LIVE IN NORCROSS FOR NATIONAL RECOVERY

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

Brian: Welcome Atlanta to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour here broadcasting live in Norcross

Jill: We are not talking we are celebrating right here at Breakthrough Addiction Recovery so here is the call out to everyone in Norcross and if you have enough gas come from Acworth or Midtown. Anyway, if you want to come on out and celebrate with us we have our doors open today and an open house going on and actually we are straight from Breakthrough Addiction Recovery with a live audience

(applause) and we also have lots of food we have uh actually the executive director has been delegated the duty of cooking hot dogs and we have some left and if you would like to come and see us meet some people at Breakthrough we would love to have you so,

Brian: The address is 8000 Miller Court East, Norcross, GA and put it in your mapquest and find your way over here. We would love to be able to share this good time with you

Jill: Good times, good times

Lois: The folks are looking good and everybody say ……

Jill: What we are trying to accomplish is honoring National Recovery Month and what we want to do is um, go along with the whole theme of National Recovery Month called “Voices of Recovery” and “Voices for Recovery” in a few moments we will have people share their stories today and their voices will be heard

Brian: We have already had a panel discussion today with various individuals about our programs and representatives from vendors that we use and very excited to see a lot of our colleagues as well as clients and many of our folks here that are a part of this celebration, I know many of you out there are probably in recovery and we would like to hear from you because we are talking about these voices and if you are listening to this and are really interested in being able to share your story please give us a call at 770-226-0920 again it is 770-226-0920 and if you are outside the Atlanta area the number is 1-888-920-2665.

Jill: I am glad you mentioned that Brian because we are a call in show today even though we are doing the remote broadcast you can still call us and get in on the conversation or you may have questions about what we do at Breakthrough and we will try to answers some questions about our programs and also if you like Brian was saying want to talk about your journey of recovery that would be a wonderful way to honor National Recovery Month. So. Dr. Dutton what did you think about the discussion today.

Lois: Well we had a few people drafted and not dragging they came I thought it was an incredible we had some of the big guns today, Dr. Johnston our psychiatric director and now is the camera man over here and Dr. Reggie Riley and incredible young man here with us today and our fearless leader Brian was here doing his thing and Brian’s thing is always good and of course I was there so that was the crowning you know that was the coup de gras when I show up the show is over. It was really I thought a good exchange of ideas to be recorded for the website and so go in and put a face with a name and um, and listen to some of the powerful information that came out of that panel this morning. I want to say that you know the Recovery Month is a relatively new celebration and it is about time we celebrate the incredible men and women that walk a walk, take a journey that most people in this world don’t have a clue what it is about and it is my hat is off to all of our people who have made this incredible journey to recovery. I tell you you guys are made of some really really good stuff, um, and just to see you every day, I don’t think you really realize how much you bring to those of us who have had the privilege of serving in the capacity of being “counselors” and therapists and all of those high fallutin words, without you our lives would not be as blessed as they really are so my hat is off to you and happy National Recovery Month.

Jill: You know we had some guests on throughout the month and Joel Bagley, Beth Fisher Hatch of GARR

Brian: The Georgia Association of Residential Recovery,

Jill: We actually went to their event at Peachford and were able to network with other people and when Breakthrough Addiction Recovery hour came to be we knew we wanted to get out to the community the other resources out there. We serve as an Intensive Outpatient Center but there are resources for all of the different place for a person when they are trying to get help for an addiction

Lois: All you have to do is pick up the phone and call, there is something somewhere that will meet your needs, don’t hesitate,

Jill: Also, come in and meet us we would love to see the listeners or just because you happen to drive from 3-4 every Saturday and can’t help it.

Brian: That is why they call it intelligent radio

Jill: Right, once again that address is 8000 Miller Court East in Norcross someone said we should say we are giving away free gas…..ok, if you just tuned in no free gas but free hot dogs.

