Privacy and Confidentiality

Your privacy and confidentiality are issues which any program should protect but which none of them do. So lets take a look at the factors that contribute and how we address them.

First there are matters as small as a program’s duration. It’s pretty hard to disappear for 4, 6, or 12 weeks without advertising what you’ve been up to. That’s one reason why we start you off with our intensive individual 5 Day Recovery Retreat model. Anyone can, after all, take a week’s vacation without raising eyebrows.

Next comes the staffing issue – most programs operate on a volume basis and that means a lot of staff, professional and otherwise. It may never be an issue, but the more people you are exposed to, the less your privacy and confidentiality are insured.

Adding to the staffing issue problems are those associated with other clients. Every program we are aware of relies on groups to fill time and at least give the illusion of providing services. Again, you are constantly exposed to other clients who are under no obligation to respect or maintain your privacy.

Between them, the staff and other clients may not pose a risk at the moment, but what about in the years ahead? You don’t know to what prominence you may rise and, in ten or twenty years, you shouldn’t have to worry about whispers of your “alcoholism” and “rehab” surfacing – whispers that usually have no basis in fact but that may be used against you in any case.

Then there is the matter of aftercare. Most programs limit this to the admonitions, “Don’t drink” and “Attend AA.” Not only is this advice the surest road to relapse, but it’s also the surest route to “outing” you at home. Face it, it’s been more than 30 years since there was anything like anonymity at AA.

Finally there is the matter of using insurance. Please, while treatment and medical records are supposedly confidential, insurance records most assuredly are not. So be very careful about using insurance and creating a record that will come back to bite you sometime in the future.

Our solutions? You only need to arrange for a 5 day “vacation”. You will only work with the two of us and our medical consultant, Dr. Norcross. You will never see another client. Our cost is affordable. You will never be farmed out to AA or any other “support group”.

Additionally, you will never be labeled and you will keep most of your own case notes. Your file will be shredded upon request. Charge card entries identify nothing.

Now are you ready to get confidential help that’s also effective, affordable, and very successful? Then it’s time to make that call, isn’t it?

“But I just can’t get away for 5 days!”

We hear a lot of excuses for why people can’t take advantage of the program we offer. “I can’t get away from (work, family, my business, obligations…)” is a common one and simply doesn’t stand up to any scrutiny.

Let’s face it – if you were injured, or your appendix burst, or you even came down with the flu, you would find yourself taking more than 5 days off without a second thought. Yet you can’t afford to invest the same amount of time in solving a problem that is having a major impact on your day-to-day life (and if it wasn’t, you wouldn’t be reading our Newsletters)?

A couple of years ago a client noted that much of what we do involves helping clients, and their spouses, “get a grip and get a life”. We don’t argue with that – and it takes about 5 days to get a grip and create the foundation for getting a life – a life free from alcohol abuse.

Yes. It takes about 5 days, at 3 – 5 hours a day, to create the foundation and the working relationships necessary to continue the process of “getting a life” through the 12 or more weeks of follow-up.

No. We can’t do it by phone and/or e-mail, nor can anyone else.

No. It doesn’t happen in groups, unless you consider you, possibly your spouse, and the two of us to be a group.

Yes, you can manage 5 days away from whatever circumstances you are currently conning yourself into believing you can’t escape.

Really, please, you’re simply doing what we all do when it comes to making a major change in our lives. You’re delaying in hopes that someday you will wake up and the problems will have been magically cured.

They won’t – and delaying will only make things worse, so why not grit you teeth and make that call?

And we promise it won’t be as bad as you fear – in fact, it’ll probably turn out a lot better than you ever imagined.

Links:

“Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab”;

Our Comparison Shopping issue is available here;

An expanded description of our Five Day Full Recovery Program;

“Bucket of Crabs ” or why AA and Alanon are bad for your health;

“How Can You Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse In Just 5 Days!”

“Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse”;

“Men’s Issues“;

Our 100th Issue!!!!

Two years ago we sent out our first newsletter wondering how we’d ever find enough material to go beyond five or six issues.
Now we don’t worry – ongoing research, questions from clients, callers, and readers, and articles from the various other newsletters, blogs, newspapers, and magazines keep us well supplied with ideas, topics and controversy.

