Spring 2014

Ties that Bind & Bless Deepening Recovery with Reunions

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 1 CONTENTS 4 Recovery: A Family Love Story

6 Carry the Message

8 Butler Center for Research: Cognitive Processing in Addiction

11 50 Years: A Day at a Time

12 ON THE COVER On the Cover: The Art of Reunion

15 Regional Spotlight: Springbrook

16 Bright Lights How you can stay connected Join the Alumni Network Hazelden Alumni are eligible to become members of Hazelden’s 18 Alumni Network—a closed community available only to alumni of Hazelden’s programs: HazelFest • Take part in online meetings. • Find treatment peers. • Participate in discussions. • Listen to Hazelden Lectures on podcast. 20 To login please visit: Celebrating Milestones hazelden.org/web/public/alumni_fellowship.page Join the Social Community Interact with thousands of others who are maintaining or seeking lives free from addiction. Access chats, online meetings, and discussion boards that address your specific areas of interest any day, any time, from anywhere. You control your anonymity settings. Members of Hazelden’s Social Community can: • Ask for help from members with decades of experience in recovery. • Offer help to people struggling to find recovery. • Listen to podcasts. • Attend online chat meetings. • Make new friends; rekindle old friendships. All members control their own privacy settings in order to share their information with as many—or as few—members as they choose. Membership is free. hazelden.org/web/go/social

2 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org A LETTER FROM JANA K. OLSLUND

Dear Alumni and Friends, I am excited to announce the integration of the Hazelden Foundation and Betty Ford Center has officially been approved by regulators, establishing the “Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation”—the largest nonprofit addiction treatment provider in the country. Throughout 2014, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation will be working to bring together alumni from both organizations. During this planning phase we welcome your thoughts and opinions and hope you will consider participating in a focus group or survey. Your input will help guide our new organization in developing future alumni programs and services. This is an exciting time for our alumni as we have the opportunity to take the best of both organizations’ programs and combine them into one world-class offering that will set the industry standard. New and improved programs will allow alumni greater opportunities to connect and engage with fellow travelers, with newcomers, and with the organization where their journey began. We hope, with this increased engagement, that your personal recovery is strengthened and improved. We encourage you to stay connected. Take a moment to visit our new website www.hazeldenbettyford.org for further information on the merger. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions by emailing [email protected] or calling 877-429-5082. Both Hazelden and Betty Ford have deep-rooted traditions in providing meaningful alumni engagement. Your continued commitment and participation is what helps make the recovery experience possible for those recently completing treatment, families beginning to rebuild and those looking to reinvigorate their own recovery. Together—with Betty Ford Center and the involvement of our alumni—we can bring hope and bright new futures to even more suffering from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. Thank you for staying connected!

My sincerest gratitude,

Jana K. Olslund, J.D. Vice President, Philanthropy and Alumni Relations Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 3 Christopher S.

“I am so excited and grateful: Recovery has given me my family back.”

