Recovery 365 - July 20 - Treatment Centers

Recovery 365 - July 20 - Treatment Programs

Submitted by Milkman Mike on July 19, 2012 - 6:37pm

I've heard a lot of talk about how Treatment and Recovery Centers don't send the right messages to the newcomers. Some say that it gives people the wrong information for THEIR particular program. I can only speak for myself when talking about the programs that I've been in. In 1988, the police came to my house about a disturbance that was going on. My wife and I were yelling and screaming at each other, and I was drunk as a skunk. The police took me to detox, where I ended up doing a voluntary 28 day program. I think that was what got me admitting that I was an alcoholic and that my life had become unmanageable. I learned a lot about myself, but obviously, not enough, as it took another 12 years of active alcoholism and addiction for me to finally surrender.

In Oct. of 2000, facing another prison term of 5 to 7 years for the last of uncountless drunk driving arrests, I pushed the courts to send me to CRC, the state program for addictions. The DA fought like hell to deny me this program, as in his words, "he's an alcoholic, not an addict". I had to go into my past and "prove" that I was an addict, and the judge in his words said, "Jails and prisons have not helped this man, we are going to try something different, and send him to CRC, and see what happens". Well folks, I haven't had a drink or drug since that last arrest. Yes, CRC was a program designed for the addict. But as the ongoing controversy goes, What the hell IS an addict? Everyone seems to have their own opinion of this, but for ME, the bottom line WAS..........I NEEDED HELP!!!!! I could not change my life around by MYSELF!!!
The program, although focusing on addiction, forced me to look at the way that I'd been living my life. Made me see things about myself that kept me "out there". Opened my mind, let me get honest with myself, and I got willing to do what I had to do to change things. When I got out, I was sent to an aftercare program that was based on Spirituality. Myself and another were the only Whites in a program of African Americans. Now if you've ever been to prison, you know what I'm talking about when it comes to the racial distensions. At first it was very distasteful there, but once I got to know the people it opened my mind and changed a lot of views that I'd grown up with. I learned to accept people for who they are, and not WHAT they are.
All the time I spent in these programs, I was taught about addiction. I went to NA, as that was what was available. Although I'm an alcoholic first, as that's my drug of choice, I was an addict also, as anything that altered my mind, was for ME. Today, I go to AA, as that's where I feel most comfortable at. I attend NA meetings from time to time, as I have to stay connected with those people that I'm like. ADDICTS! The AA that I go to doesn't have many closed meetings, and not much is said when people share not only about alcohol, but drugs as well. It is in an area that the members are mostly dual addicted and it is accepted. For those that don't want to accept it, there are the closed meetings, just for alcoholics. For those that want to abide by the singleness of purpose of either program, I do not object. Yes, I do want AA to be there for any of my ancestors that may have a drinking problem in the future. But I also want them to feel comfortable in ANY program, if they have other addictions as well. My group members are people from many different programs, and I believe that we can all learn from each other. I have no objection to those that want to talk about a specific program and follow their principles and guidelines. We can all learn from each other on how to deal with our day to day problems and stay clean/sober for another 24 hours.
For those with specific addictions, we will do our best to direct the newcomers to the program that may be best for them individually. For the alcoholic - AA, and for the addict - NA. There are many other programs for individual addictions and the programs are listed on the side under "Other Addictions". These are only my thoughts, opinions and experience. Have a great day all.
This was a post that I posted about 6 years ago on one of my sites. I still feel the same today. Below I've put in a comment from my post that one of our members posted in response to mine above. It's a great read and tells you might experience in a program like the one he went to. Enjoy the read as I did.
Milkman
Jim, on Treatment Centers
I am Jim a grateful recovering addict........NA This is my ESH on the topic of Treatment Center's and Detox facilities. I am in no way here to (advocate) for or (push) Treatment on anyone, simply to share my experience. I have been through treatment twice and I can tell you that all treatment center's are not created equal.
The first treatment center was in 1984 and it was a 60 day program based on 12 step meeting's (3 per day) and they pushed you through the first 5 steps in that 60 day's. They used a soft approach like, let us love you until you can love yourself and we see you are hurting so we will back off. I stayed clean for 1 year and went back out for 15 more years. The bottom line is, I always had a reservation in the back of my head that said, some day I can use again and I did!
On 3/17/02 I crawled into treatment for the second time a broken man, I was bankrupt in every sense of the word. I well refer to this treatment center as ( Carlton ). The first thing they asked me was if I needed to go to detox. I convinced them I was ok and I didn't need to go to detox. They assigned me a ( Big Brother ) another client that had been there awhile and his job was to show me the facility, get me settled in and teach me the rules. The first thing he did was give me a 3x5 notebook and pen and told me I was to keep this on my person at all times. Then he showed me the bathroom and pointed to a piece of paper on the outside of the door and said if you need to go to the bathroom you sign your name on this log, complete with the date and time and don't forget the two little dots and AM or PM on the time. I said you want me to sign a piece of paper before I go to the bathroom ? He said yes and when you are done you need to sign out ! LOL.....I thought omg what did I get myself into. But I had promised myself that I was not going to blow out of treatment and I made a decision to completely surrender to this place and do what ever they asked me to do.
Carlton is a 1 year commitment, 90 days inpatient,90 days out patient and 6 months aftercare. It is an intense behavioral modification program. Very few things in life could prepare a person for this place. It is very confrontational ( in your face ) approach and they do there treatment with sleep deprivation and a very high level of stress. On a good night you might get 5 hours of sleep. They attack behaviors in an effort to raise your awareness level. A large part of the program is ( support and consequence ) for example, If I get up from the dinner table and forget to push my chair back in and another client sees me do it, he takes out his 3x5 notebook and approaches me. He says Jim I would like to support you in the form of a consequence for chair unaware ( UA ) for short, then he will say, and my positive affirmation is ( whatever) like you are doing good in your treatment and I am glad you are here. The only proper response from me is thank you, nothing more nothing less, if I try to say anything else it is another consequence.
