Addiction therapist?

Old 06-18-2011, 04:21 PM
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Addiction therapist?

Hello. I am fairly new to recovery. Do not practice the steps or have a sponsor, but i do go to meetings sometimes. This week i start sessions with a cognitive behavioral therapists specializing in addiction. I just would like to know if it is worth it because in he big book and i heard people say in meetings that what the psycologist teach you will no keep you clean, only aa will.
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Old 06-18-2011, 04:26 PM
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AA is not the only way, based on my and many others experience.
Many people use CBT - and many use it in conjunction with AA

Haven't you asked this 'is AA the only way' question a few times now Ttal?
what do you believe, yourself?

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Old 06-18-2011, 04:28 PM
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That was irresponsible of someone to say that and it's not correct either. I see an addiction counselor once a week, and use this site every day, but follow no formal program and I'm sober 18 months now.

AA can be a good way to stay sober but it's not the only way to stay sober. You were told an opinion, not a fact. THere's a big difference.
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Old 06-20-2011, 06:11 PM
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I do not think aa is the only way,but at the treatment center i go to they stress it. They say it is the bet way to build up your dopamine levels because the best way is to be around a group of people who understands you. No offense to anyone but aa weirds me out. And it makes m more depressed when i leav the metings and i have been to a bunch of meetings.
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Old 06-20-2011, 06:44 PM
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AA is not for everyone. I failed to thrive in AA/NA but have been out of the program about a month now and feeling some real healing begin. AA works great for a lot of people but not for everyone, especially if you're not "all in". I would try CBT, my fiance has done it and it has done wonders for him. We are trying to get me into a class/therapist now.
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Old 06-20-2011, 06:50 PM
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I pretty much quit with the help of an addiction specialist. He tried to get me to go to AA but it never really appealed to me and he said I seemed to be managing fine without it so he stopped pushing.

The therapy helped me A LOT. I still go, to a different therapist now and not just for addiction, but it's maybe been one of the best things I've ever done for myself.

Good luck, I hope it works out for you.

One thing- I saw 5 different people over the years before I finally found someone who was a good fit. Then she said she didn't think I needed her help any more but I didn't believe her so I found a psychiatrist (long story but he works in the same office as a psychiatrist that was originally recommended to me by my primary physician) who is extremely helpful. The point is, if you don't like the first person you meet with, don't quit. It can take some time to find the right person.
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Old 06-20-2011, 08:48 PM
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Thanks you all have been so helpful. My friend was burried today after a heroin deal gone bad. He was shot in the back of the head. A great24 year old man. My good friend . So i need a good therapist right now. I definately do not want to go bak to that lifestyle.
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Old 06-21-2011, 05:45 PM
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I'm sorry for your loss Ttal.

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Old 06-21-2011, 08:48 PM
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Thanks to you all.
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Old 06-22-2011, 03:00 AM
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Sorry for your loss. And I understand AA or NA not sitting well with you. It didn't for me either ten years ago. It took ten more years of drinking and drugging before I was willing to just be open minded and seriously look into the program. If was the spirituality thing that rubbed me the wrong way. Then I just gave up, decided that there was simply something more powerful than me, that I couldn't control alcohol and drugs, and just let go, let myself be open minded to a lot of things that when drunk I didn't give a rat's hind quarters about.

There are fundamentalists at everything. I'm lucky that where I go, and I go to several different groups, the overriding theme is take what you want, leave the rest.

I'm sorry darklight has such an absolutist view, but I did want to say that AA is far more about just not drinking. Drinking or drugging is but a symptom, and, for me, and from everything I see in the literature of AA and NA, to remain sober one must address the inner beasts that makes one need alcohol or drugs.

Many get sober without AA or NA. Or at least they abstain. I only have nine months of sobriety and I'm sure I could have done it some other way, but I must say I wasn't able to do that on my own. Posting and reading here helps.

AA and SR are like life, filled with people with different views. The only thing to put first is your recovery.

Me? Off to a meet.

If someone tells you the AA way is the only way, run. I can't think of a soul in my groups that don't go to psychiatrists also. Additionally, if someone tells you that AA is filled with a bunch of fundamentalists who deny the efficacy of psychiatry, run.

One thing is for sure, you will find people who are sober to hang with, at least for an hour.

Another thing...AA is basically talk therapy, and evolved about 40 years after that concept began to take root, and, some say, CBT evolved from the same concept. I would probably be dead if it wasn't for CBT or modern psychiatry. If someone in AA tells you psychiatric meds are for the birds, run faster. Then again, there isn't a chemical solution to what made me drink and drug.

What's the big turn off about AA for you?

Thanks for posting.
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Old 06-22-2011, 07:14 AM
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TTal, my prayers for you and your friend. What a loss...I'm sorry for you.

Thanks for this thread. I just sent a PM on this very subject. I also can't seem to subscribe to AA teachings entirely, though have realized some of the promises, and see the wisdom of helping others to stay sober. More in a minute...dogs barking to get out.
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Old 06-22-2011, 07:45 AM
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Me again...dog is out.

