2 years of rehab (part two)
Mark967
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Durham NC
Posts: 9
2 years of rehab (part two)
So some people may be wondering what I mean't by 2 years in rehab. Well I was technically two years in a therapeutic community. The community is the second largest in the country. My experience was a unique one. I realized during my time there that undoing 20+ years of alcohol and drug abuse was just not possible for me in a 30 (or even 90) day program.
I have to honestly say that it was 6 months before my thinking began to change and I could tell it was changing. I believe this is due to the fact that alcohol and drugs over a long period of time change your brain. This is has been supported by medical research over the past 20 or so years. So it was just going to take time to reverse the damage I had done for all those years. Physically the symptoms cleared up in the first 90 days or so, but that proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for me personally. During the past two years I have been learning to live "life" in recovery.
As far as the program itself, it was not just coffee and classes. The program is free (who could afford two years in rehab without winning the lottery), but as a resident you work 6 days a week (or more) eight hours a day in one of the businesses that support the program. That time does not include all the classes and counseling that go on in rehab., that comes after the work day. In effect one is working for their recovery. What this does is put the accountability for ones recovery on them (not someone who is being paid by the insurance companies etc.). It also makes you take a look at your own behaviors that led to your addiction, along with 300 or so people with the same kind of issues of addiction.
Don't get me wrong, a therapeutic community is not for everyone. My case was so sever that I really feel I would not be alive right now if I hadn't chosen to take two years of my life to start getting better.
I have changed, I could not do it on my own. Now it is time for me to keep my recovery in action. It is also time for me to give back to those still suffering, that helps me stay in recovery. That program has afforded me a chance to get my CSAC certification and go back to university for a Masters in Psychology. I hope to be a fully licensed substance abuse counselor within 5 years. The alternative was the streets and death for me
I do this because I never, ever want to return to those terrible "dark days" of active addiction.
I am grateful. (sorry this was so long, but I wanted to be clear where I come from)
I have to honestly say that it was 6 months before my thinking began to change and I could tell it was changing. I believe this is due to the fact that alcohol and drugs over a long period of time change your brain. This is has been supported by medical research over the past 20 or so years. So it was just going to take time to reverse the damage I had done for all those years. Physically the symptoms cleared up in the first 90 days or so, but that proved to be just the tip of the iceberg for me personally. During the past two years I have been learning to live "life" in recovery.
As far as the program itself, it was not just coffee and classes. The program is free (who could afford two years in rehab without winning the lottery), but as a resident you work 6 days a week (or more) eight hours a day in one of the businesses that support the program. That time does not include all the classes and counseling that go on in rehab., that comes after the work day. In effect one is working for their recovery. What this does is put the accountability for ones recovery on them (not someone who is being paid by the insurance companies etc.). It also makes you take a look at your own behaviors that led to your addiction, along with 300 or so people with the same kind of issues of addiction.
Don't get me wrong, a therapeutic community is not for everyone. My case was so sever that I really feel I would not be alive right now if I hadn't chosen to take two years of my life to start getting better.
I have changed, I could not do it on my own. Now it is time for me to keep my recovery in action. It is also time for me to give back to those still suffering, that helps me stay in recovery. That program has afforded me a chance to get my CSAC certification and go back to university for a Masters in Psychology. I hope to be a fully licensed substance abuse counselor within 5 years. The alternative was the streets and death for me
I do this because I never, ever want to return to those terrible "dark days" of active addiction.
I am grateful. (sorry this was so long, but I wanted to be clear where I come from)
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