September 2021
Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community
this time it’s for me
R
ecovery is for everyone because it benefits everyone. In recovery, we build new connections to ourselves, our families, and our communities. The 2021 National Recovery Month theme, “Recovery is for Everyone: Every Person, Every Family, Every Community” reminds people in recovery and those who support them, that recovery belongs to all of us. We are all called to end gatekeeping and welcome everyone to recovery by lowering barriers to recovery support, creating inclusive spaces and programs, and broadening our understanding of what recovery means for people with different experiences. While it may be tempting to characterize recovery as a universal experience or single journey, our community is proof that there are as many pathways to and of recovery as there are people. Our strength is our diversity and because of who we are, the recovery community has unique opportunities to learn, challenge, grow, and dream. By expanding traditional, limited conceptions of recovery, which center on white, heterosexual, cisgender, religious, wealthy perspectives, we enrich everyone’s experience. Mental health and substance use disorder are not one-size -fit all conditions, nor do they affect everyone equally. Culturally competent multilingual resources and genderexpansive programs should acknowledge and include
PAGE 1 Paula Crane Center
LGBTQ+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning), BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color), and other historically marginalized community members. Looking beyond our individual experiences strengthens and supports recovery in all its forms. The recovery community has a powerful foundation of mutual aid, peer support, and adaptability. As we grow in empathy and understanding, we save lives by adding protective factors and building resiliency. We honor the incredible contributions from communities within recovery as groups connect and implement resources that serve their unique needs. The powerful bonds built in recovery are life-altering. To honor those bonds, in every form they take, is a significant factor in sustaining recovery as well as building bridges between our communities. When we connect with open minds and hearts, we learn from one another and create life-saving opportunities. To heal ourselves, our communities must also heal. Recovery Research Institute conducted a nuanced, five-year study that explored the ways in which substance use disorder impacted families, communities, and cultures, and how recovery in those spaces created opportunities to rebuild. The study affirmed that people in distressed communities need opportunities to share their experi-
ences, therefore, personal recovery can translate into throughout our lives have experienced peaks and valleys, collaborative recovery when the individual begins to both big and small. And, with strength, support and see their story as part of a larger story. The shift from hope from the people we love, we are resilient. “I” to “we” is transformative. We call to nurture this The focus areas of the 2021 National Recovery Month “we.” We find new ways of connecting the recovery materials include the impact of communicommunity. We call to rejuvenate ties, families, and social groups on the struggling communities and families. The 2021 prevalence and recovery of mental health, At the same time, we work to empowNational Recovery Month substance use, and co-occurring disorders. er communities who grapple with ineqobservance and theme, The National Recovery Month messaging uitable conditions, including the ef“Recovery is for Everyone” emphasizes the importance of inclusive fects of systemic racism, homophobia, works to inspire people programs, language, and treatment that transphobia, generational poverty, adacross the country to translower barriers to recovery for everyone; by verse childhood experiences, and other challenging traditional structures, we creform the “I” into “we” forces. Social connections, family supate the foundation that so many people and build bridges between port, and neighborhood relationships need for their recovery journey. families, communities, are directly linked to wellness and reand groups. covery. We must ensure that everyone By asserting that “Recovery is for Everyhas the same chance at recovery. Our one,” we reduce the stigma surrounding “I” must become our “we. people with substance use or mental health disorders, especially when complicated by oppressive forces like National Recovery Month educates others about rewhite supremacy, systemic racism, punitive criminal juscovery from mental health, substance use, and cotice systems, and policy that excludes less privileged peooccurring disorders, the effectiveness of treatment and ple. Recovery is always person-first. “Meeting people recovery support services, and that recovery is possible. where they are at” translates into acknowledging their All of us, from celebrities and sports figures to our counique experiences and needs, including people of differworkers, neighbors, friends, and family members, ent cultures, identities, backgrounds, and communities.
