miamifella

I think this sounds like a great idea. (I never heard the term "accountability partner" before but I think it also sounds great.)

I just remember how alone I felt in early recovery (and at times later). I never had the kind sponsor who could get that involved. (Where do you find one with that kind of free time?) Looking back I realize that I was on my own in a strange town and even just having someone to talk to would have helped a good deal.

So whatever works, works. I guess if you can find a sponsor willing to be that available, great. But that is not something everyone can get.

Peter G

Not sure if that was meant as facetious or not (), but trust me when I tell you that bodyguards/security/bouncers are the last people you would see doing the work I saw going on. You're likely right in one respect though, I'm almost sure a few record companies and movie studios tasked jobs like that to the ubiquitous "bodyguard".

As I mentioned however, this particular bloke was a trained employee at the rehab my friend had successfully graduated from... and if I remember correctly an addiction specialist himself. Of course 9 years is a long time for my memory to be 100% correct, so I might be wrong by saying "specialist". I do remember he carried credentials and a background specific to addiction councelling though. As an aside, in this case he might have weighed a buck 15, and I doubt he could have successfully bounced a tennis ball .

What I personally saw of his effectiveness didn't come from any board certification though, I just saw someone who knew as much (if not more) about alcoholism, relapses, and the subculture we lived in as much as anyone I'd ever met, me included. From my limited perspective I could see that he was extremely hip to the dangers that normally befall us addicts/alcoholics. In fact he notoriously got in front of a lot of tricky spots that I personally experienced, just from hanging with my mate later down the road. There were a few times when heaps of us half lit-up animals would end up at a Denny's instead of an after-party, thanks to his angling and subtle maneuvering. I can definitely remember wondering - more than once - how the hell I ended up staring at a plate of bacon and eggs and not a gram of coke and an open bar. I honestly used to joke that they were becoming a "bad" influence lol. Of course this was a few solid years before I rocketed towards bottom myself.

Bodyguards serve an entirely different purpose as a rule, but that's not to suggest there aren't some very insightful security dudes out there in the world, wholly capable of being helpful in that respect. In my experience though, security is usually populated by the guys who go out and find you drugs and booze. Generally speaking of course, but they're usually the blokes who have drug dealers, after-hours and bootleggers digits on speed dial, along with a case full of benzos in their luggage. They're not the guys talking you out of anything, except an occasional crowd full of knuckleheads.

DayTrader

Peter......BHF.......

Thanks. You guys taught me something new. LOL...and it was a case, once again, of me thinking I know something that, as it turns out, is really EXACTLY WRONG........again.

Too funny....

thanks.

LadyinBC

I'm of the mind frame that whatever works to keep you sober is okay in my books. There are a wide variety of things people can do to help them in their journey to staying sober.

You don't know if something will help you unless you've tried it. I know for me I have to keep an open mind.