Real Accelerated Recovery – when it actually works, how it works, and why we can offer it and no one else can.
A number of treatment programs are now offering “accelerated recovery” options that, frankly, don’t work.
Why not? The real problem for virtually all programs is that they rely on groups to deliver what passes for treatment – and groups simply don’t work. Compressing even more groups into a shorter time frame obviously doesn’t work any better.
Other programs rely on substituting massive amounts of drugs to fix your drinking problem – substituting one “fix” for another. How do you suppose that’s going to pan out?
Others simply promise the same old pixie dust and magic we debunked two weeks ago.
We, on the other hand, offer an approach no one else even tries to match.
First – NO groups!!! Just you, us, and possibly a spouse or other significant person (at your choice). That amounts to about 15 hours of individually focused time during the first five days. The typical traditional program will offer 6-8 hours during 60 – 90 days of residential. Other “accelerated” programs offer as little as 1 hour of individual treatment.
Second – we’re actually trained and specialized professionals who not only have the experience but who know what works and actually conduct on-going research into whatever improves outcomes for you, our client. Traditional programs employ “counselors” who’s only training consists of obtaining a GED and passing a test on AA. Most of these are also still using and abusing and are stuck “in recovery” forever according to a recent survey of professionals.
Third – we do actual follow-up. For at least 12 weeks as you adjust your day-to-day life to create a “new normal” that doesn’t include alcohol abuse we’re available as needed in addition to regularly scheduled sessions by phone, skype, or in person. Other places send you home to AA or nothing. One program we’re quite familiar with allows you one 15 minute follow-up call. How generous.
Mostly it all comes down to how much time and attention are you getting to fix your problem? No one, regardless of cost, comes close to providing even a fraction of the time, training, experience, and resources we offer you.
That’s where we have positioned our practice – right there between the solo therapists and psychiatrists who offer too little to be effective ( i.e. one hour a week) and the residential programs that offer nothing but wasted time, money, and magic.
Really – what do you want?
“False Nostalgia” the road back to the bad old days…
Leaving alcohol abuse, or any other bad habit, behind is a matter of creating a “new normal” – a revamped life that is more satisfactory than your old one and one in which productive, or at least benign, habits have replaced self- medicating and self-destructive ones.
And it works. Over the course of a year or so you adjust to your better life and things go along pretty well. Until…
There’s that big “until” that most programs call “relapse” and which, if you believe the myths, mean you have lost everything you gained and you are back to ground zero again.
As usual, there’s several things wrong with “what everyone knows”.
First, even if you’ve had a lapse, you aren’t back where you started. You have a significant period of success to draw on and learn from. Like the dieter who lost 40 lbs and regained 4 over the holidays, you’re still 36 pounds better off that you were.
Second, the thing to learn is what happened that caused you to revert for a bit? More often than not, we got to indulging in a bit of “false nostalgia”?
What’s that? That’s when we start “remembering” that the costs of our drinking were considerably less than was in fact the case, and that the benefits of drinking were a lot greater than they actually were.
Yes, that’s what our faulty memories always do for us. They blunt the bad times and glorify the good all out of proportion, when it’s something we think we want to do again, even though we know better
Avoiding the trap? Review exactly where you were before you gave up alcohol as your best friend. Do it often.
Compare that real picture with the “false nostalgia” you’ve found yourself drifting into.
Remember too that without the alcohol, you are beginning to regain some credibility with you spouse, family, friends, employers, and community. It won’t take much to set that process back.
Remember, you’ve avoided alcohol, labels, AA, “diseases”, powerlessness, and all of the usual demeaning and depressing results of both alcohol abuse and traditional treatment. Why would you want to place yourself in jeopardy again?
One of the things our clients appreciate is that they can always call when they need a bit of help sorting out where they are and what to do. That’s true whether you were a client last month or 5 years ago. We’re here and you’re still protected from the traditional voodoo treatment myths and humiliating outcomes.
So! Whether it’s time to get started on a real solution of your own, time for a reassuring chat, or to discuss glitches and successes, isn’t it time to call?
Links to Success:
“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;
Odds and Ends
Alcohol Abuse, Alcoholism, and 12 Step Programs That Can’t Tell the Difference, don’t care, and will gladly burden you with inappropriate and damaging labels that will haunt you for the rest of your life.
Women and Alcohol – What To Consider In Treatment and why women need and deserve services built around women’s needs, not just another recycled (and failed) men’s program – which is all anyone else has to offer.
Confidentiality, why you want to avoid residential treatment and groups of all kinds.
The Bucket of Crabs or Why AA and Al-Anon are Bad For Your Health.
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