I can't wait to be done with Treatment

05/19/10



I often hear from a client, "I can't wait to be done with treatment." When I hear this, I'm concerned for their long term recovery and abstinence. There is a saying: "It is progression not perfection." Recovery is progression not perfection. Life is progression not perfection. Are we ever done with progressing? TurningLeaf's motto is: "It is not about change, It is about growth." Hopefully, we are continually progressing and growing. In the Substance Abuse Recovery workbook there is a cartoon in the section on Relapse Prevention and the caption reads: Recovery is like going up a down escalator. There is no such thing as standing still; as soon as you stop going up you begin moving backwards. Perhaps we may be "stuck, standing still, resting, regrouping" whatever the term for a brief period, however, if is more than a brief period, what direction am I going? To quote Anton Checkov, "Any idiot can face a crisis. It is the day to day living that wears you out." Most often people are in crisis when they come to treatment and once the crisis passes, do they "settle" back into life or do they continue to grow and progress? AA asks people to  be sober just for today. The day to day concepts works for life as well. "Living" life one day at a time is different than surviving life.





Sue Judd, M.S.S., L.S.A.C.