Who would have thought my only legal issue would have to do with a 12 step rehab?
 

This is sort of a vent or rant, as I am just really angry at this moment - the kind of angry where you start thinking about a glass of wine.

I've never had to hire an attorney in my life. I've only been in court as a caseworker for troubled youths or the one time I changed my name. Otherwise, I have avoided the legal system altogether. At any rate, I fired off an email to that rehab I went to in CA this a.m. asking them for $3000 back based on misrepresentation of both their program and facilities. We'll see if I even get a response back. Meanwhile, I am disputing the charge with the credit card company, which means I probably am going to have to fax over a copy of the email, thereby spilling my guts to the credit card company. With my luck I'll get some office worker sympathetic to 12 step programs. If I don't get resolution that way, then I have to fly to CA to file in that county for small claims or hire an attorney. Crazymaking, I tell ya.

With regards to the other rehab that Sfgirl was so kind to refer me to (and I mean that with all sincerity - thanks Sfgirl! :)), that is looking like another disappointment. I've thought about it for a couple of days now and he wants $2800 upfront for 16 groups. He has 30 years of sobriety in AA (good for him and I mean that in all sincerity too) yet is not even a psychologist. They want $750 to administer a $225 shot. Ugh.

At any rate, I am just getting this out of my system. It's hard to focus on anything else today when I think about rehabs and the like. Thanks for letting me share. :)

Katie - All treatment centers are going to be a disappointment to you. Why?

Not one of them is going to offer exactly what you are seeking. Not one.

Please see my post in one of your threads.

I will try and gather my thoughts again. This is about us learning how to put together a recovery plan for ourselves. Nobody else can do it for us.

I will tell you when I was locked up in a small tiny detox room, I thought of you.

I thought of the kicking and screaming, in between the cries for help. I saw it as no win. I'm putting together pieces of all the programs that I have entered into. It's on me Katie, not any person, not any program. It's about me.

You are surrounded by stuff. Yet nothing is good enough. Even though you say that you have only 12 months to live. I find all that incomprehensible.

I give anyone the benefit of a doubt. But really feel that you need to wake up to yourself or I can see where this is heading.

Thank you. I am awake. My issue with misrepresentation and my knowing I must change my ways are not mutually exclusive. I did not say I was going to drink a glass of wine. I came here to post what I am feeling in order to not drink a glass of wine (or several).

Well, had this rehab been upfront with me, I wouldn't be typing what I am typing. Were I to enter another rehab, I would fly there first and check things out for myself and not believe what people tell me over the phone. This is why I went to this other place Tuesday and spent an hour talking with the person to get a feel for things before signing anything.

I do realize my recovery is on me. There is no question about that. But getting ripped off is a separate issue. I can multitask, to a certain extent. :)

BTW, when were you in detox? Thanks for thinking of me :confused:

IMO, the only thing IOP is gonna do is physically keep you from drinking for a duration, especially if it's pushing a religious concept as it's model. If you can stay sober w/out being confined, I would suggest going to the SMART meetings and getting a mental health counselor if you don't already have one. I do hope you can get more of your money back. The rehab clearly lied about what they had to offer.

Wine wont fix the problem.

It's no joke Katie. Blame AA or 12 steps all that you like but it is really down to you where you go from here. I'm a reasonable person but this is all going too far.

Anyway can see I'm only feeding into this here.

Ok, so do focus on how a recovery center ripped you off. (Believe me, I'm sure it did).


I just got out of one that scared me to death. No med's for horrible alcoholic withdrawals. Feeling horrible, asking to leave and being told I could not then working my way out of it.

So, I ask you. Do I hold on to my resentments? Get even at any costs? They wronged me financially, as well as feeling safe.

Do I move on? It's like one more trauma to my life if I stay there.

So they have your money. How much money have you wasted over the years,
Katie? If it's anything like me, holding on to this current debt is ridiculous.

I want to move on. I want to heal. I have thrown money at things for more then the amount of a failed treatment episode. And yes I just got through this, so I know of which I speak.

Time to move forward and take care of myself. How about you, Katie?

How about just getting on with recovery?