Paula Crane Center PAGE 2
WHY YOU’RE EXPERIENCING GUILT & SHAME BREAKING THE CYCLE OF GUILT & SHAME IN When you’re struggling with substance abuse and adADDICTION RECOVERY diction, you will do things you wouldn’t dream of doBreaking the cycle of guilt and shame that is often preing sober, just to survive the day. When you’re depend- sent in addiction recovery is no small task. Here are a ent on a substance, you have to find a way to get that few things you can do to bring yourself out of these substance, and that dependence doesn’t often leave feelings. room for caring about the lengths you went to in order ▪ Recognize That Feelings of Guilt & Shame are to satisfy your craving. After beginning the journey to Counter-Productive. As you come out of active recovery, it can be very common to start feeling guilty addiction, It’s easy to be overly critical of yourself and ashamed of the things you did while in active adas well as the things that you did while you weren’t diction. It can be easy to dwell on these dark emotions sober. No one deserves to be plagued by guilt and and to feel overwhelmed by them, but sitting in them shame, and dwelling on these emotions is nothing for too long is a good way more than self-destructive. to set yourself up for When thinking about life, remember this: no amount ▪ Ask For Fora relapse. of guilt can solve the past and no amount of anxiety giveness. Everyone makes THE KEY DIFFERENCES can change the future. mistakes. Choosing to BETWEEN GUILT & change your life and fight SHAME: While guilt and shame are very similar emoagainst your addiction is an extremely courations, there are many differences between the geous decision, and part of recovery is two, and recognizing them is important. making amends and asking those you Guilt is when you feel bad about somehave wronged for forgiveness. While thing that you’ve done, or committed to they may not be in a place to be able doing and then didn’t. For example, mayto forgive you immediately, you will be you feel guilty about saying unkind have done your best to make amends
OVERCOMING GUILT AND SHAME IN ADDICTION RECOVERY things to someone while you were intoxicated, or making a promise to do something and then not following through. Shame, however, goes a step further than guilt. While guilt is acknowledging and feeling bad that you did something you shouldn’t have, shame is internalizing guilt and believing that you, yourself are bad because of the bad things you’ve done. Shame is considered to be a “self-conscious emotion” by many mental health professionals. Being able to differentiate between guilt and shame is important because it can influence your behaviors and reactions. For example, guilt often motivates you to apologize, correct a mistake, or make amends with someone you’ve wronged. Shame, on the other hand, influences actions that are self-destructive and thoughts that are negative and self-deprecating. PAGE 3 Paula Crane Center
and put your actions behind you.
▪
Let Go of What You Cannot Control. The only person you are truly in control of is yourself. There are so many things that are outside of your control that can’t alter or change, your past being one of them. Holding onto the things you did in active addiction, the guilt of hurting people, or the shame of having an addiction won’t help your recovery, it will only drag you backward. Letting go of the things in your past is a big step towards being free from addiction.
▪
Forgive Yourself. Learning to forgive yourself is a long process. Dwelling on the things that you’ve done in the past is not constructive or beneficial to you. Your past is not what matters, what matters are the choices you make today.
WHY SHAME & GUILT ARE DANGEROUS IN ADDICTION RECOVERY Dwelling in guilt will almost inevitably lead to feeling shameful. Shame cuts much deeper than guilt does, which is what makes it so dangerous. When you’re caught up in feelings of guilt and shame, you may begin to feel as though you deserve these bad feelings about yourself. Ultimately, you are punishing yourself for the things you did in your addiction, and that doesn’t do you, or the people around you, any good.
HOW CLAYTON CENTER & PAULA CRANE CAN HELP Understanding and confronting the shame and guilt you experience in addiction is a critical part of recovery. Dwelling on it and sitting in those toxic emotions only sets you up for a relapse. At Clayton Center and Paula Crane, our team of highly trained and passionate professionals is dedicated to all Individuals to realize their full potential. This means personalizing each individual treatment plan in order to ensure that everything you’re going through is confronted and worked through. Learn more about our levels of care and our treatment team via our webpages claytoncenter.org and thecrane.org If you are looking for community support, check out The Crane’s social media pages on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
S U R R E N D E R
Surrender is defined as giving oneself over to something. When we think about this term in the context of active addiction, it’s clear that addiction forces us to surrender; when addiction is severe, we surrender our thoughts, our actions, our relationships, our personal fulfillment, our dreams and our successes. A common thought is that addiction “hijacks” the brain – forcing us to surrender. When substances become so entrenched in our daily lives and in our mind, body and spirit that we no longer have control over our use, we’re essentially surrendering ourselves. We don’t recognize it at the time, but we are. 12-Step programs, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) and Narcotics Anonymous (NA), mention surrendering as a key step to recovery. Several of the steps, in fact – Steps 3 through 7, to be exact – are all based on the premise of surrender. A few years ago, one writer shared her point of view on surrendering in recovery. She explained to The Fix that surrendering is about letting go of the “ego” – the part of us that wants to be consumed in ourselves, our wants, our needs, our desires, our everything. When we surrender in recovery, we let that need for control go. The writer from The Fix noted the late scientific work of Dr. Harry Tiebout, a psychiatrist who promoted the work of 12-Step programs to the community at large. It was said that Dr. Tiebout previously quoted, “Surrender is an unconscious event, not willed by the patient even if he or she should desire to do so. It can occur only when an individual with certain traits in his or her unconscious mind becomes involved in a set of circumstances.” For those struggling with active addiction, the choice to surrender to God, or another Higher Power, may come from “rock bottom” as many call it – from losing a job, from losing an important relationship, from getting involved in legal trouble – to something else. The point is that in order to overcome the incredible power of this disease, we must surrender ourselves to something greater in order to recover from it.