Lois: There you go

Jill: Anyways we would love to see you here

Brian: As we take a look at the National Recovery Month one of the big things we see is that many people try to find ways to get help and during this period of time what we are trying to do is help individuals know that there are resources out there as Jill said and many of you may be looking for long term programs and we can help you get there, also there are people looking for inpatient and we can help you find that resource. We are intensive out patient and that is a program that will help you get the help pyou need in order to get over your addiction and one key thing is two different levels, one is intensive day addiction treatment from 10-2 and then we have also for those that may not be able to take advantage of it because of work or other reasons we have intensive out patient program that provides addiction treatment from 6 – 9 three days a week where you can come right from work and participate in a very informative and very supportive program where they can understand the disease of addiction and find ways to use medications to decrease alcohol cravings for the drugs and most important to be able to know how to have a way to have these skills develop to resist the use again.

Jill: Letting people know about resources, when we come back from the next break we would like to bring people to the mic that have a story to tell of realizing where they were and knowing they needed something different and they came to Breakthrough and found the difference and I am excited about having people really talk about what is going on in their lives. If you would like to call in and tell your story it is 770-226-0920 again, it is 770-226-0920. We are coming to the break so stay with us we are going to have a great show here live at Breakthrough Addiction Recovery.

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour, this is Jill Mattingly and my co host Brian Fujii and we are live from Norcross not New York from Breakthrough Addiction Recovery and doing the show up here in honor of National Recovery Month. It has been quite a day hasn’t it Brian

Brian: In fact we have a couple calls

Jill: First it is Jennifer in Commerce, how are you

Jennifer: I am fine, I am driving back home from a tour of Georgia today I uh got sober in 1984 and have been sober since then and um, I am not on marijuana maintenance or anything like that and um, I have well did you have a questions cause I have been sober a long time or I will give you a rap for the day.

Brian: Tell us something about what has kept you sober for so long cause there are a lot of folks struggling,

Jennifer: I got sober the usual way through 12 step that we all know about and I went to meetings daily for the first 6 to 7 years um, but I was probably clinically depressed and had never really diagnosed with it any way but I have always felt uh, even before I got sober that there is always a solution and the thing I realized about myself early on is that if I was in any way lying to myself I actually got hired by a guy in the program that wanted me to do cold calls and I remember one day struggling and I hated it and almost like a higher power said Jennifer you need to be grateful that you have a job and do the best you can and get your resume out but don’t sit around and whine.

Jill: It sounds like life happened to you but you were able to make the decision to go into recovery and stay sober for 20 years and that is what National Recovery Month is and that is celebrating what you have done and walked through.

Jennifer: The main thing for me is that I can not let my ego take over, um, if I whine about stuff or I deserve that is a really bad thing to say and when I pray I don’t say I want a better job or anything it is my will not being done.

Jill: That is as success story and I wanted that today and I am just really thankful for what has happened to you Jennifer and thanks so much for sharing your story today you have a wonderful blessed day

Jennifer: You too

Brian: We have Barbara from Roswell, welcome to Breakthrough

Barbara: I mainly wanted to call I have someone in the program who I love very very much and I am a mother and I have got to tell you that every Wednesday night I want to be there because I am learning as much as he is learning and I have I can only say wonderful things about the program and let everyone know that I wanna tell everybody but I mainly want to see that my son is successful in this and I think he is doing a fantastic job

Brian: You are talking about Family Education on Wednesday \

Barbara: And I encourage every family to get out there and give them the support that they need to understand and we all need too.

Brian: We look forward to having you every week and you make a great contribution while you are here and we thank you for your call and I know we will be looking forward to talking with you more in the future and thanks again

Barbara: See you Wednesday

Jill: The whole name of the game is voices of recovery in honor of National Recovery Month and if you are just joining us we are live from our location in Norcross at 8000 Miller Court East and put it in your GPS and we still have some food no free gas but we do have free food and drinks and we are celebrating recovery for people who have gone through the program and celebrating just that there are resources out there that people can tie into through Breakthrough Addicition Recovery.

Brian: We have our very favorite person Scott is with us today and I have worked with him for a long time and I have seen this young man grow and mature and he has become one of our real leaders here and his um, recovery and his ability to really talk to others has been a real strength and resource for many folks just beginning in the program so Scott welcome

Jill: Hey Scott

Scott: Hey,

Brian: You know Scott let me just tell you this, can you tell us something about how you found us and then what are some of the benefits that you have received since being in our program.

