Someone very close to me, we'll call him Joe, had an addiction. Some here may ask the question 'what do you mean, had?'.
You see, my friend Joe lost everything. His next step in life was death or jail.
Joe entered a rehabilitation program. It was not your run of the mill rehab in my opinion because the way they approached addiction was quite different than anything I had ever experienced, learned, or read about. They did not just attack the physical addiction. They attacked the underlying mental issues of why people leaned on a crutch in the first place. They addressed all the things they missed out on learning while they were busy �using� and not �growing�.
Joe's group met 3 days, approx. 9-10 hours, a week. If he missed group, he�d be kicked out of the program. He was given a workbook. This book contained everything from finances to personal hygiene, you name it, it was in there. Joe shared his workbook with me. It was amazing to see all the different angles they were attacking his addiction from. If Joe did not do the exercises in his workbook he�d be kicked out of the program. Joe was also required to go to meetings held by people that had completed the program that he was currently in. If he didn't go, again ... he'd be kicked out of the program. I figured these meetings he had to go to would be like NA and AA meetings; they weren't ... but I'll get to that in a minute. Once a week they had support nights where they could bring someone. Joe asked me to be his support buddy. I agreed. It was amazing for me to see how effective the program was for these people. Some of the people there, Joe included ... well let's just say I never thought they would be able to change, but they did. It was like watching miracles take place.
The thing that was so different about Joe's program is they emphasized the importance of not labeling people, instead they labeled behavior. Labels can be peeled off, behavior can be changed.
In class and at the meetings, unlike NA and AA where people stood up and introduce themselves and labeled themselves as addicts, they would stand up and state the drug of choice they were recovering from: �Hi my name is Joe and I am recovering from speed�. The program believed that by saying things like �Hi, I am
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Quit Meter
$54,812.40
Amount Saved
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Quit Meter
Days: 6042
Hours: 23
Minutes: 20
Seconds: 15
Life Gained
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Quit Meter
45677
Smoke Free Days
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Quit Meter
137,031
Cigarettes Not Smoked