What Does It Mean To Surrender In Recovery? Paula Crane Center PAGE 4
I
n my recovery process I have altered my concept of “God” numerous times, yet never felt as if I were abandoning any previous concept. I am always changing, therefore, my ideas and beliefs are always changing.
plot in the story that is my life. This would not mean that I have no creative control. It merely suggests that I do not have the final say over the editorial processes.
Most recently, I have come to the understanding that God, like a blowing wind, is neither good nor bad, and is nothing more than the motivating force that urges me to head in the right direction. This force can be destructive, but it is without conscience, and bars no will for me; neiI used to hold faith in the popular image of God, he who ther good, nor bad. It gives me everything I need to funcsits up high, watching over all. But now, I have given my tion in the changing world, and for that, I am very gratewill over to a much more personal sense of intuition, the ful. For while I have the tools, I know that I can only do voice that rests inside, guiding me through each day. I so much. have adopted a somewhat literary view of a higher power This, I believe, is the most important thing in establishas that of an author, one who is dictating to the line of However, the feeling I get from knowing such a power exists in my life is absolute. The only part of this that has ever really changed is the persona that I associate to my higher power.
Courage is not the absence of despair; it is, rather the capacity to move ahead in spite of despair: by Rollo May
COURAGE
Some days we wake up to overwhelming feelings that things look bleak. We see loss and danger around us, and we fear for the future. That is when our character is most tested. That is when we are called to continue to just put one foot in front of the other. There is no need to solve all our problems right away or to change the world immediately. Courage isn’t necessarily a feeling of confidence that we can triumph over all odds. It’s knowing that we can move ahead one step at a time, and it’s taking positive action in the face of our fears. Each day we can do small things that are constructive. By these small things, we can place ourselves on the positive side of life’s equation. We can put our weight where we want to go. That is courage. Today, in the face of my despair, I will focus my efforts on the side of my hopes and values. By Bernice Taylor-Davis
ing a sense of higher power – recognizing that it is not me who has ultimate control over my life. Admittedly, this thought is a little unsettling, at first, but once I was able to see and accept that having total control was not something I was ever really good at, I no longer wanted the job anyway. I put a lot of stock in knowing that there is a plan. The real challenge is in getting comfortable not knowing exactly what that plan might be, and moving through my day without the knowledge of how it will work out.
keep me out of trouble but also give me a better sense of my surroundings and purpose in life. There really is no way of telling where emotions come from, how far they will take you, and whom else they will harm along the way. When an addict comes into recovery, they are cold and brittle. They want warmth, but they may not know how to handle that, and making poor decisions can often be fatal; a little warmth can easily become an inferno, that is no exaggeration.
A relationship may end your life, and it certainly may I can now carry a sense of calm with me because I not. But what if it were the saving grace that helped you have faith in myself. I have faith that doing the next establish a foundation of accountability and strength? right thing, no matter how difficult, may not only -By Patrick Kempfer
Life advice: Always be the best person you can be. Be kind even when you’re tired. Be understanding even when you’re angry. Do more than you’re asked, and don’t ask for anything in return. Don’t silently expect anything either. Listen when someone talks, and really listen too, stop just thinking of how you’ll reply. Tell people that you love them and that you appreciate them. Go out of your way to do things for people. Be the greatest person you can possibly be and when you mess up, make up for it in the next moment or minute or day. One thing you should never do? Never spend your time trying to prove to anybody that you’re great, your actions will speak for themselves and we only have limited time on this earth, don’t waste it. If someone doesn’t see your light, don’t worry. Like moths, good people are attracted to flame and to light, and they will come.
