Why I Do What I Do - My Story
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The world of 12-steps says that if a person stays in their addiction long enough they will experience jails, institutions and death.
I have experienced all three. Those were the darkest years of my life. Since them, I've also experienced over 34 more. All in recovery. Those years have been the best and the brightest. By the time I decided to get help for my compulsive behaviors my life was a mess! I entered rehab. I went to 90 meetings in 90 days. I followed the twelve steps. I worked the "program". Yet, despite how much I hated what my compulsive behaviors had done to my life and loathing myself for having done it, I relapsed soon after I discharged from where I had been learning about living in abstinence. Alcoholics Anonymous was for me, and is for many others, a great support system for the early years of sobriety. As a support system there are many times it is invaluable, and I believe in it whole-heartedly for that purpose. But it is not therapy. Personally, I needed more than just support. I needed to get to the causes of my behavior. I needed to understand why I did what I did if I was ever to stop doing it. It wasn't until I spent time in a therapist's office that I was able to truly confront and address my personal issues and the underlying causes for my behavior. Some of those causes were the result of the way I had been treated by others, while some originated from how I had treated myself. But, during that time I was eventually able to separate the two and ultimately change; and when I say change, I actually mean to "recover" my former self. That is, as I have discovered, what true recovery really means: To get back to the person I was before my compulsive behaviors controlled my life. Everyone has a reason for acting out compulsively to cope with their life's difficulties, and frankly it's absolutely necessary to figure out what those reason's are and to put them in their proper perspective for recovery to occur. That's why, once I became a therapist, I choose to work exclusively in the area of compulsive behaviors and in those areas that contribute to them or result from them. To become a specialist, and not just a general practitioner as a mental health professional. In drawing from my personal experience in life and in my own recovery, I acquired the additional education and training I needed to help others who are making choices today like the ones I made 34 plus years ago. Whether it be with drugs and alcohol or through other behaviors like gambling, pornography, or over-spending, everyone has a "why". A core reason or set of reasons at the root of what they do. That is where therapy comes in. To help the person struggling with an unmanageable behavior to uncover their "why". And, to help the loved ones of those with a compulsive behavior, I've also chosen to work with couples and families whose relationships have been adversely affected by that behavior. With time and effort on everyone's part, anyone can recover from a compulsive behavior. Relationships can heal. Trust can be restored and love rekindled. Lives can be rebuilt. If I can do it, so can you. Please, let me show you how. |
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LOCATION: 1000 Texan Trail Suite - 210 Grapevine, TX. 76051 |
PHONE: (817) 637 - 7176 |