Still, the biggest problems facing you and ending your alcohol problems remain.

What are they?

Simply put – it’s the mythology that 75 years of AA and 50 years of AA/12 Step based treatment have perpetrated on the American public. Specifically the myths that AA itself, and treatment based on it, “works”. Even worse yet is the notion that it’s “the only way”.

These are myths that research has repeatedly debunked but that a multi-billion dollar industry depends on you being conned into believing. An industry that makes the proverbial used car salesmen look like paragons of openness, honesty and reliability.

But our work of educating our readers to the realities of what actually does work got another big boost from the State University of New York – Potsdam’s respected “Alcohol: Problems and Solutions” website which has once again provided us with the research you need on treatment effectiveness.

You won’t be surprised that reading through the attributes that generate success at Jude Thaddeus reads like a catalogue of our practices and beliefs. Nor is it hard to see why our 5 Day Recovery Retreat has the highest success rate of any out-patient program – indeed, our clients’ success rate exceeds that of the Jude Thaddeus Residential Program. So, here are:

The Characteristics of the Most Successful Residential Treatment Program in the World

“Independently-conducted research has established an overall success rate of 63.5% for the Jude Thaddeus Program. This compares to a success rate in the range of 0-20% for conventional (AA/12 Step based) programs. Alcoholics Anonymous(AA) reports a success rate lower than 5%…

The program is radically different from traditional approaches and has been described in this way:

The Jude Thaddeus Program is a social/educational model for eliminating substance abuse. It teaches people how to take responsibility for their choices regarding drinking and/or drugging, and then, how to live a quality of life that is successful and filled with the rewards of their success.

The educational experience is an entirely different approach from the more common counseling and therapeutic approach. These conventional methods, 12- step and therapy-based models, strip individuals of their native and internal human solution: choice, accountability and power. The educational approach awakens or reawakens, those same concepts: choice, accountability and power; in a clear and concise manner thereby empowering the student to accept personal responsibility for all past, present and future behavior, to exercise choice from internal strength, not perceived weakness, and to delight in the rediscovery of their own power from within.
The approach is straightforward. Students learn how to make better choices, and find success and satisfaction using a method they can see works for others.

Students are responsible for changing their own lives as they are the only ones with the power to do just that. And they remain responsible for their own decisions.

The educational program teaches students how to assess the seriousness of their situation and to determine how committed they are to achieving success in their lives and remaining permanently abstinent.
Students are then taught how to become more useful and happy individuals. this portion of the program is completely separate from the sobriety issue. Sobriety is a choice based static event. However, building a life of one’s own choosing is a series of choices and events that will bring about changes and continue to evolve throughout the remainder of one’s life. These are separate issues and are dealt with separately. Students learn how to achieve success in both the sobriety event and in the continuing process called living.”

If you’ve been reading our website and Newsletters this all probably sounded very very familiar.

As will the reasoning we used when we named our practice:

Your Empowering Solutions! Y.E.S. to Life!

If you want the same kind of success for yourself – no labels, “diseases”, exposure, degradation, groups, or being “in recovery” – then give us a call. That’s the only “Step” you’ll ever need to take.

How do we differ from Jude Thaddeus?

Obviously there are differences between their program and ours – differences that are important to you.

First:       Length of stay – 5 days here vs. 6 weeks there;

Second:   Intensive out-patient vs. residential;

Third:     Client’s average age range: 40 – 65 here  vs. 22 -  40  there;

Fourth:    Cost – $8,750 here vs. $13,000 – $20,000 there;

Fifth:      Confidentiality here vs. possible public exposure there;

Sixth:      All individual time here vs. 95% group time there;

Seventh:  Couples Program vs none;

Eighth:     A higher and client defined “success” rate.

Ninth:     With us, it’s personal as well as professional.

Those are differences that work in your favor and are only available here – not at Jude Thaddeus and not anywhere else.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t applaud their work or refer callers – usually younger individuals – who are appropriate to their program to them. We do.

If you are comparison shopping we invite you to visit their website – Jude Thaddeus – call them as well as us, and see which of us most closely matches you needs, expectations, and limitations.