Paula Crane Center PAGE 6
TURN IT OVER When we’ve taken steps one and two we have learned and accepted that our lives are unmanageable, we are alcoholics and a power greater than ourselves can restore us to sanity. What if we were to surrender the manageability part? We can surrender a lifetime of self-will run amok by making the decision to turn it all over to a Higher Power and allow someone and something to care for us. We can stop wearing ourselves out trying to make and force everything to happen as if we were in charge of everything in the world. Recovery is a spiritual process and step three is when the doors of hope, faith and trust are opened allowing us to once again take a deep breath and feel the serenity: a gift of sobriety. The essence of step three is turning over your will, getting out of the way, and being restored to reality, honesty, balance and peace of mind. PAGE 7 Paula Crane Center
When working on step three we take a look at how acting on selfwill means behaving with the exclusion of any consideration for others, focusing only on what we want and ignoring the needs and feelings of others. While we were busy pursuing these impulses, we mostly left a path of destruction behind us, and we definitely lost touch with our conscience and a Higher Power. However, while working the third step we begin to focus our attention on seeking knowledge of a Higher Power’s will for us. Making a decision to turn our lives and will over can’t do anything unless we take the actions necessary to turn it over. Simply making a decision without following it up with action is meaningless. For example, you can make a decision to go to a meeting, but if you don’t leave your home for the rest of the day, it won’t happen, will it? In AA there are many helpful recovery tools that have worked many times over at maintaining sobriety and a connection with a Higher Power. There’s actually a very effective and simple prayer adapted from a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr and known as the “Serenity Prayer,” which can help you as you are seeking knowledge and make your decision to turn it over on a daily basis: “God, grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
With the “Serenity Prayer” you can learn to accept with serenity the current reality of your condition and that although you cannot control the choices and actions of others, you can decide how you will act in each situation. You may not be able to change some things in your life, but you can make a decision to change your willingness to surrender, trust and seek knowledge.
Taking the positive action of working the steps has clearly changed the course of our lives. Hope springs from the knowledge that our life is full of possibilities, while faith propels us forward into action doing the work that others are telling us is necessary if we are to achieve sobriety. This is a great point in your recovery to say to yourself: “I can’t. God can. So I’ll let God.”
THE THIRD STEP PRAYER
“Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.” THE SCARY THREE-LETTER WORD: G-O-D For some people a three-letter word can be even worse than a four-letter word. Time and time again, the word “God” being used in AA literature and meetings will freak out newcomers. Upon closer inspection however, and much to all of our relief, you don’t have to consider anyone else’s conception of “God” but instead can rely on and create your own idea of who God is for yourself. In fact, about half the original members of AA considered themselves atheists or agnostics before they began the Twelve Step program of AA. In AA we have the freedom to choose our own concept, lay aside any prejudice and have the willingness to seek a “Power greater than ourselves.” You can call that Higher Power God, Creative Force, a Oneness in the Universe, whatever you want.
STEP THREE QUESTIONS
There’s even an acronym that some like to use to remind themselves that a room full of other recovering addicts is their Higher Power: G: Group O: Of D: Drunks When practicing the third step we discover the spaciousness for a variety of positive and useful beliefs about a Higher Power. We make a decision to admit the possible existence of an underlying force behind the totality of things, and that the realm of the spirit is pretty darn big, roomy and all-inclusive.
LET IT GO
As part of your recovery process it’s helpful to take the time to ask and then answer important questions pertaining to step three. Here is a starting point for some review questions: How has acting on my own self-will affected my life? How has it affected others? ▪
▪
How can I take action to turn it over?
▪
What is the difference between my will and God’s will?
▪
How is my Higher Power working in my life?
▪
Is my current concept of a Higher Power working my need to change?
▪
What does “to the care of“ mean to me?
▪
How might my life be changed if I make the decision to “turn it over?”
▪
Am I unwilling to do things in my recovery that are being suggested? If so, why?
▪
How does surrender in the first step relate to or help the third step? Paula Crane Center PAGE 8
DENORRIS FRANK “I
was born in Atlanta, GA, I’m a Grady Baby.” Denorris proclaims as he settles in to share his story on a brisk Thursday afternoon. Coming in from a forklift training class, he proudly shares that he was part of a select few to be chosen to be placed in a job immediately after his training. This good news accompanied with being chosen for this month’s highlight proves that there is light at the end of the tunnel and Mr. Ribinson is eagerly soaking up all the light he possibly can. Have you always lived in Atlanta? I actually graduated high school in Cincinnati. What took you to Cincinnati? I was failing in school and my mom and sister had moved up there, because my mamma had gotton sick, so they moved to Cincinnati because that’s where my mamma’s side of the family is. Only really my daddy side of the family lives down here. When my mom and sister moved to Cincinnati, I stayed down here with my dad. I ended up failing really bad in the tenth grade, so my mamma pulled me out of Therrell High School in Atlanta and I went up to Cincinnati one Christmas and ended up staying and graduating high school back in 92. Where did you see yourself going after you graduated high school? My plans were kind of shot, because I went to the streets when I got up to Cincinnati. So if I did have any plans, they went out the window because once I did graduate, I went completely into the streets. I hooked up with the wrong crowd while I was in school and they were already in the streets, but my PAGE 9 Paula Crane Center
mamma was adamant on me graduating, so I did end up graduating and even holding down a couple of jobs, but I ultimately drifted on into the streets, mainly due to the crowd I was hanging around. Is there a memory that sticks out to you good or bad when growing up? I was into sports, so playing football and wrestling stands out. What position in football did you play? I played safety and I wrestled 112 back then and I even won the state championship in wrestling once back in high school. What or who inspires you the most? I would have to say my mom, because she never gave up on me even with all the things I’ve took her through, my mom is still there for me today. My sister passed in 2011 and that was her best friend, so since then I’m all she has. Even now at the age of 67, my mamma has three jobs and she’s getting older. The only thing she wants me to do is stay clean so that I can help her. I help her financially, but I need to be there physically. So what ended up bringing you back to Georgia? I had started selling drugs for this guy and, umm, I had ran off with the drugs and the money and came back to Atlanta. He went to my mamma house looking for me and told her that he was going to kill me….but, my mamma told him I wasn’t there and that I had went back to Atlanta,. So that’s what ran me back down here. Did that situation ever get resolved? No, he went back to my mamma house a couple times, talking about what he was going to do to me, but nothing ever happened.