4 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org FEATURE

Recovery A Family Love Story

Pronounced dead on arrival at the emergency room after Adult Children in Recovery a drunken driving accident hurled him 114 feet from his car, The eldest child, Rick Jr., 35, has eleven years of sobriety. Rick Sr. of Michigan survived—and so did his alcoholism. A former youth semi-pro hockey player, he lives and works in Eleven more years of abusing alcohol passed before he Michigan as a personal fitness trainer and nutritional consultant. got sober the first time, relapsed, and finally sought help at By his 21st birthday, he says, he was “definitely out of control Hazelden Center City, Minn. So began the Hazelden legacy in and asked to attend Hazelden for inpatient treatment.” the S. family. Since then, Rick’s wife, Beverlee, sons Rick, Jr. He returned to hockey, but relapsed. Meeting his future wife and Christopher, also received treatment at Hazelden. changed everything. “I wanted the clean and sober life more The path to Hazelden was the most difficult for their than anything to be with Angie,” he says. Rick returned to his youngest son, Christopher. “I was 22 years old and I wanted home AA meeting and with that strong base of recovery, they to get sober so bad, but I didn’t trust myself to do it alone,” married. “I always thought I would be drunk at my own wedding. Christopher, now 26, recalls. “But by then, our family business By the grace of God, I wasn’t,” he says. entered bankruptcy after a market downturn when I was Christopher is also a gifted hockey player who once played 21—and we lost everything. Broke. And here was my dad, on the semi-pro circuit in the U.S. and Canada. He recently thinking: ’When my son needs help the most, all I have left is a celebrated his fourth year of sobriety after completing Hazelden, boat and my wife’s wedding ring.’’ Plymouth, Minn., extended care program. He is soon to graduate And that’s what Rick Sr. offered Hazelden as payment for from Augsburg College, where he has been part of its Step-Up Christopher’s treatment. Sober Dorm for students. In addition to academic success, he’s Hazelden accepted—and the transformation of the found a sober hockey team and has rediscovered the pure joy of S. family began. a sport that nearly killed him with its high-performance culture. “I enjoy sports now just like I did when I was a kid—it’s so great!” A Family Transforms Jillian is a “Normie” who works as a trainer and cross fit Combined, the S. family has more than 40 years of competitor. She relies on Twelve Step wisdom and is a dynamic Hazelden recovery, including five sessions in the Family participant in the recovering family. Program. Beverlee believes Hazelden provided the family with the education that saved them as individuals and as a family. Rituals Build Relationship “The vulnerability and honesty required at Hazelden for A joyful, strong recovery is built on rituals that connect people both the addict and codependent cannot be adequately to each other and to sober living. Small things matter in big described, because the process takes you down to ground ways. All recovering members of the S. family attend Twelve Step zero. Recovery becomes the new language to be practiced in meetings each week. Rick Sr. calls Beverlee when he’s in the car thought, word and deed,” says Beverlee. “I also learned that driving home from his AA to share thoughts the meeting sparked. the pain is equal on both sides, which I didn’t realize during Beverlee reads and journals and eagerly shares affirmations. the years of active addiction.” In addition to a full load of courses to support his college Says Rick Sr.: “I got sober for my family—but I stay sober psychology major, Christopher stays connected to sobriety by and found recovery for myself. We view the commitment to the playing and praying hard. There’s hockey, basketball, yoga, and program as both individual and a team sport.” He returned to running every day, with prayers every night before going to sleep. school at age 54, and has found his vocation as a chemical “I pray for God to continue to give me the will, the desire and the dependency therapist. want to stay sober, and thank him for every 24 hours,” he says. “Understanding and accepting the three C’s is a For Rick Jr., a strong recovery is rooted in AA meetings, Bible foundation of self-responsibility and became a practice in study and “believing in Jesus Christ. I’ve always talked about our household,” Beverlee explains. The 3 C’s are: “I can’t Step 3—not that I hang out there—but I love its message. I control the disease; I didn’t cause the disease; I can’t cure believe a higher power is out there, taking care of it all, and I the disease of addiction.” believe in turning it over.” But with fearless, moral and honest searching and a Happy, joyous and free are the promises of living a life of willingness to be open, a person can recover from the recovery—and the S. family members say they have come disease. The S. family is living witness. true for them. Says Christopher: “I am so excited and grateful: Recovery has given me my family back.”

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 5 Stephen S. Carrying the Message