We’re confident that whichever choice you make will be the right one for you.

Our Sponsor

Popular Links:

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

Couples

An expanded description of our Five Day Full Recovery Program;

Mary Ellen’s Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

“Why should I change? S/he’s the one with the problem! Hrumph!”

Well, no, not really. Most of the time spouses, parents, and sometimes children, see the problem as drinking and the drinker as the one with a problem. Of course the drinker frequently doesn’t see things that way.

That’s because the problems are more complicated and alcohol abuse exists with a context – a context that includes everyone within the drinker’s orbit – family, friends, employers, and so on.
And guess what? As long as these people don’t see a problem there isn’t going to be much motivation to change, and even when you do the drinker will usually decide it’s your problem.

After all, you didn’t object when you married me, hired me, or last year or last month or last week.  So what’s the problem now?

Surprise! You’re both right.

With a little reflection it’s possible to understand that eveyone has a problem – not just the active alcohol abuser.

This moves us along to that second quetion we hear all the time:

“How can I make her/him stop drinking?”

And the second answer: “You can’t.”

What you can do is begin to fix your problem – the effects of his/her drinking on you. And no, that doesn’t include passively going to Alanon and whining about your spouse’s or child’s or parent’s drinking – it means actively changing your behavior.

You don’t participate in the drinking. You don’t avert negative consequences when doing so doesn’t also hurt you.

But you also doen’t nag and you don’t make threats you’re not ready to keep.

Interestingly, we’ve shown that one of the most effective things spouses, and sometimes parents, can do is call and schedule 5 days with us to learn how to modify their behavior and address their problem!

You’d be surprised how fast the “problem drinker” signs up to come along when their spouse is going off to get help that may well include leaving the drinker in the dust.

Funny how that works for most things in life. You can’t change another’s behavior, but you can force a change merely by modifying your own.

And those good changes do work both ways – if you’re the drinker, you may well find that life gets a lot better when you quit, learn to be a bit assertive, regain your vote in family decision making, improve you health and mood, and let your spouse’s problems become the new center of attention.

Or you can come see us together and get it all sorted out at once.

Remember! 99% of all treatment programs refuse to include spouses and other family members in any meaningful way because it is, by far, the most effective way to promote success!

What do you want?

That’s what we thought and it’s why you can talk to us – not some slick marketing department salesperson – and get started on the road to a better life than you’ve ever had.

Is it September already?

Almost. Summer’s about over and if vacations and days at the beach didn’t fix your problems then chances are that back-to-school and falling leaves aren’t going to either.

And pretty soon the holidays are going to be looking closer and you’re going to be wondering how you’re going to get through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years without drinking yourself into a stupor.

Remember what last year was like: at best, disappointing and embarrassing; at worst, a disaster.

Wouldn’t you like this year, finally, to be something different and better?

The time to start is now so that you can prepare and not fall into the cognitive trap of “I can’t stop until after Halloween” then moving on to “I couldn’t possibly stop until after Thanksgiving”; followed almost instantly by “…not until after Christmas”, and, you guessed it, “…until after New Years.”

Then of course there will be Valentines Day, birthdays, anniversaries, and Aunt Millie’s funeral.

Right. We all know the delaying game since we played it in high school to avoid breaking up with one boyfriend or girlfriend until…….

But this time the “boy/girlfriend is alcohol and the delays and postponement can be forever.

So! How about trying something different?

Give us a call and lets go about preparing for holidays that will not only be memorable in posative ways, but which you might actually remember?

Popular Links:

Our program description for Couples!

A former client graciously wrote a detailed review of our work with her. Click HERE to read it.

Our Comparison Shopping issue is available here;

An expanded description of our Five Day Full Recovery Program;

Mary Ellen’s Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

“I’m calling to ask about your novel approach…”

We recently received that call from a doctor who was thinking about referring a patient. We were caught off guard for just a minute, “novel” approach?

We’re research based and even the research isn’t novel, new, or experimental. What we do with clients comes from the work of Dr. Alan Marlatt at the University of Washington; that of Drs. Prochaska, Norcross, and DiClemente; Dr. Jane Loevinger of Washington University; Drs. Mark and Linda Sobell ; many other researchers and organizations, and our own research of the past 25 years.None of this is “novel” or new or even experimental and it all works! And much of it has been available for decades!