knew where they moved to, but family. So in growing up with the wrong crowd, is that when you had your first experience with alcohol and/or drugs? No, I started drinking when I was 12 with my Auntee. She was the one that introduced me to alcohol. What was it about the alcohol? Did you like the taste or the way it made you feel? What was is that kept you drinking even at such a young age? I think it was the way it made me feel. My Auntee, who kept getting DUI’s, and I would go to the park all the time and I would just be...just, drinking with her...but I think then I used to get toooo drunk. I kept doing it, so I believe that’s when my addiction started when I was drinking with my Auntee. The drinking led to what? Drinking led to smoking weed with the guys when I got out of high school up in Cincinnati. I didn’t do the other stuff until I got back to Atlanta. What got you introduced to the other heavier stuff? Being around my cousin and umm his partners. They were snorting cocaine, and I wouldn’t do it for a while, but I was curious as to how it made you feel so one day I ended up trying it and I took off with it. I liked it...so things just….took offt. Later on, I was working with this guy and he introduced me to heroin back in 94. I started snorting back in the 90s, but I stopped for like 20 years. I worked a lot through those years, but when I started hustling back in the 2000’s that’s when I started dibbling and dabbling with it again because I had started selling it. I was messing with that and some other stuff, but it was the heroin that really had a tote hold on me…..but the Cocaine had a strong hold on me too, because I done been to four or five rehabs for cocaine. This is my third one for heroin. I”ve been to a total of eleven rehabs. I started trying to get clean in the year 2000.
Did you ever fear for your family being up there? I did….I did….I knew a lot of people down here in Atlanta, so I really wasn’t really worried about him coming down here, but I was worried about my mamma and sister, but they ended up moving once my mamma got her disability into a way better neighcontinued on page 11 borhood out of that bad community and no one
Paula Crane Center PAGE 10
It’s so amazing that you are sticking with it and you still have hope. Yeah, see I realized that before, I was doing the rehabs for a lot of other reasons: I was doing it to stay of prison, I did it for a relationship with a girl, I did it for my mamma, I did it for my kids….but it didn’t ever work. And this time, I’m doing it for me so you know, I’m doing a lot of stuff different. In those other rehabs...I didn’t do anything in those rehabs. I was just there to get some rest to go back out there. What made you choose Clayton Center’s Residential Program? I didn’t want to come. I had three choices, My Brother’s Keeper, The Stand, and Covenant Community. I have been to Covenant Community twice already, so I wanted to go to The Stand, but my counselor at Dekalb Crisis kept telling me about My Brother’s Keeper….she kept pushing it on me. So I finally was like “if that’s where God want me to go, then that’s where I’m going to go.” For the first few weeks, I didn't want to be here at all. I didn’t even sleep for about a week because I was so uncomfortable. I was going through a lot when I first came, but it’s a whole lot better now and I’m glad I did come to My Brother’s Keeper.
thing. She has custody of my kids and my sister’s child all of which are teenagers. Is there an achievement that you are most proud of? When I got employee of the year at the Ritz Carlton out of 600-700 employees. I was given the choice of $1,500 or a trip anywhere in the world and $500 spending cash, but I was in my addiction then, so I took the $1,500. I got that job out of another program, GA Works. I was in that program for 16 months. The first day I left, I relapsed. They got me a job at the Ritz Carlton and they got me an apartment in Clayton County. I should have taken the trip, but I was caught up in my addiction so I took the money. I didn’t care nothing about a vacation, it was all about the addiction, but that’s how I got fired. We were at work and we had a big event going on for like 2000 people. I was high at work, but I kind of broke down and I started going off on people,
Would you recommend the program to anyone else? Yep, I think what keeps me coming is Paula Crane. The staff. If it weren’t for yall at the Paula Crane Center I probably wouldn’t have made it this far.
