Family Gratitude

By G. LaBranche, PhD.

Sister Beth died three years ago this month and season, my rock, a miracle worker, and a source of true genuine affirmation for all those she knew! I mean this in the context of our ARMOR Program’s perspective, based on the therapeutic construct developed by Dr. Conrad Baars and Dr. Anna Terruwe. For us it is adjunct medicinal protocol for health and healing, represented by the first letter of ARMOR. She knew me well; she rescued me from myself and suicidal ideation. I am so grateful and appreciative, love you, Sister Beth! Being far from a fan of funerals, wakes, and ceremonies related to death, I often express that due to my abandonment and rejection issues, I choose to view the passing of loved ones as merely transformations into an angelic presence. 

Live – Laugh – Love

I’ve also been blessed with all the affirmation shared amongst many clients over the past twelve years! I thank each and every one of you! Your expressions of affirmation, love, and respect for each other, as well as myself, have enriched my comprehension of what love means to me – more than words or actions, it’s a state of being. A popular quest amongst early remission group participants is to earn trust back from their family. “I just wish I could earn my family’s trust!” I would hear something like this often, in twelve-step meetings, SMART Recovery meetings, and our own in-house meetings. I’d scratch my head and think: “I just want to be able to trust myself.” I'd also reflect on my family systems professor, who helped me better understand various family types, beliefs, and instilled values. Like I've mentioned at commitments from the podium – I am grateful for my alcohol use disorder, I am grateful for my family too, they both powerful influencers of the somewhat how and why I am who I am today! And as Wood Jeff often tells us about his ritual, the R in ARMOR: he looks in the mirror and says aloud “everyone is going to like me today because I am sober.” I see this to be true, Jeff! You have helped save many lives. Your wonderful woodworking-affirmation within our network and shared with our clients is greatly appreciated; we are eternally grateful, Thank You!  

I think I am musing over the Halls a bit today, my surrogate family, as November is our gratitude month: a grateful heart keeps a recovered alcohol use disorder safe from drinking. I am also fond of this month’s ideology: improving a conscious relationship with our maker, our origins, or your big bang, our human essence, Creation Itself. It was affirmation received by my spiritual director that sustained my efforts and development of our ARMOR Program and its five elements! The list goes on, thank you, thank you, thank you! 

You ever think of an idea as if it's ingenuous, like you're the first. Well, after a few years working from an office, it became clear that many struggling with an addiction are unable to keep appointments or even make it there. A graduate, after gaining back her vehicle visited her old stomping grounds and paid me a gratitude visit. While we went through town, she said "wow, she's still out here!" I replied that if it weren't for her program she would be too. I got a smirk of course. I then asked her to pick anyone she wants and give me a little time and we'll get her into remission. Well, she didn't pick out anyone in particular. To honor my word to myself, I designed my exit strategy as if she did! Phew, am I happy to retire from the office and any new arrivals. The ingenuous part is that an initial phase of a recovery program starts with an outreach phase, we have to bring the help they need to them, just ask author: James J. O' Connell, MD. A doctor who took his practice to the streets of Boston, for the past half century or so.