What is different is the way in which we have put it all together in a format that greatly enhances your success by providing an individual program designed specifically around you!

Additionally, when you are working with us you are also working with both of us – a team of experienced professionals (not just para-professional CD counselors) – who also have personal and family experience with alcohol abuse – dedicated to your best interests and successful outcomes.

Finally, another of our success enhancing innovations is working with couples and, occasionally, families. Again, something no one else does because it requires skill, experience, and a client centered focus.

No, our approach isn’t novel – and surely wouldn’t be unique if other programs were research based and dedicated to solving your problems. But they aren’t. That being the case, why not call and talk to us about proven methods to achieve real results?

“I’m calling from Florida. I just arrived at a treatment center here and despite what they said on the phone, they’re all 12 Step!!! Help!”

We wish this was a rare call, but it’s not. As Mary Ellen noted in her article “Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab”, many treatment centers lie about their AA/12 Step program model.

Why?

First, because they’re only interest is in getting you checked in and collecting your money.

Second, most facilities are well aware that what they offer doesn’t work so what’s a little more deception?

Third they don’t have anything else to offer since real help requires skilled staff, individual attention, and the inclusion of spouses whenever possible – all of which cost money they don’t ever want to spend.

Finally, even those who actually believe in what they’re doing believe it’s okay to deceive you in order to lure you into treatment – after all, you’re an “alcoholic” who’s “in denial” and incapable of making decisions for yourself.

If all of that appeals to you, be our guest and sign up for the business model of treatment that pretty much guarantees you won’t be leaving alcohol abuse behind anytime soon.

On the other hand, if you want to fix the problem – quietly, effectively, efficiently, and permanently – then it’s time to call us and discuss real help.

Click here to read about: Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

Other Popular Links:

Please click to read our new program description for Couples!

A former client’s detailed review of our work with her is available HERE.

“What is your success rate?”

Understandably, this is a very important question and one that deserves a careful answer. But it’s also a tricky one from a number of directions and these too, need consideration.

First, the important question isn’t “our” success rate but our clients’ success rate. That may seem like quibbling, but with many programs, their definition of “success” is: “the client’s payment cleared,” so you can begin to see the problem.
So let’s first look at some of the definitions of success other programs employ:

• “Client was successful because we said so;”
• “Client is successful because we haven’t heard otherwise;
• “Client was not noticeably intoxicated while in residence”

We are sure you are beginning to see the problem and why these programs’ actual “success” rates are below 5% – exactly the same as AA and the 12 Steps they are based on.

We prefer to edit the question to “What is our client success rate?” and also to acknowledge right up front that we don’t know exactly because not everybody we have worked with over the years, keeps in touch with us.

With those disclaimers in place we think it is safe to say that over 60% of our clients achieve the results they came seeking. Generally, this is abstinence, but a number of our clients are seeking to moderate their consumption and about a third of these succeed (another third transfer to abstinence as easier to manage, and another third, well they’re still trying to decide what to do).

A very real difference in working with us is that we never, ever tell you that you have to do anything. You tell us what you want to achieve and we’ll tell you what the research and our experience says and what we think your best options and strategies are.

Then we’ll set about developing the very best and most effective personal plan for reorganizing your life so that alcohol abuse is no longer part of it.

Finally, there is one really good indicator of future success – clients who are willing to actively work at making changes in their day-to-day lives succeed.

Those who are waiting for everything or everyone else to change – or who are waiting for the magic wand, bullet, or fairy dust – don’t.

Ready to be an active participant in your own life instead of the spectator alcohol and other programs reduce you to?

Good. Time to make that call…

Yes, we do actually answer the phone ourselves…..

Today another caller expressed disbelief that we actually answer the phone ourselves. Call and you will talk to one of us, Mary Ellen or Ed, and not to a sales rep, lifer, marketer, client, answering service, or ?????

Why?

Again, success is enhanced by the personal and professional relationship we build with you – and again, it’s something no one else even attempts. And creating that “therapeutic relationship” begins with that first phone conversation.