Sober living sends down anchoring roots. “My son is a former patient and is Recovery living grows up—branching, currently enrolled in the Hazelden blooming, always seeking the garden: others Connection program. It is the glue that is in recovery with whom to form a serene and helping him to survive his terrible illness beautiful habitat of health. to this date. His quality of life has been That’s the essential message that Stephen positive for the first time in decades S. felt during his family’s Hazelden journey. because of this program.” His time on the Center City campus was Stephen S. credits Hazelden’s skilled and originally spent as a member of the Family sensitive staff members for sparking “the Program. Since then he has been a frequent immense growth in all of us.” Staff attributes visitor to the Renewal Center. For his family, he especially values are “professionalism, the Twelve Step and recovery practices they knowledge, strength and true caring.” developed make recovery both possible and What are the hallmarks of strength and deeply renewing. He credits Hazelden with caring? “She is not afraid to tell me when I his embracing attitude toward addiction— need to do things differently.” and growth in the garden of recovery. “I learn For the good of the garden, the recovery every time I am on the grounds and look habitat, truth is the sun that makes it forward to my next visit.” all possible—and inspires him to carry He is a strong believer in carrying the message. the message because “Hazelden is an environment that is immediately calming to addict and family member alike,” he writes in an email. “As an alcoholic and father of an alcoholic, I treasure any time my schedule You are invited to share your story and help “carry the message” allows me to spend on the campus. at hazelden.org/carrythemessage or call 651-292-2492.

6 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org Dear Friends, Revitalize your recovery In 2012 we started a campaign called “Carry the Message,” inviting Hazelden alumni to call With a retreat at the out the caregivers or staff members who made Dan Anderson Renewal Center a difference in their lives—the one person or persons they will never forget. This has triggered an outpouring of grateful testimonials and Recovery is an ongoing process of transformation heartfelt thanks. that requires you to continually reexamine your Some former patients will never forget the perceptions, attitudes, and heart. Nowhere will you driver who picked them up late at night, the find more profound or compelling opportunities nurses who were ready and waiting for them, to deepen or recharge your recovery than at the housekeeping staff who lent a sympathetic Hazelden’s Dan Anderson Renewal Center. ear, the technicians who were there 24/7, the See what might be calling you. counselors who helped them break through to a new understanding of their disease and Big Book & 12 x 12 Study Techniques the possibilities that life holds. Thank you to NEW those who shared these stories with us. What a Fred Holmquist 7 p.m. Friday, June 13–Noon Sunday, June 15 marvelous gift your words have been to all of us Join other students of the Twelve Step wisdom tradition in the at Hazelden! serenity of Hazelden’s Center City campus for a refreshing look at the timeless wisdom—though dated language—of Alcoholics Share your story and help “Carry the Message”! Anonymous and “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.” Fred will Visit us at hazelden.org/carrythemessage or highlight the spiritual template that girds much of Bill W.’s writing, and reveal delightful consistencies that appear across his works. call 651-292-2492. Running and Recovery NEW Dick Beardsley Making a difference: 7 p.m. Friday, June 27–Noon Sunday, June 29 Why do so many in recovery make running an integral part of their Margaret Thompson new lives? Join marathon legend Dick Beardsley to explore running Parent Professional 2 and recovery. In addition to sharing his experience, strength, and Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation hope, Dick will provide fitness/ running level assessments for participants and offer guidance about training and racing goals. With a focus on “progress, not perfection,” this exciting, experiential retreat is appropriate for beginners and lifelong runners alike. “Thank you, Margaret— for your unapologetic The NA Journey Continues willingness to challenge each Will Hudson and every one of the people 7 p.m. Friday, July 4–Noon Sunday, July 6 whose lives you touch. It is This retreat is ideal for anyone in Twelve Step recovery who wants to deepen his or her understanding of the extraordinary an amazing gift. You made and edifying Narcotics Anonymous text. It’s a not-to-be-missed an extreme impact on both opportunity for those in the NA program as well as those who Xavier and me.” sponsor people in the program. – ♥ Natalie True Happiness NEW “Margaret realized we each had an individual Bill Alexander 7 p.m. Friday, July 11–Noon Sunday, July 13 experience, and she brought the Dos and Don’ts of Everyone wants to be happy. We look fruitlessly for happiness in our and the addict’s behavior to our attention with people and places and things and ideas and activities. They always her hard-earned knowledge, professionalism, sense fail us. This pervasive state of dissatisfaction and endless longing of humor, and vibrancy.” is the path of addiction. Come and discover the path to happiness, wholeness, and freedom right where it has always been: deep – Maryland parent within. The only key is KISS: Keep It Spiritually Simple.

