motherofearth
Bluelighter
Hello and much 
to all my fellow TDS friends!
Here is a current struggle I am having: my therapist, R.
Here is some background: I met him in the treatment center/rehab I attended twice during the end of the Spring and throughout the summer. I was there to address my intravenous drug use (heroin/cocaine/meth) and my alcoholism. For rehab, I enjoyed my experience overall: the staff, patients, program, and facilities were all satisfactory-great. There counselors facilitated process/education groups, and each patient was assigned one of these three for individual therapy. My therapist was never my counselor in this setting. Frankly, I enjoyed him the least of the three. I didn't harbor any significant derision toward him, but how he expressed disagreements with me in a group setting sometimes made me resentful. As time went on (and there was an abundance of it), I came to enjoy a better relationship w/ R after a series of personal talks. I was still surprised upon my discharge at his willingness to work w/ me, as he always perceived me as difficult, and our perspectives on drug use and recovery highly varied. It was for this last reason I decided to give R a shot; I wanted someone who would dispute me and not spend time patting me on the back.
The crux of the issue comes down to AA/NA: I've tried very hard to adapt to this program, and, currently, I just can't resign myself to it. This thread isn't intended for that topic, but I'll answer questions here if anyone feels it'll help. R was an addict (I suspect weed/alcohol, but you never know), he now has 20 years, and he is just one of those guys who can't see it being done any other way. In fact, I explicitly asked him whether he thought AA/NA was the panacea. It took 20 seconds of prodding to receive a "yes" as the answer. Considering addiction is such an issue in my life (I've been relapsing on a weekly basis recently), is it worth it for me to continue seeing R? My sister, who is working on entering grad school for psych, feels I should GTFO and find a therapist who has similar views on recovery.
This coincides w/ a general feeling of hopelessness as I realize AA/NA is absolutely not for me. People treat it like the universal prescription, and when I address issues to members, they marginalize or pigeon-hole them, as if they've heard it all before and you couldn't possibly have a problem featuring anything unique. I can say, when I was prospectively working these programs I felt a lot better about my sobriety. But I can't force myself to believe in a radically different way - I can't start walking through walls. Anyway, sorry to go off on that topic. Before the thread even started I couldn't help it from going off topic, haha.
So, do I dump him?
Any input from you heavenly group of folks is appreciated. Best,
MoE
to all my fellow TDS friends!Here is a current struggle I am having: my therapist, R.
Here is some background: I met him in the treatment center/rehab I attended twice during the end of the Spring and throughout the summer. I was there to address my intravenous drug use (heroin/cocaine/meth) and my alcoholism. For rehab, I enjoyed my experience overall: the staff, patients, program, and facilities were all satisfactory-great. There counselors facilitated process/education groups, and each patient was assigned one of these three for individual therapy. My therapist was never my counselor in this setting. Frankly, I enjoyed him the least of the three. I didn't harbor any significant derision toward him, but how he expressed disagreements with me in a group setting sometimes made me resentful. As time went on (and there was an abundance of it), I came to enjoy a better relationship w/ R after a series of personal talks. I was still surprised upon my discharge at his willingness to work w/ me, as he always perceived me as difficult, and our perspectives on drug use and recovery highly varied. It was for this last reason I decided to give R a shot; I wanted someone who would dispute me and not spend time patting me on the back.
The crux of the issue comes down to AA/NA: I've tried very hard to adapt to this program, and, currently, I just can't resign myself to it. This thread isn't intended for that topic, but I'll answer questions here if anyone feels it'll help. R was an addict (I suspect weed/alcohol, but you never know), he now has 20 years, and he is just one of those guys who can't see it being done any other way. In fact, I explicitly asked him whether he thought AA/NA was the panacea. It took 20 seconds of prodding to receive a "yes" as the answer. Considering addiction is such an issue in my life (I've been relapsing on a weekly basis recently), is it worth it for me to continue seeing R? My sister, who is working on entering grad school for psych, feels I should GTFO and find a therapist who has similar views on recovery.
This coincides w/ a general feeling of hopelessness as I realize AA/NA is absolutely not for me. People treat it like the universal prescription, and when I address issues to members, they marginalize or pigeon-hole them, as if they've heard it all before and you couldn't possibly have a problem featuring anything unique. I can say, when I was prospectively working these programs I felt a lot better about my sobriety. But I can't force myself to believe in a radically different way - I can't start walking through walls. Anyway, sorry to go off on that topic. Before the thread even started I couldn't help it from going off topic, haha.
So, do I dump him?
Any input from you heavenly group of folks is appreciated. Best,
MoE