The result? You’ll be talking with one of us, both of us if you want (and we recommend), and you won’t be talking to a sales rep working on commission, a former client trying to stay sober by working the phones, or some faceless voice who’s clueless about actual treatment and totally disinterested in any case.

Yes, it works both ways. It also means that we get a chance to know you a bit, assess your situation, and either encourage your participation or make an appropriate referral – something else no one else ever does.

So! How about making that first call? No pressure to sign up from us, just information, consultation, and, perhaps, a modest reduction in your anxiety and some options to consider.

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

Other Popular Links:

“How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?”

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

Just what are the benefits of drinking?

We’ve all heard and/or lived the horror stories about drinking, but if you are going to fix an alcohol abuse problem then you’d better spend some time figuring out what benefits you’re getting out of it.

Why?

Because you drink for the benefits – just as people do for any bad habit whether it’s drinking, smoking, over-eating or any of a number of other self-destructive behaviors we choose.

So what are they?

Mostly it’s fast, effective, legal, short term  relief from anxiety, boredom and/or loneliness, and sometimes a passive or passive aggressive means of punishing others or driving them away. In all of these situations, we drink because it “works”.

Trouble is, it only works in the short term – with the short term being measured in hours.

It’s also a problem because it prevents us from ever fixing the underlying conditions we’re medicating our way through.

And it also exacerbates depression which in and of itself is as debilitating as the drinking.

Time to look for long term solutions instead of short term fixes?

That’s what we’re here for – to help you create your own, personal, “perfect storm” of motivation, CBT, medical support, assertiveness, nutrition, fitness, and whatever else will create the life long solutions to whatever problems you’re now avoiding by self-medicating.

So! Please! Give us a call and let’s get this show on the road!

“How can I possibly find the time to come to California for 5 days?”

How about the same way you will find the time for a vacation (which this can be, too), for surgery if you need it; to do the jail time when you collect a DUI; to appear in court when your spouse divorces you over your alcohol abuse; and ….

Then there are the variations:

“How can I afford $8,750 for treatment…?”

As if alcohol, divorce, DUIs, bankruptcy, a liver transplant, and a host of other likely results of alcohol abuse are free? At least with us the $$$$ costis  75% to 95% less and the success rate at least 5 to 10or more times better then Passages, Promises, Betty Ford, Cirque Lodge, Hazelden, or….

“How  can I give up alcohol and not be able to toast my daughter at her wedding reception?”

Never mind that her daughter is 5, may never marry, and if mom keeps on drinking she will either be dead or off the guest list by the time any wedding rolls around. Besides, who says that just because she gives up wine now it means she can’t have a glass 20 or more years from now. We certainly don’t.

“But we have 200 bottles of wine in our wine cellar and….”

This one is a favorite – I can’t get treatment until the wine is gone, and I can’t sell it to pay for treatment because, at $200/bottle, it’s an investment and, of course, as an investment we do have to replace it as soon as we drink it and…..

“I’d call but I can’t find a private time and place…”

Though finding just such a time and space to drink in secret doesn’t seem to be a problem?

What do all of these, and a dozen more objections have in common?

They’re all the lies we tell ourselves to stay stuck – but they are also the sorts of lies that respond well to CBT and the rest of the customized treatment we provide to individuals, couples, and families.

Want to explore you own personal mythology and how it keeps you drinking your life away? Good! Give us a call and let’s unravel reality from fantasy.

Remember, it’s easier to get a life than you think – and far more rewarding than another bottle of chardonnay….

Frankly, rather than the above cited objections, your might want to be more concerned about “How Can You Possibly Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse in Just 5 Days?” A question we answered a few weeks ago and which we invite you to revisit.

Next Week: “What is your success rate?”

Other popular links:

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab

Why would you want to be a “powerless victim”?

We often point out we don’t abuse alcohol because we’re dumb, or powerless, or diseased, but because it works. It’s a wonderfully effective way to very temporarily self-medicate loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and a number of other uncomfortable conditions.

That being the case, it should be obvious that we prefer to be “powerless victims” because this allows us to continue to drink rather than acknowledge that it’s a choice and assume responsibility for making choices – including electing to fix it.

That’s the key, really. Responsibility.