My problem with AA is that I feel it takes a dogmatic submission to some ideas that don't fit with my religious convictions. Specifically, I trust God to provide for my every need. In 25 years, I can't subscribe to some of the readings, and some of tenets. I feel like the program wants to break down the core of me to rebuild on their specific way of life. I have deep religious convictions that make programatic thinking feel like brainwashing similar to that done in cults. Ironically, I have come to believe that some of modern religion acts in the same way. I trust my inner spiritual core instincts when I sense it, and I avoid it. I give myself over to God alone.

That said, I also know my drinking and drugging shrouds my God-given gifts. I know, for me, it sinfully separates me from God. Think of the childhood song "this little gospel light of mine"..."hide it under a bushel, NO!" Well, that is what I keep doing. I believe that God will bless my life in ways I can't even imagine, when I lay down my sins at the cross with repentance, through His forgiveness, and set my standards of life to His pleasing way. I believe this even though I drank just yesterday. I believe AA articulates these blessings appropriately in the Promises, and that only by abstaining can our mind and soul hear God to discern His will in our lives.

So, my religious conviction may now be more apparent. That said, I don't believe that just any Higher Power, not specifically God, can avail anything of the sort. I separate from AA on that regard, but I don't judge others for their beliefs, and believe that God can and will move lives for His glory, even if they are attributing it all to a light bulb as their Higher Power. The mysterious ways of our Lord are not always for our understanding in this life.

Now, off the pulpit. I believe that I, through free will, have the choice of living in sin, or rejecting a sinful life. I am talking about the selfish act of using. My confusion lies in rejection of much of secular life; i.e, politics, the power of money, etc. I have rationalized my using as a respite from a broken world, and still do. But, in doing so, I am diminishing my "light" from the world, and from myself. The only answer for me is to submit to God, and be sober enough to discern His will, and where I can be of utility and service to others in that regard.

So...I have come to believe that I need to acknowledge my responsibility to myself and others to remain sober. This, I now think, is a deliberate process that I must take action on, not to find God or spirituality, but to exercise my free will in God-pleasing ways. This is not to earn my salvation, but to live up to it. As a Lutheran, I am not of the mind that I can do anything to earn God's gift of eternal life other than believing in the saving grace of Jesus' death on the cross, God's gift to all. All we must do is choose to accept it.

Bottom line...I need to get sober, but I think I must exercise my free will to do such, and bear any crosses I've created by my choices to drink and use. And, I believe that, as I grow and mature in sobriety, I will also grow closer to God in faith, and my life will be blessed by it. I will experience some of the progress as articulated in AA, but through the Holy Spirit, not a series of steps I have completed. I certainly don't want to intimate that I am against the AA program; I am not. For me, it has had a purpose, and for many, it is a lifeline. I do see great value in fellowship with other alcoholics, and may return to the program at some future date for that reason alone.

For now, I think CBT and an addiction therapist are the right way to go for me.
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Old 06-22-2011, 11:06 AM
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LoftyIdeals,
AA itself would tell you that it has no monopoly on God. It would tell you that if you prefer some other way or some other spiritual approach that you should follow your own conscience. AA has an approach that has worked for a great number of people. That is all. If later you decide that you want to try AA's approach, you will be welcomed back.
Susan
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Old 06-22-2011, 03:25 PM
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Ttal,

I recieved counseling from an addictions therapist for the first year of my recovery. The first 12 weeks was IOP and the rest of the year was aftercare. It was extremely helpful and I'm glad that I went through it.
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Old 06-22-2011, 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by susanlauren View Post
LoftyIdeals,
AA itself would tell you that it has no monopoly on God. It would tell you that if you prefer some other way or some other spiritual approach that you should follow your own conscience. AA has an approach that has worked for a great number of people. That is all. If later you decide that you want to try AA's approach, you will be welcomed back.
Susan

This is the way AA is suppose to be. Unfortunately, not all AA groups are created equal. I have been chased down in the supermarket more than once by some of our local fundamentalist AA members who think nothing of confronting me in public to tell me that I am destined to fail because I no longer keep in touch with them or attend their meetings. Thank God they are not all like that.
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Old 06-23-2011, 07:58 PM
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AA for me jut means changing who i am. Before i started sing pills i liked who i was. I liked myself, i liked my friends, i liked my life. Sure there were some prolems that led me to pills. Or should i say the cycle of taking pills, but i did not start using because i hated myself. Out of personal experience people i know who bought into aa have changed, and hey probably needed to, their wholeselves and became different in a negative way. I do not want to change and hang around nothing but people in aa. Plus there are not any young people in aa where i live. It is hard to get into for me. If it works for you that really is great. And i really unerstand that some people must change who they are, but i do not want to. I just want to eliminate my pill popping and improve my life in mental, spiritual, and physical ways.
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