“She [Margaret] gave myself and my two girls 30th Anniversary of the (Madison and Gabby) the hope through Dan Anderson Renewal Center communication and Alanon that wounds will heal. Join the Renewal Center in celebrating its Life will look and does feel a whole lot better. I am 30th anniversary! Open house event is open very thankful for Hazelden. God Bless.” to alumni Sunday, July 13, 2-5 p.m. – Minnesota parent

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 7 Addiction Science Cognitive Research Understanding the impact of cognitive processing in alcohol/drug addiction

Through its Butler Center for Research (BCR) in Center City, Minn., and in the way they remember things, a bias that favors processing the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation leverages a suite of scientific of alcohol-related cues and stimuli,’’ explains BCR Executive Director assets that no other treatment center in the world has developed. The Audrey Klein, Ph.D., a specialist in experimental cognitive psychology goal is to increase evidence-based knowledge of addiction as a means and addiction research. to optimize treatment outcomes. Combined, the Hazelden Betty Ford Cognitive experimental research is not only well underway at BCR, it Foundation and the Butler Center for Research have the following is in the vanguard of this type of inquiry. “Being part of such cutting- integrated assets: edge, pioneering research makes patients and alumni tremendously • More than 50 years of expertise and clinical success treating proud. Many of them state that they participate in our studies out of a addiction in inpatient and outpatient settings, tailored to desire to help other alcoholics suffering with the disease,” Klein says. individuals and families • Years of pathbreaking research from staff M.D.s and Ph.D.s Patient Volunteers: From Problem to Solution probing the factors and behaviors that drive addiction and Among the methods Klein and her team use to study cognitive inform treatment strategies processing is a novel application of a widely-used task developed in • An extensive alumni recovery community deeply committed the 1930s, the Stroop task. Based on visual identification abilities, it to improving lives through their support of rational, evidence- measures subjects’ response times while decoding visual stimuli. based, scientific treatment methods A typical Stroop task involves the presentation of color names on • A patient population eager and willing to take part in a computer screen. The names appear in a colored font that either research studies to increase knowledge of addiction and matches or mismatches the word. For example, the word “red” speed discovery of improved treatments appears in red font on A look at an ongoing investigation into the roles of attention and some trials, but appears memory in alcohol dependence highlights this leadership position. in blue font on others. The participant is asked to Attention, Memory, Alcohol Dependence identify the font color of the Consider the relapse potential in this scenario: printed word while ignoring Two sober people are riding a bus to an Alcoholics Anonymous the meaning of the word. meeting, both committed to recovery. The bus route threads through The time it takes to name a typical urban neighborhood with apartments, coffee shops, cafes, the font color is recorded in a shoe repair shop, doctors’ offices, clothing boutiques. Tucked in milliseconds and is called Typical Stroop task among the shops is a bar. reaction time (RT). The attention of one of the bus riders is immediately drawn to the “The Stroop task creates a dilemma for the attentional system in the bar. Her gaze locks onto its neon signs—which may cause her to brain,” Klein explains. “That system appears biased to automatically become immersed mentally in past associations and memories of attend to word meaning before attending to the physical characteristics using that the bar sign triggers. The other bus rider’s attention passes of the word. When the word meaning and color match, attentional right over the bar and drinking-related cues. Is the risk of relapse processing of the font color is quick and easy. When they are different, different for these two people? This is one of the questions that the it takes the brain longer to process the font color. In essence, the Butler Center for Research’s cognitive research attempts to answer. Stroop task uses the length of the reaction times to shed light on “Evidence suggests the brains of some alcohol-dependent what the brain is doing when presented with different types of visual individuals have biases in the kinds of things they pay attention to, information.”

8 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org BUTLER CENTER FOR RESEARCH

“Evidence suggests the brains of some alcohol-dependent individuals have biases in the kinds of things they pay attention to, and in the way they remember things.”