If I want to be a real grown up, and live my own life, then I need to take responsibility for my behaviors and their consequences, and stop being a victim.

But we live in a culture that values and rewards being a victim rather than one that esteems independence, success, effort, and self-efficacy. Especially in women. But men aren’t much better off.

So what do you want and how do you wish to live your life?

Yes, the easy way is to continue doing what you’ve always done and hope that somehow things will change. Einstein called that insanity, but that doesn’t stop many of us from opting for the “security of familiar miseries”.

The alternative? Actually creating a life that’s all your own and which suits you as much as is possible without blame, denial, or apologies.

Stop for just a moment and consider what such a life would look like and then let us help you get just as close to that as possible.

No, you’re not a powerless victim unless you decide to be.

So why not call and discuss other possibilities?

Why your doctor may refuse to help you with your alcohol abuse problem.

We had another e-mail this week informing us of yet another doctor refusing to help someone address their alcohol problem.

What gives?

First, your doctor probably doesn’t know anything about alcohol abuse except that “it’s a disease and AA is the only way”. Sadly, physicians are no more immune to myths than the rest of us and many are under pressure to refer patients to hospital programs based on AA – programs with success rates in the usual 2%-3% range but which are enormously profitable.

Second, he or she probably is unaware of Naltrexone, the highly effective anti-craving med that is a really good adjunct to successful treatment – but which, as a generic, is ignored by the drug reps who provide virtually all of your doctor’s pharmaceutical education.

Third, your doctor is afraid of being sued and as long as she or he only refers you to AA they are safe even though they probably know it isn’t going to help and may, in fact, make your drinking worse.

Finally, your doctor may have personal agendas and beliefs that override their concern for your situation. Sadly, this too is a frequent problem.

Solutions?

Educate yourself, request a copy of our Naltrexone handout for physicians, become assertive in dealing with your doctor and, if necessary, find another doctor.

Legitimately, your doctor may also hesitate to prescribe Naltrexone unless you are also receiving counseling at the same time. Naltrexone isn’t a cure – merely a short term support while you fix whatever problems you’re self-medicating. That being the case, we will work with you and your doctor as we do with many of our clients.

Good medical support does exist as do good programs – don’t be denied help because of political and financial considerations that negatively impact your success.

We understand that it’s difficult to be informed and assertive under the weight of an alcohol problem, but there’s no other time when standing up for yourself is more important.

Do not be denied or railroaded!

Bits and Pieces….

Next weeks Question/Answer: What are the benefits of drinking?

(Yes, there are many, including a few for your spouse, some of which you may not have considered.)

Our Most Popular Links:

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

That’s right – judges may no longer legally send you, or anyone else, to AA. Unhappily, a lot of judges, along with lawyers, haven’t gotten the message, or even more commonly, judges continue to order people to AA unless you object.

Please note, all of these courts have ruled that Alcoholics Anonymous is a religion or engages in religious activities:

• the Federal 7th Circuit Court in Wisconsin, 1984;
• the Federal District Court for Southern New York, 1994;
• the New York Court of Appeals, 1996;
• the New York State Supreme Court, 1996;
• the U.S. Supreme Court, 1997;
• the Tennessee State Supreme Court;
• the Federal 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, 1996;
• the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit;
• the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh District, 1996;
• the Federal Appeals Court in Chicago, 1996;
• the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, September 7, 2007.

The United States Supreme Court has refused to hear challenges to those rulings, or to change or over-turn those lower court decisions. By letting them stand, the Supreme Court has made them the law of the land.

There is no greater abuse of individuals by the courts these days than the continued orders to attend AA, AA /12 Step based treatment, or other coercive mandates to equally ineffective, and frequently counter-productive, forms of so-called treatment.

“No, Judge. No AA!”

Yes, you and your attorney may have to be emphatic – NO AA! You may have to offer alternatives to AA, and you may have to dig a little to find them, but we do exist.

What constitutes an AA alternative? Counseling and/or treatment based on research regarding what actually works including:

• CBT;
• Motivational Interviewing;
• Naltrexone;
• Fitness;
• Couples Counseling;
• Adult Development;
• Assertiveness Training

Remember too, it’s not just judges who sentence people to AA but also the licensing and certification boards that send “impaired professionals” to AA and 12 Step based treatment – a practice so fraught with graft and corruption that many states have eliminated the programs altogether.