When I was in the streets I was a selfish person. When I was in my addiction I caused my mamma a lot of pain. I’ve been locked up 30 times, but thank God I’ve never been to prison, and my mamma has came and got me out all 30 times. Since I’ve been here, I’ve been able to I’ve been getting high for help my mamma financially 30 years and you know, through my income taxes, thirty years don’t equal the 5 stimulus checks and even my unemployment checks. Since months clean that I have, so I I’ve been here, I’ve really got to do something everyday to been able to help her and I’m stay clean. so happy for that because in my addiction, I caused her a lot of pain. I don’t need money because in the past it has been a trigger for me. I gave her my cards and everyPAGE 11 Paula Crane Center
which was odd for me, because I was known for being cool and laid back at work. They was like “something ain’t right with ‘D’, ” so they drug tested me and the test came back positive for cocaine and heroin. A week or two before that I’d went to HR and asked for help, so they couldn’t fire me, but they did send me to outpatient treatment. I stayed out of work for about a month and a half. When I went back to work they were throwing random drug screenings on me and I didn’t know when they were coming, but I was still getting high. I passed five of them, but the one they gave me the day after Mother’s Day in 2019 came back dirty and they fired me. They really had to, because they had already sent me to the rehab and gave me a chance so...but they didn’t want to fire me because I was a good worker, but they had to because that was of course protocol. Everything went down hill from there. I lost my new car, lost my place, lost my job, went back to the block. During that time period, I was done. I was even ready to kill myself, but I was just too scared to. I nearly overdosed in 2019, and ended up in Dekalb Crisis. I was put in the RSAT program for seven months and got two jobs, but I was put out because we were suppose to only go to work and back to the center, but I had a lil friend that I was going to see. I had gotten laid off due to COVID, but I was still going over to my friend house and somebody told on me and they thought I had brought COVID back to the center so the Director put me out because I had lied to her. That’s when my addiction started all over again, and I stayed out there for about 8 to 10
months before ending back up in Dekalb Crisis this last time. What do you see yourself doing different going forward? I’m doing a lot of things different. Being in Ms. Angela’s class...when I first got in her class I told her I wanted a relationship with God. I never had a relationship with God, never read the Bible, I wasn’t a church going person….When I opened up to Ms. Angela about this, she started to help me with that and she told me to feed my spirit everyday with something positive and that’s exactly what I’ve been doing. I know that if I don’t get my spirit right this time, I’m bound to do this again. I can dress the outside up real good, but if I don’t get my inside right...I’m going to go back. So I’ve been feeding my spirit with positivity. Everything this time has been different. I got me a Sponsor, I’ve been doing 90 meetings in 90 days on my own at home. I gotta do something, I can’t do what I’ve been doing which was nothing. So I’m doing a lot of things different this time. I got some work to do, it aint’ gonna happen over night. I’ve been getting high for 30 years and you know, thirty years don’t equal the five 5 months I have clean so I got to do something everyday to stay clean. I told myself that I was not going to leave this program until God told me it was time. I’m in no rush to get back out there before it’s my time to do so. Paula Crane Center PAGE 12
Work addiction, often called workaholism, is a real mental health condition. Like any other addiction, work addiction is the inability to stop the behavior. It often stems from a compulsive need to achieve status and success, or to escape emotional stress. Work addiction is often driven by job success. And it’s common in people described as perfectionists.
▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪ ▪
SYMPTOMS OF A WORK ADDICTION INCLUDE: putting in long hours at the office, even when not asked to or when needed losing sleep to engage in work projects or finish tasks (that could probably wait) being obsessed with work-related success having intense fear of failure at work being paranoid about work-related performance disintegrating personal relationships due to work having a defensive attitude toward others about their work using work as a way to avoid relationships working to cope with feelings of guilt and depression and other bottled up feelings working to avoid dealing with crises like death, divorce, or financial trouble
PAGE 13 Paula Crane Center
Much like someone with a drug addiction, a person with a work addiction achieves a “high” from working. This leads them to keep repeating the behavior that gives them this high. People with a work addiction may be unable to stop the behavior despite the negative ways it may affect their personal life or physical or mental health. Symptoms In a culture where hard work is praised and putting in overtime is often expected, it can be difficult to recognize work addiction. People with a work addiction will often justify their behavior by explaining why it is a good thing and can help them achieve success. They may simply appear committed to their job or the success of their projects. However, ambition and addiction are quite different. A person with a work addiction may engage in compulsive work to avoid other aspects of their life, like troubling emotional issues or personal crises. And similar to other addictions, the person may engage in the behavior unaware of the negative effects that the addiction is causing.