Scott: Well, I went through a traditional 12 step and was sober for 8 years uh, fell off the wagon so to speak and had set myself up for all intensive purposes all along the way by not going to meetings and uh, doing things like drinking non alcoholic beer thinking it would be safe and I have come to find out that wasn’t safe at all and leading me down the road to relapse. I knew I was having a problem and I happened to hear the radio program from work and it inspired me to the internet to look it up and that got me in here for my consultation and really hadn’t intended to join the program at that point, I was actually going to buy some time and um, appease my family um, but once I heard what the program was about and what they had to offer, I went ahead and jumped in with both feet and very pleased that I have.

Brian: I can see how you have benefited and I want to say, you have quite a few days of sobriety

Scott: I am at 171 days, (applause)

Jill: Welcome back to the Breakthrough Addiction Recovery Hour. We are celebrating National Recovery Month here in our offices in Norcross, GA. 770-226-0920 that is the number to call today we are live doing the broadcast from Norcross and it has been a blast we have a lot of food and a lot of great people showing up, panel discussions and a wonderful day so far, so what I would like to do is come back into our conversation but we do have another call on the line this is Jaclyn in Atlanta, hey

Jaclyn: I am Jaclyn I am originally from August and I started addiction treatment in 1989 I thank my daddy is a big church member and so was I we were really into church and still am and my daddy loved me with all his heart and saw I was addicted he did everything in his power and we went to addiction treatment and I just want to call in and let everyone know that is listening addiction treatment works. Yes it does and you know I heard you talk about how the family education, it is so important for everyone to know that the addict or addictionr uh, they must become educated how can you tackle and battle and live with a disease without being educated and I want people to understand no matter how many programs you go to there is always more to learn.

Brian: That is right Jaclyn that is one thing and we have to run but you are correct, you can do your best to stay clean and sober and yet the information is so powerful and that is what we do here at Breakthrough and we help people understand the process and how they get better but you know most importantly too is probably developing coping skills to deal with some of those relapse thoughts and maybe thinking stress relief and when you have those skills on board you really do stay clean and sober.

Jaclyn: Right that is the good news and I have done that and after 10 addiction treatment centers I want you to know it may take two or more than one. I just want people to know that it does work and you can’t give up and I promised my daddy

Brian: Thank you so much we appreciate your input today and your words are truly words of encouragement for those in recovery.

Jill: Thanks Jaclyn

Brian: We are back to Scott and Scott you know at the break you were talking about how your recovery has been so strong but a little history and you said you would share. Many people think that when they are in recovery that they’ll never ever have temptation to drink

Jill: He is ready to share I can tell

Brian: Yes, tell what you went through in your recovery and then something happened and you decided to try to see if you could manage one drink

Scott: True, after 8 years of sobriety I um, felt like I could handle that one drink and um, it was in a position that I worked with some folks that did that each day after work and I thought what the heck one beer won’t hurt me but after that one beer a couple days went by and I thought if it didn’t kill me or get me hooked I will try another couple of beers and it wasn’t long I was bypassing beer and going to hard liquor which is what I had done originally not only the hard licquor and went back heavier than when I had quit the first time um, it was kind of scary and the whole time I was doing it I was convincing myself or at least told myself I would quit at any time and no way was I going to be addicted again, and that was not the case, I fell hard and considerable amount every day and um, that is when it really started to show in my life that it did have an impact on many many levels and that there needed to be a change um, and again.

Jill: That is when you found us

Scott: Thank goodness for the radio as I was coming home from work and I looked into it.

Jill: You have gone through all of the programs, day addiction treatment, individual therapy

Scott: I have and they have helped and I am still in After Care and I find that the informational aspect is what keeps me sane and sober at this point. Because I know now how I became addicted and what to do to stay sober and stay on an even keel um, I know that if I go or have that thought pattern of trying one more beer, I know where it will lead and send me down that same path and not more than likely lead me to something even worse than when I left this time so the information is phenomenal and I feel like I can come to anyone here at any time and you know if I have a problem or a concern or I have a craving or an urge I can come to them and they will walk me through it and point me in the diorection I need to be going.

Brian: Scott that information and this falls right in line with what Jaclyn said, it is the information and the knowledge that we had. When we started the SMART Recovery group and Scott helped with this

Jill: The founding member

Brian: The SMART Recovery group is a cognitive behavior support group which utilizes many techniques and such that we have here and it is a peer led group. Tell us about it.