Again – you cannot legally be required to join the AA cult!

Why do these abuses of power continue to appear?

Certainly ignorance of the law contributes, though judges are supposed to know what they can and can’t do. More often it’s the assumption that defendants and their lawyers won’t know their rights or will be too overwhelmed to object. Too often this assumption proves to be right and another poor sucker gets sent off.

But that doesn’t have to be you! You can “just say no” to AA and to the abusive and exploitive programs it has created – programs that actually prevent you from fixing your problems.

Worried about what lies ahead? Give us a call and discuss your particular situation and how we can help divert you away from AA and into a program that actually works at a fraction of the cost.

Don’t allow yourself to be punished repeatedly!

Just remember, “No, Judge. No AA!”

What About Insurance?

Many callers wonder about using insurance to cover the cost of treatment. Generally speaking, if you have coverage for out-patient treatment then our program is covered to whatever extent your carrier provides.

Coverage is usually extended to programs which are state certified, as ours is, and/or services provided by certificated counselors, which we are, too.

We do not, however, deal directly with providers – that is up to you.

Why not?

First because we’d need to deal with 40 or more different providers every year and we aren’t equipped to do that. Frankly the cost in lost time, as well as aggravation, isn’t worth it and would also demand at least a 30% increase in fees.

Second, it’s also a motivational issue. Successfully changing an entrenched behavior requires effort. If you can’t manage your own coverage and reimbursements, what are the chances you’ll also manage the work it takes to change your day-to-day life?
Yes, we’ll complete the forms, create the billings, and submit whatever documentaion is needed – but you need to manage the process.

Remember, please, that ending alcohol abuse is quite similar to losing weight, managing type II diabetes, getting in good physical shape, or changing any other behavior. It isn’t something anyone can do to you, or for you – the best we can manage is to do it with you, and we do that very, very well, and that’s where our focus will remain.

Finally, there is also the privacy issue – insurance records are not confidential and you should carefully consider whether or not you want to saddle yourself with the life-long public label of “alcoholic” – especially when you probably aren’t one.

Remember, 85% of those of you who are seeking help with alcohol problems are alcohol abusers, not alcohol dependent “alcoholics,” but 99% of all programs, and all insurance providers, insist on labeling you one.

Do you really want to affix the Scarlet A to your history in order to save a few thousand $$$$$?

Our prices are among the lowest in the country and our success rates the highest. And, yes, we’ll help you to get reimbursed if that’s what you want. But don’t let anyone talk you into using insurance as if that doesn’t come with a host of problems too – problems you might well wish to avoid.

Details?

As usual, that’s what we’re here for!

“The Security of Familiar Miseries”

Also known as “why I don’t ever get around to fixing my alcohol problem”. Common sense can have us wondering why we’re reluctant to change behaviors even when they are harming us. It is the age old battle for control between your rational mind and your emotional mind.

Usually it’s because we’re more afraid of change now than we are of consequences that may not show up until later.

That’s the main reason why people wait until there is a crisis before they call. We all like to wait until the “future consequence” shows up on our door step.

Whether it’s a DUI, divorce papers, doctor’s exam, job loss, or some other major event, we all wait, and wait, and wait, and…

A third of us will wait until it’s too late and no longer a decision. That’s called “deciding not to decide” – but that too is a decision.

Another third will call and do something.

And the final third will vacillate, read a book or two, surf the Internet, read our Newsletters, maybe call a program or two or three. Maybe it’s research, maybe it’s confusion, but it’s also procrastination.

Why?

Because we do like “the security of familiar miseries” or as the old proverb goes, “better the devil we know than the one we don’t”.

Of course that’s based on the fact they we humans seem to strongly prefer immediate gratification to even the hint of delayed gratification. Our emotional minds don’t want to give up control to our rational minds. Consequently we stay stuck in self-destructive behaviors because it is easier.

But there are ways out. We can all learn strategies to unite both parts of our minds and achieve our most elusive goals.

Want to learn more about these strategies?Next Week’s Question & Answer:  “Why would you want to be a powerless victim?”

