 1 - 10, the value AA was providing for me was a 9.5 and the value of weekly OP was a 1.5. So I quit OP, and now I just do AA. I can always go back to OP or even IOP if I want to, but I doubt that I will. However, if I ever start drinking again I will do what ever it takes to stop, so I'm not ruling anything out.
So I went to group out patient counseling for a month and got nothing out of it, a few people with "really serious" drug issues tended to be the focus of the meetings. The information the therapist covered was so basic, I didn't get anything out of it. And in between out patient meetings he recommended going to AA, which I was already doing at the time. I found that on a scale from 1 - 10, the value AA was providing for me was a 9.5 and the value of weekly OP was a 1.5. So I quit OP, and now I just do AA. I can always go back to OP or even IOP if I want to, but I doubt that I will. However, if I ever start drinking again I will do what ever it takes to stop, so I'm not ruling anything out.
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 163
I couldn't justify the $4000 expense with a kid in college when AA costs me $1 per meeting.
So I went to group out patient counseling for a month and got nothing out of it, a few people with "really serious" drug issues tended to be the focus of the meetings. The information the therapist covered was so basic, I didn't get anything out of it.
That was my fear. There were going to be lots of films and lectures and "alcohol education". 3.5 hours per night 3 nights a week. Oh, yeah, and AA.
I really wasn't sure what a LSW was going to tell me about alcohol. Stories of the stupid crap people do to screw up their lives by drinking? Really?
What's the pay for an adjunct lecturer? Cuz I got some stories for you!
So I went to group out patient counseling for a month and got nothing out of it, a few people with "really serious" drug issues tended to be the focus of the meetings. The information the therapist covered was so basic, I didn't get anything out of it.
That was my fear. There were going to be lots of films and lectures and "alcohol education". 3.5 hours per night 3 nights a week. Oh, yeah, and AA.
I really wasn't sure what a LSW was going to tell me about alcohol. Stories of the stupid crap people do to screw up their lives by drinking? Really?
What's the pay for an adjunct lecturer? Cuz I got some stories for you!
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