“When I started coming to meetings, I actually saw freedom in people’s faces, and in the way they spoke, they were just really happy! And I wanted that, you know? It gave me a whole new perspective.” - Patricia

Ben and I are chatting with Patricia today. She is a very successful member of our community. Patricia took our suggestions and acted on them to become sober. Consuming her first drink at 12, Patricia decided she liked the feeling of drinking, trying to escape her feelings.

This process became a never-ending cycle, bringing fear into her life until she finally realized she couldn’t live the life she was living. She had several factors that led up to her eventual sober recovery. With her third DUI and recently breaking up with her boyfriend, Patricia started binge drinking for weeks on end, then stopped.

While binge drinking, she would pay for a motel, drink until she passed out, then wake up the next day and repeat the pattern again. She also held a job at a bloodwork lab during the day and worked 60+ hours per week.

Part of her knew if this behavior continued that she would die. Patricia realized she needed a change and wanted to do whatever she could to get back on the right path.

The first time she checked into treatment, she worked on her sobriety for a year-and-a-half. “I was stuck in a sort of a bubble, and I was so focused on my internship that I didn’t have time for anything else. When I got out of that, it was very much a culture shock for me. I didn’t have anything else to rely on besides my new husband, and life got very overwhelming for me, and I ended up in a motel room.” She didn’t have a clear path to fall back on when she was released from her prior treatment center and returned to drinking.

At Rock Recovery Center, we take a humanistic approach to recovery, teaching our clients how to live independently in a sober world. Many times, we don’t have to remove freedoms from our clients as they are going down the right path with guidance.

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Show Notes:

• [03:35] Patricia is a star member of our sober community.
• [04:37] She tells of her story of spiraling downward into addiction.
• [06:04] Factors that led to her second attempt at treatment, including her third DUI.
• [08:40] What Patricia learned during her treatment at Rock Recovery Center.
• [10:40] How Patricia would deal with her previous life stressors running away.
• [13:53] Her daily schedule interning at her first treatment center.
• [16:50] Recovery happens outside of work, not inside of your workday.
• [19:45] Patricia realized that the choices she was going to make came down to her making the right decisions.
• [21:49] Treatment models that fail is because they do not give the opportunity to practice their new tools in treatment.
• [26:00] Providing the opportunity for yourself to do better.
• [27:28] Three suggestions given to Patricia to help her build a better life.
• [31:33] The challenges and reality of becoming sober. 
• [34:48] Why rehab romance never works.
• [39:27] The pattern of romantic relationship development in rehab.
• [41:27] Thanks to Patricia for coming on the show. We are honored to witness her sobriety.

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