At this point I take out my 3x5 and I write down the time and date, who gave me the consequence and what it was for, he does the same. I have 2 hours to report it to mister C and he assigns me a task like washing a window or wiping a door frame. When done I report back to mister C and he checks it off as complete. There are more serious consequences like self will and sarcasm you write a 3 page paper on the offense and how it is detrimental to your recovery. Threatening and aggressive behavior is a dischargeable offense. For projecting an attitude, you get to pack a stuffed animal with you at all times for 3 days. You are to treat it just like a real child, if you forget about it and leave it in a room, you get supported for child abandonment and go before a make shift child services board and plead your case as to why you should be allowed to get your child back.
In Oregon we have a law on the books called measure 11,if you are convicted for assault it is an automatic 72 months in prison and the judge has no say in the matter. Well if you go off on someone in Carlton it is a measure 11 crime times how ever many people are in the facility at the time, which is normally around 30 people including staff and they can do this because it is suppose to be a safe place. Then they have processes that they put certain people on. If you have low self esteem they put you on a process that before you can engage in any conversation you first have got to say, I am a kind and gentle man worthy of love. Then you can talk to people. If you are a perfectionist, they make you ware two different shoes and mess up your room. All of this is going on with the daily treatment functions.
Your first assignment when you go in to Carlton is to write an autobiography going back to your earliest memory to the present and you have 1 week to complete it. Then you read it in front of the group and believe me you had better get real in your auto or they well flip and humiliate you in front of the entire house and make you do it again. After you do your auto then your case manager makes up your treatment plan and you are given assignments with time limits and you need to find the time to get it done because you still have your regular daily classes like, Relapse prevention, Thinking errors and tactics, Anger management and drug education. And in all these classes you write either 3 or 7 page papers that are due within 5 days and if you are late turning in an assignment they reward your request for 7 more pages.....LOL...as they put it. This program is no joke, it is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but it was also the most rewarding thing I have ever done.
They tell you going into Carlton that if you do everything they ask you to do in 90 days of inpatient treatment that when you leave you well have the equivalent of 2 1/2 to 3 years of recovery. They say this because of the nature of the things they have you dive into. They have you work on core issues like shame and guilt, anger and grief and they show you how to pin point where you learned shame and where your anger came from. They have house positions like house manager, kitchen manager and assistant kitchen manager, recreation officer and mister C.
The house is basically run by the clients and if the house is not running like it should the staff drops the hammer. If things get to out of line they put the house on retreat and at Carlton that is not a good thing. The entire house is shut down and you do nothing but treatment 20 hours a day you are in group for 12 hours each day, no outside meetings, no phone, no passes. And you don't get off retreat until the house pulls together and starts running like it is meant to. On the weekends they have a car wash, half the clients work Saturday and half Sunday. It is set up on a donation bases and half the money is split between the clients and the other half goes into an account for the Carlton annual camp out. Plus they do things in the community like clean up the college basketball court after a game in exchange for free admittance into the game. They go to 5 outside meetings and have 2 inside meetings per week. They want you to have a sponsor and a home group before you leave treatment.
The staff at Carlton are masters at pulling things out of you that you have never told another person. Your last week in treatment they send you to the local Detox center to do risk work. You admit, care for and share your ESH with the folks in detox and I can tell you that this was an experience I well never forget. It was so hard and scary to be less then 90 days clean and have to restrain the alcoholic down to a gurney because he was in DT'S or to clean up after the heroin addict that was so sick he wanted to die. The good part of that was to see what I had to look forward to if I pick up again and I guess that was the intent.
You have really got to want to change your life to make it through a treatment center like this one. A lot of people blow out of Carlton, usually within the first week and they go right back to getting loaded and you read about them in the paper, they die, go back to prison or kill someone driving drunk. The staff at Carlton will tell you that the doors are not locked, if you don't want to be here leave, make room for someone that wants to live. They have a waiting list there and get clients from all over the country. But I guess the bottom line is, like 12 step programs, you get out of treatment what you put into it. I got a lot out of Carlton because I applied myself. I am forever grateful to that place, what I learned there has changed my life forever.
When I left treatment I had blisters on top of calluses from writing so much. I wrote over 700 pages in 90 days, I still have every paper I wrote and I look at it from time to time and it is amazing how far I have come and how much my thinking has changed. Carlton has a bell in the house that is used when someone has a major problem or a care and concern for another client, they ring the bell and the entire house heads to the group room to process what ever is going on. The bell takes priority over every thing else, it is viewed as a life and death thing and nobody leaves that room until the problem is resolved.
One thing that is unique about Carlton is once you complete that program and as long as you don't get loaded you are always welcome there. As a Carlton graduate I know that if my ass is falling off and nothing out here is working I can go into that house any time 24/7 and ring that bell and set down with 25 men and process what ever is going on. If I find myself homeless they well give me a bed and help me get into a recovery house. I go back there all the time, the staff are members of my support group and my friends today. The Carlton philosophy is, ( It’s not only Treatment , and It’s a way of life ) !
All treatment centers are not created equal. A good one well always feed into 12 step programs. I find it interesting that more often then not, the folks that seem to slam or knock treatment centers, either have never been through one, or they blew out of treatment at one point in there life without completing the program. Treatment Center save lives, without them there would be many more people dieing then there is. Carlton saved my life and I am forever grateful for what they done for me. What keeps me clean today is the God of my understanding and 12 step programs, but speaking for myself here, without Carlton's help in untwisting my life, I doubt I would be alive today. (((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))) JIM