FROM THE DARKNESS OF ADDICTION TO THE DAWN OF RECOVERY
A Practical Guide to Recovery For The Family Afflicted With Alcohol And Drug Addiction
by
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SURVIVAL SKILLS TAUGHT DURING CHILDHOOD
The birth of addiction is when the addictive lifestyle to alcohol and drugs was first introduced into your life. It is not when you first started using. Most people in bondage of addiction were born into a family unit where alcohol and drugs were used all the time. Childhood is from birth to 12 years of age. In a normal family unit, the children grow up learning life skills. In the dysfunctional family unit afflicted with alcohol and drugs the children learn survival skills they will need to survive in the darkened life of addiction. The real hell is when they start putting into practice these survival skills. The only law they will learn to obey when they get older will be the law of the streets. They will learn to live in the shadows of existence, the darkened side of life. There is still hope for these children. It may come during their adolescence, in time to save them from a living hell. As to the survival skills these children will learn, they will learn that anger and violence will get them what you want. Another skill they learn is how to use drugs and alcohol. Often they will learn this through their parents or friends. They will learn when to talk, whom they can talk to, and what they are allowed to say.
THE DORMANT OR RELAPSE ZONE
After we have completed an inpatient treatment program, we go back into an everyday normal life. We have all the greatest intentions on maintaining a strong support system and living clean and sober. After you are home for a week or two, some people still have not started attending any AA or NA meetings to establish their life long support system. This opens the door to stinking thinking, “why attend all those meeting? I am not drinking or using, I am doing just fine without them. I will just not drink or use and do this on my own”. What these people have done is stop at the Dormant Zone or Relapse Zone. This is a place where we feel safe and comfortable for a short time. This is just an illusion of sobriety. Many people that are stuck here time after time cannot ever seem to accept the fact that in order to make it they have to go all the way into sobriety. These people want all the blessing sobriety has to offer, but they are not willing to do what they will have to do to gain these blessings. We can never reach true sobriety in this dormant zone.
THE SEVENTEEN MOST COMMON EXCUSES FOR RELAPSE
The easiest thing in life for an addicted person in early recovery to do is to find a reason to relapse. On the other hand if we are looking for a reason to relapse that means there is something wrong with the reasons why we went into recovery. One thing that most people in recovery never realize is that there are two parts to a good weekly support system. The first part is the serious part. This is the outpatient treatment program, AA and NA groups, twelve step group’s, one on one counseling, or any other support group that gives us the knowledge we need to stay clean and sober. The other part to the weekly support system is the fun or enjoyment part of our life of sobriety. This is the clean and sober dances, potluck dinners thrown by AA, AA camping trips, a night out with clean and sober friends, and a lot more. This makes attending a weekly support system a lot of fun. Both parts are important and must be maintained to have a strong sobriety.
THE DEATH OF THE FAMILY UNIT & THE VICTIMS OF ADDICTION
The family members of the addicted person are the victims of the addiction. Their problems are much more devastating than the problems of the addicted person. The victims of the addiction will suffer from the physical and mental abuse brought on by the addicted person. The mental abuse will be much more devastating for the children than for t
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About the Book
This book is very easy to read and understand for everyone. In our book I refer to the family members of the drug & alcohol addicted person as the victims of the addiction. This book goes into detail about how the addiction affects each family member and how the family can go into treatment as a family, regain the family unity and love they once knew. This book will show you what a child goes through from birth on into adulthood that was born into a family unit that has been afflicted with drug and alcohol addiction. In this book there is up-to-date information on all the street drugs, how to look for alcohol and drug use in the work place, and the medical illnesses related to heavy drug and alcohol addiction. You will learn about the three levels of addiction, the long road home, the intervention into the family unit, and much more. This book also goes into detail about the long process of addiction and how it brings a person to the point of death or to the lowest levels of life. You will learn about the whole process from detoxification through the treatment of the addiction. I am sure there is knowledge in this book that you have never seen before in any other book on this subject. We have tried to take every issue related to addiction and the family to its core. A counselor must have hope and faith in their skills, knowing that they can help someone turn their life around and achieve sobriety. Every counselor is always looking for that light to start shining in their client because that moment that client’s light starts to shine is their “Dawn of Recovery.”
About the Author
My name is Walter V. Lee. My wife’s name is Chrystal M. Huey. I am ADS Certified, CAADE Certified, and a licensed drug & alcohol rehabilitation counselor/specialist. I have completed 3.5 years of collage and I have put all the knowledge and skills I have learned over the years into our book. I have been working in this field for 17 years and been the director of 2 treatment programs and a county shelter, and I have gained much experience from many other treatment program also. I have survived 19 years of addiction myself. I have been in recovery since 8/20/1988. For the past 11 years, I have been the director of the ASAP Program, an outpatient treatment & support program for the Department of Veterans Affairs, Vocational Rehabilitation Services. Over the years, I have worked with many clients and their families helping them to regain family unity while living in very early recovery. When I first stated working in this field it was taboo to try to help the family members of the addicted person. From the start of my career in 1990 I have always broken this unspoken rule and reached out to these family members that needed the help just as much if not more than the one with the active addiction. I have never been one to stand with the crowd. I was the one always asking, why, or why not.