EXPECTATIONS Like most addictions, work addiction will get worse over time until a person seeks help. People may experience “burnout” if they work to the point of physical and mental exhaustion. This is a common result of work addiction. Burnout can lead to extreme stress, damaged relationships, and even drug abuse. Without treatment, a person with a work addiction could alienate themselves from friends and family. Waiting too long to get help could damage these relationships permanently. Also, chronic stress that sometimes results from constant working can be hard on physical health. This finding came out of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). Overwork may lead to a weakened immune system and increased risk of disease. But fortunately, work addiction is manageable. With treatment, people can restore a healthy work balance in their live. People with a work addiction often work to avoid feelings of guilt about not working. So, it’s important for the recovering addict to develop a healthy relationship with work. Most of us need to work in order to pay bills, so creating a balance is crucial. In most cases, it is impossible to simply stop working. It may be helpful to take some time off from work to realize that life will go on without constant working. A career change may also help manage the addiction. As a psychosocial condition, work addiction is usually much easier to control than drug addiction. The following changes might also help: ▪ making lifestyle changes ▪
balancing your life activities
▪
avoiding stressors and triggers
Treatment Options If you have work addiction, you may not need the same level of treatment as someone with a drug addiction. However, it’s possible that initially you will require an inpatient or outpatient rehabilitation program to manage the behavior. While a rehabilitation program is more common in drug and alcohol addictions, severe work addictions can also be helped by this intensive approach. Inpatient treatment requires you to stay at a facility during recovery. Outpatient treatment allows you to live at home while attending classes and counseling during the day. Many people with a work addiction find help through 12-step groups and other therapy programs. Options for group therapy are available through organizations such as Workaholics Anonymous. This kind of program allows you to connect with other people going through similar struggles and provides a healthy source of support. Work addiction can result from a coexisting mental health condition, such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) or bipolar disorder. The addiction could also cause mental health issues, such as depression. For these reasons, it may be helpful to have a mental health assessment. A mental health expert can help design a treatment plan. The plan will address the addiction and any underlying problems. One-on-one therapy, and even medications, could help control impulses, anxiety, and stress.
Paula Crane Center PAGE 14
THE TRI-FACTOR C OF LIFE
oming in and out of this pandemic, so many of us have been closed in and have not found a way to experience the trifactor of life – mental, physical, spiritual- mind, Written by D. Brown body, spirit – the greatest of these is a combination of all three. You are well-rounded individuals and for life it takes the tenacity of your mental health, your physical health and your spiritual health to be fully healthy. You should not neglect one for the other, but maintain a balance. Your daily living should be inclusive of doing something to “feed” all three. For mental health, a good book or “the good book,” word puzzle, crossword puzzle, sudoku and other brain games are a great start. Keep in mind the motto of the UNCF- United Negro College Fund: “a mind is a terrible thing to waste.” Along with your mental health is your physical well-being. In your youth, it seems every physical task was easy. As you grow older, physical tasks become arduous. You once were working out daily and now maybe once or twice a week. STOP, right now begin your physical work out. As you sit at your desk you can take a moment and reach up with arms above your head and reach down toward your feet - do at least 10 reps. Take a deep breath inhale and exhale, please. You can also take the stairs instead of the elevator or park your car at the back of the lot and walk further to the front door. At the copy machine or waiting in the line at the grocery store, just march in place. Take a 20 second “physical snack” where ever you find yourself waiting. Those seconds become minutes, minutes become hours. Every 30 minutes of sitting in one place, you should do 3 minutes of physical movement. The complete tri-factor includes the mental, physical, and spiritual. My hope is that all of you have higher power; a God that you look up to for your spiritual well-being and guidance. For me personally, I believe in the Lord Jesus, the Christ. My daily mantra says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13) and I know it is the Lord who gives me the will to do and act for God’s good pleasure (Philippians 2:13). If you have not been experiencing the tri-factor of life, start today and maintain a balance. This is Dathon D. Brown and in closing “I wish you love, peace, joy, and good health!!! PAGE 15 Paula Crane Center
Did you know that ants are the only animals that don't get sick? It's true! It's because they have little antibodies. I was at the park wondering why this frisbee kept getting bigger… and then it hit me. Have you heard about the band 1023MB? It’s probably because they haven’t got a gig yet…
The Par rot s A man goes into a pet shop to buy a parrot. The shop owner points to three identical-looking parrots on a perch and says, "The parrot on the left costs $500 dollars." "Why does the parrot cost so much?" asks the man. The owner says "Well the parrot knows how to use a computer." The man then asks about the next parrot and learns that it costs $1,000 dollars because it can do everything the first parrot can do plus it knows how to use the UNIX operating system. Naturally, the increasingly startled man asks about the third parrot, only to be told that it costs $2,000 dollars. Needless to say this begs the question, "What can it do?" To which the owner replies, "To be honest I have never seen it do anything but the other two call him boss!"
