Yes, We Do Answer the Phones Ourselves

Even though it says so, right there on the website, callers are still surprised when we answer the phone personally. No marketing department, interns, receptionists, clients, former clients or anyone else. Just Mary Ellen or me.

Why?

There are a number of reasons including our belief that you should be talking to one of the people with whom you will be working should you opt for our services. That lets you get a foretaste of how it might feel sitting across the table from us in the near future. It also gives us the same chance to get a feel for how working with you will be for us.

Next there is the usual confidentiality issue. Hourly staff are not bound by any particular code of ethics which is why our office has just the two of us – plus Scruffy and Phoebe – and you never see another client or anyone else except for Dr. Tim Norcross, our consulting physician, who is equally zealous about guarding your privacy.

Then there is the uniqueness of you program that usually requires a bit of explanation. First, we only work with you, and perhaps your spouse or friend, and we both work with you. That gives you the benefit of both of our skills, history, perspectives, training and experience. I, for example, am the one with alcohol abuse following a period of extreme personal trauma and I had to find my way out of it on my own as no appropriate help existed. Mary Ellen was the family member designated to find help for her brother and, again, she found no appropriate help existed.

Consequently, we have empathy both for you and for frustrated family members.

No groups, no AA, no labels, no diseases, and so on. All of this takes some getting used to as we have all been contaminated with the pervasive AA/12 Step mythology that has worked its way into our thoughts whether we’re aware of it or not. A phone call with one of us at least allows for the “deprogramming” to be jump-started.

We also want you to be comfortable with whatever decision you make with regard to our services. You deserve that and we are happy to be able provide it regardless of what you decide. We aren’t everyone’s cup of tea.

And rest assured, we will not hound you with follow-up calls, pressure, or any other strong arm marketing. We trust you to be able to make the decisions that are right for you yourself. So, the call is free, the consultation is free, so why not give yourself the advantage of finding out if this feels right for you?

Why Seek Help At All?

That’s a good question and it’s most easily answered by first looking at all the reasons not to.
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The first of these is that most of the available help is expensive, demeaning, disempowering, and provides worse outcomes than doing nothing. That’s a pretty good reason to avoid their so-called “help”.

Next, most of us think we will fix it ourselves when we get around to it.

Third, the problem, after all, isn’t really all that bad – I know lots of folks who drink more than I do.

Fourth, I don’t want to jeopardize my certifications, licenses, security clearances.

Fifth, I don’t want anything to do with AA.

Fifth, there isn’t any actual help available.

Those all add up to it being easy to avoid actually taking an honest look at our drinking and how it’s affecting our health, finances, relationships, and so on. Unhappily, most of these reasons are also mostly true.

But suppose actual help is available that refutes all of these objections?

Help that is effective, confidential, research based, empowering, affordable, does not necessarily require abstinence, and is specifically tailored to you and you circumstances?

Then what?

In my own case, nearly 40 years ago, personal tragedy drove me into my vodka bottle where a stayed for a few years. Because there wasn’t any real help available, just the AA scams, I had to extricate myself. I did – but it took several years. And it took a toll on my children, career, and certainly my self-esteem.

That’s how I began researching how to provide services that would allow you to achieve in a few months what took me years. Services which would empower you, not demean and diminish you, and which would allow you to address issues long before they have taken a heavy toll on your life and the lives of those around you.

Let’s talk about getting your excessive alcohol use off the table and out of your life. The call is free and the consultation is free. Isn’t it time to begin making objective and informed decisions about your drinking?

We’re happy to help you do the sorting and evaluating whether you choose to use our services or not. It’s just a conversation like we routinely have with former clients over the years. You don’t have to do this by yourself and you don’t have to involve the world in your own private business.

As the only effective and confidential program in the country why not afford yourself of the help we offer that can save you years – years you won’t get back?