Links and Contact Info:

Ms. Gabrielle Glaser is writing a book for Simon and Schuster on women’s relationships with alcohol. If you are willing, she would appreciate hearing from our women readers whether you’ve ever been a client or not.

For more details, please read the second article in our May 30th edition.

You may contact her confidentially at: americauncorked@gmail.com

Our Most Popular Links:

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

The Real “Steps” to Overcoming Alcohol Abuse

Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

This week’s question and answer: “How does our program cost compare to others?”

It’s always tricky to compare costs – especially in an area where the price range is so extreme. Intensive outpatient programs we’re familiar with range from $3750 to $17,500 and of course residential offerings run the gamut from $20,000 to $200,000 or more.

So how do we compare our $8,750 to all the others?

We suggest that you compare what actually matters in determining whether or not a particular offering is apt to suit your needs, and whether or not a particular program is providing things you can’t get elsewhere.

For example? The vast majority of programs, residential or outpatient, offer nothing other than AA meetings barely disguised as “group counseling”. Obviously AA meetings are available everywhere for free so why would you pay to go to AA?

Then there is the staffing issue. Most program counselors are simply CD counselors whose only training and qualifications come from having passed a test on AA. Most describe themselves as being “in recovery” and, according to a recent peer survey, two thirds of them are “relapsing” even though they work in a treatment program. And they’re supposed to help you stay sober?

Next comes the question of how much of your time and money is actually going to be reflected in individual attention to your specific situation. Again, the answer is not much. Residential programs generally schedule one individual session per week (with that counselor who’s back to drinking) and most outpatient programs offer one or two sessions per month.

In summary, in exchange for your time and money, you might get:

• 4 – 12 sessions with someone who’s still having problems themselves;
• you’ll be paying to attend AA meetings you could have gotten for free anywhere;
• you will have acquired a public label as an “Alcoholic” which, for 85% of you, you aren’t!

And for this you spent up to $200,000???

In contrast, for your $8,750 plus airfare and hotel, we offer:

• 15 – 20 hours of individual time with each of us
• 12 or more hours of individual follow-up time with one of us;
• a completely customized and effective plan and program (not their 3%-5% “success” rate);
• CONFIDENTIALITY!
• Fully recovered – not “in recovery”;
• Research based solutions, not demeaning cults and myths and labels;
• Real professionals who have also succeeded in solving personal and family problems with alcohol and drugs.

Other comparison points you’d like to discuss? Good. We welcome the opportunity to talk about what’s in your own best interest.  And that’s why it’s time for you to make that call.

Permission Giving – Nowhere Else is the Difference Between “Us” and “Them” Sharper.

For years we have stressed that one of the big differences between what we do and what “they” do is that we encourage you to develop and live your own life!

There isn’t a more radical suggestion we could make.

While the AA/12 Steppers are exhorting you to join their cult, we’re suggesting exactly the opposite.

Live your life! You will succeed by becoming more yourself, not less.

You will be far less prone to revert to alcohol abuse if you grow to embrace your uniqueness – not by reducing yourself to a being a powerless conformist.

We also often say that what we help clients do is to see more options than they see for themselves – not to restrict their choices even further.

Please! Expand your circle of friends, acquaintances, and activities. Don’t reduce it even further than alcohol abuse already has!

Surround yourself with people who are leading the sorts of lives you wish to emulate – stay away for the nay-saying “Bucket of Crabs ” losers whose only real interest is in keeping you as miserable as they are.

Isn’t it time to go back to being an active participant in your own life? Not an anxiety ridden spectator?

Odds and Ends

Next Week’s Question & Answer: “Do you take insurance?”

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To compare what you get in working with us to what you get in a traditional program, please click HERE to read this client’s detailed review of our work with her.

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Popular Links:

“How Can You Cure My Years of Alcohol Abuse In Just 5 Days!”

Smart Women and Alcohol Abuse

Men’s Issues

Five Day Full Recovery Program;

Mary Ellen’s Ten Things I Wish I’d Known Before I Sent My Brother Off To Rehab;

We’re pleased to be recommended by the following blogs: http://xsteppers.multiply.com/ and www.stinkin-thinkin.com