THE LOVE OF MONEY IS A ROOT OF ALL KINDS OF EVIL As I was driving home from the office, I saw a minivan proudly displaying a bumper sticker that read “Money Talks: Mine Says Goodbye.” I think a lot of people can relate to that sentiment. Much of our living is spent acquiring and using money, which doesn’t last. The stock market crashes. Prices go up. Thieves steal other’s goods. Things wear out and break down, requiring the acquisition and expenditure of more money to replace what has been lost. The temporary nature of material wealth makes it a poor bargain in the search for security in an insecure world. Money is much better at saying goodbye than it is at sticking around. Nowhere does the Bible say it’s wrong to have money or the things that money can buy. Where we lose our way is when money becomes the driving purpose of our lives. Like the rich man and his barns (Luke 12:13-21), we end up pursuing the accumulation of things that eventually will be forfeited---if not in life, then certainly at death. How tragic to live our entire lives---only to end then with nothing of eternal worth to show for our labors. To paraphrase Jesus’s words, it is much better to be rich toward God than to work for treasure that can’t last. Treasures in Heaven are laid up as treasures on earth are laid down. by Bernice E. Taylor-Davis Paula Crane Center PAGE 16
AUGUST STATS FOR THE CRANE WEBSITE STATS thecrane.org Site Sessions:
AUGUST 2021
AUGUST 2020
Contacts
310
Unduplicated Contacts
78
SOCIAL MEDIA REACH AUGUST 2021
Contacts
243
Unduplicated Contacts
SOCIAL MEDIA REACH AUGUST 2020
84
Direct Reach
87
Facebook.com
16
Google.com
63
Other
12
GOOGLE STATS 1,745 People Found Us On Google
Facebook Reach
3,660
Facebook Reach
4,025
Asked for directions
13
Instagram Reach
178
Instagram Reach
2,925
Called directly
37
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT August was just as hot on the inside of The Crane as it was in Georgia with our blazing hot events that took place. We pumped up with our new weight bench and weights with Mr. Brown, stretched out to both Yoga and PiYo with Bernice and even expanded our thoughts and peace of mind with Ms. Ava Gale in meditation class. We even got a chance to venture to a new park for a nature walk and Recovery at the Park afterwards. Our Dialogue Diaries series featuring Amina Montgomery of Newark, New Jersey was both inspiring and moving. The luncheon was catered by Applebee's featuring their infamous baby back ribs. We even got a chance to commemorate national Trail Mix Day as Trakell explained the nutritional value of the traditional snack mix and gifted participants with individual portions of items for them to build their own including cashews, almonds, walnuts, raisins and chocolate morsels. The month concluded with an action packed blockbuster movie and individualized pizzas from Pizza Hut. Our Friday Coffee and Chit Chat Cafes continue to blossom with various staff members taking the realm of each. Our schedule is uploaded weekly on our website, thecrane.org or you can call our Office Manager, Ms. Robin and request to receive it weekly to your email. Either way, we don’t want you to miss out on all of the upcoming events this month!! PAGE 17 Paula Crane Center
In-Person AA Meetings held at The Crane every Wednesday at 12 pm. This is an open meeting for anyone that would like to attend. Double Trouble Meetings, a combination of mental health and substance use disorders, are held every Friday in person at The Crane starting at1 pm. Peer Support Meetings are held Monday through Thursday at 2 pm and Fridays at 2:30. These groups are led by our Certified Addiction Empowerment Recovery Specialists, Ms. Bernice and Mr. Donald HIV and HEP-C Testing is available weekdays. We ask that you call for an appointment. Walk-ins are welcomed, but tester may or may not be available.
Introducing the Assertive Telephone Outreach (ATO) program where peers can sign up to have a dedicated and trained peer recovery coach check in with them on a weekly basis. The day and time are selected by the peer. Check-ins can either be done over the phone or through text also depending on the preference of the peer and Coach availability. For a direct link to this program, visit thecrane.org
Clayton County Health Department will be hosting testing on National gay men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness day. This will be a drive through event on September 29th from 3:30 until 7:30. Address is 685 Forest Parkway, Forest Park, GA 30297. CARES Warm Line is available every day of the year from 8:30 am until 11 pm. We are here to help. Call: 1.844.326.5400 Paula Crane Center PAGE 18