Thank you for listening and understanding DK. I am going to go to the SMART meetings and also do have a therapist. We came up with some ideas the other day. I am going to look into Yoga and also get involved politically. I know that might not seem like much, but both are positive activities that will lead to doing something meaningful (politically - I am a fervent supporter of liberal causes) and also the Yoga might help me settle down.

I know I mentioned this before, but for those who are not aware, there are several people at this rehab contacting their lawyers over what they have discovered was misrepresentation. So I am not alone in this. What I am is way older than the majority of them and I know how to write a decent email.

(((doorknob)))

Just curious, but do you go to AA?

It seems to me (although I could be wrong) that 12 step people see me throwing thousands of dollars away as no big deal and that I should not pursue this.

It also seems to me (although I could be wrong) that those with a secular bent see the injustice in deceiving someone who is clearly not an AA person into a rehab based on the 12 steps, especially when I was very upfront about not wanting anything to do with the 12 steps.

Why can't I do both at the same time?

Katie,

I would think priorities need to be made and then checked off. For me, until I got sober and into a process for continuing recovery, I couldn't really properly take care of other business. I was just scattering my energies and not doing the best job I could.

I really hope you find some place, some theory or philosophy that will help you recover without feeling threatened. For me, I use a bit of this and that. I let go of what doesn't work for me and stay focused on what does.

Love,

Lenina

Katie,

Just curious. Are you sober and have been sober since you got back from California, or are you still drinking and interviewing other treatment centres, non 12 step meetings and therapists about what to do next?

Thanks, Lenina. Thing is, I only have a certain time frame in which to address this. I opened the dispute on Sunday and now have to fax a copy of the letter to the credit card company no later than this weekend. I do understand priorities, but I also understand that one cannot let things slide. I would not be happy with myself if I just let this slide and this would not be beneficial to my mental health or recovery.

I wouldn't be happy with myself, either.

It's good to hear that you are seeking out options like SMART and yoga and whatnot. I wish there were alternatives around where I live that I could go to (I need to save up and buy a car). So far it's just therapy. :dunno:

:wavey:

If you think you have a year to live, honestly, is this how you want to spend it? Tied up in the red tape of a lawsuit against the last of the many rehabs that "failed" to get you sober?

All I'm saying is... 1.check out the statute of limitations. 2.Get yourself sober. 3. Once sober, go after them with your faculties intact... bc they ain't right now.

Your credibility will be nil in court. The rehab knows this. There's no way in he11 they'd just give you your money back. They'll tie you up in red tape for as long as possible (which is reeeeeeally long) and meanwhile you're helping them out by upping the odds of the lawsuit outliving YOU.

Get sober. Just do it. Think of the resources you're marshalling to sue the rehab and refocus them on getting well.

Or don't. I am a nurse on a psych unit. I've seen the alternative... it's turning yellow and losing your mind and crapping your pants from the medication they give you for clearing the ammonia from your blood. It's dying in the ugliest ways imaginable. NOBODY thinks they will wind up like that, really, but.. they do.

Are you drinking?

I am with mtnmagic on this one. I can understand thinking that rehabs are rip-offs, but if you feel that way about them as a whole, since they are expensive, then give up on rehab now, inpatient and outpatient.

You have a therapist. You have meetings. You have SR. That is actually more than me in the sense that I don't go to meetings. What more do you need? Why can't you start recovering NOW?

And if you are hell bent on rehab then you should leave no stone unturned but I actually don't really think that is the right route since you cannot imagine a perfect rehab and pick it out of a hat. There will always be something to complain about. But if you are set on it use this link:

Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator

and you can search and find every treatment center near any zipcode or city from the free to the really expensive ones.

Thanks, sfgirl. No, I am not drinking. I don't know why anyone would think I am drinking (based on this thread?) And if I am not drinking, how is it I am not recovering? I am confused here. It seems to me that what I am hearing is to make recovery the only thing I think about?

Meanwhile, I have a lot on my plate right now and sometimes that does require multi-tasking. As long as I don't drink and can make some headway into dealing with what is on my plate, I don't see a problem with that. I have taxes to think about, bills to pay. All of this requires money (I am not working) and this is part of the reason I am pursuing getting my money back.