Scott: It is a great tool to have in addition to the other groups during the week and the fact that it is peer led is what is great for me because it it tends to be more of an open forum where we kind of lead the discussion where we need it to go at that particular time and if someone has a particular problem we will focus on that and help them work through it and it is more of a free flow of information that is right in line with everything here so the peer led idea is wonderful and I think it is as I said another great tool in the whole program.

Brian: It is interesting as you take a look, we are the only SMART Recovery in the Atlanta area and so if you are looking for a different type of support group you might want to try our program and we do this on Thursday from 6 – 7 in our facility here and it is an interesting thing and not only is support group but gives the tools to put in the bag so that they can deal with relapse thoughts or be able to deal with problems and take cost benefit analysis.

Jill: I am energized by Scott’s story and what has happened to him. We are doing this as a live broadcast for those of you just joining us we are at Breakthrough Addiction Recovery here in Norcross, 8000 Miller Court East and if you are in this area and you have enough gas in your tank come on over and there is still some time left you can see us broadcast live and talk to people about the programs. Scott I want to thank you so much there was a moment in your story that I know someone out there heard their story and

Scott: That is what happened to me and I hope it did help

Jill: Addiction treatment works. We are at a break and thanks once more to Scott and telling your story we look forward to working with you over the years and we see you effecting others with your story so thank you so much. When we return we will be talking with someone else about their journey from opiate addiction and this could be really interesting if you have someone in your family struggling with prescription pain medication addiction please have them tune in and when we get back we will talk to our friend Paul.

Brian: Stay with us.

Commercial Break

Jill: 770-226-0920 we are live in Norcross at Breakthrough Addiction Recovery and we are talking to some special guests today right Brian

Brian: We are, folks in recovery and excited about it, our next guest

Jill: Paul, he has struggled with opiate addiction. Prescription pain meds fall into this addiction and dependency and at

Brian: At Breakthrough we use Suboxone and it helps individuals to decrease the craving for opiates and Paul welcome to the show

Paul: Thanks

Brian: Tell us about your background and how you have struggled and what you have found through using meds and being a part of the program.

Paul: I had reached a point where it was time to make a change uh, searched and found you guys on the internet and showed up and following day we started addiction treatment um, I was on suboxone and no looking back. I have been clean for four months now and I ….applause….I would like to say the rewards are the things that keep you going um, they supply you with education here, support and everything necessary to get through successfully. Suboxone is like a miracle drug it allows you to do the things that you need to do to make changes in your life

Jill: Paul I want to talk more about suboxone and how it is a medication that does help people that are struggling with opiate dependency was this prescription drugs

Paul: Yes

Jill: We are at a short break, stay with us and when we come back I want to hear more of your story and people out there are listening intensely right now and many struggle like you do so we are going to come down to the break and stay with us.

Commercial Break

Jill: Welcome back we are talking to Paul and he is someone that has journeyed out of opiate dependency prescription drugs

Paul: Correct

Jill: What medications like percoset, lortabs?

Paul: IT was oxycodone

Jill: Those are common and we have many clients tripped up by oxycodone, percoset and lortab, very easy to get if you have sprained an ankle, had a root canal and they are easy to get.

Paul: Suboxone is what allowed me to make the transition from being dependent to being free. Also, I must emphasize the medication that was given to me through Breakthrough uh, I always thought that being addicted was a character flaw it isn’t it is a disease, it was explained to me, uh, and it made a world of difference.

Jill: You are doing intensive therapy here at Breakthrough? For the full four months that you have been sober? What are you working on, or have you,

Paul: I have had no looking back no trip ups or pit falls and it is a whole new life and gives you a whole new outlook and like I said before the rewards that come with making that transition are so great and powerful you feel like you connect with the universe again and

Brian: We call it getting your life back.

Paul: Definitely, getting your life back. On a personal level, my career has taken off again, which I almost lost a year ago, I was addicted for 10 years and that is a long time and I was at the end of my rope and didn’t know where to turn

Brian: Did you try other programs

Paul: Traditional program about 5 years ago but this works folks, if you are walking the fence like I was you have got to make the commitment and come here because it works.