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 9 Research Update

The Alcohol Stroop Task COR-12 Study of Medication- Alcohol variants of the Stroop task have been developed over the years. They present alcohol-related assisted Opioid Addiction Treatment words (beer, wine, whiskey) and non-alcohol-related words (computer, street, building) in different font colors, in a Twelve Step Framework then measure RTs required to name the color. “The Hazelden leaders embarked on a new clinical initiative standard finding is that alcohol-dependent individuals take significantly longer to identify the color of alcohol in January 2013 aimed at delivering more effective words. This suggests their brains are biased toward treatment for patients with opioid dependence. Called processing these stimuli,” Klein notes. Comprehensive Opioid Response-12 (COR-12), it The BCR team designed a novel variant of the alcohol includes the use of prescription drugs Naltrexone Stroop task. Never before used with alcohol-dependent or Suboxone, where appropriate. Because research patients, it presents a colored rectangle with either an remains a key area of focus at the Hazelden Betty alcohol-related or a neutral word printed inside. The task is to name the color as quickly as possible while ignoring Ford Foundation, the Butler Center for Research the word. RTs are recorded for each trial. (BCR) designed a pilot study involving a sample of Explains Klein: “The patient will be exposed to two COR-12 patients. A key aspect of this study, currently things, the colored shape and the word. Even though underway, involves comparing treatment outcomes of the word is task-irrelevant, we predict that some patients three groups of COR-12 patients, consisting of: will have trouble ignoring the alcohol words and will take much longer to color name when these words appear, 1. Patients taking no medications for opioid compared to neutral, non-alcohol-related words. We are dependence. in the process of collecting outcomes data, and later on 2. Patients taking Vivitrol, an extended-release we can determine if patients with a strong alcohol bias are more likely to relapse.” form of Naltrexone injected once a month. It is a non-addicting, anti-craving agent in A Brain Bias for Alcohol? the opioid antagonist class that blocks Klein’s team considered the possibility that some opioid receptors. patients would show a bias for processing alcohol words even if they were presented with a situation where they 3. Patients taking Suboxone, a combination should be easy to ignore. “So on some trials, the words of buprenorphine and Naloxone, a partial appeared outside the rectangle and should have been opioid agonist. easy to ignore,” Klein says. But many patients still showed an attentional bias to the words and remembered seeing Approved by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the alcohol words at a much higher level than the neutral medication-assisted treatment (MAT) is designed to words when given a surprise memory test. “The fact that assist treatment of opioid dependence with select memory for the alcohol words was so good indicates they drugs, as opposed to relying on the abstinence-only were processed by the brain. In essence, we are some treatment approach that requires detoxification of the first researchers to show a memory as well as an attentional processing bias for alcohol words in patients before psychosocial therapies are started. Although with alcohol dependence.” the U.S. Food and Drug Administration sanctions Butler Center researchers hope that these tasks MAT in specific circumstances overseen by specially will become useful clinical tools to improve treatment trained providers, MAT’s reliance on pharmaceuticals outcomes and minimize relapses. Says Klein: “The is controversial to some abstinence-only advocates. opportunity to do this research is incredibly exciting Hazelden is committed to ongoing research of these because the potential for improving the lives of addicted people with science and apply findings to clinical practice medications to fully evaluate their potential. is so powerful.” “We looked at the data on the current opioid epidemic and the results of a number of past studies, which suggest that the use of these medications can be effective in the treatment of opioid dependence. We saw the possibility for making a real difference with COR-12 in the lives of these patients,” explains Audrey Klein, Ph.D., executive director of BCR.

10 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org AN INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM C. MOYERS 50 Years A Day at a Time

Terry T. owes his life to a transformation that began the togetherness and support that, moment he found himself at Hazelden following a serious car as Terry offered in his story, accident that should have killed him. When he showed me a reminds us all that nobody is frayed piece of folded paper he pulled from his wallet, I grasped alone in the struggle to recover. that sometimes there are a few moments destined to never fade In fact, it is imperative that we with the decades. They grow stronger. stick together. Or, as Benjamin “It started with this,” he said, delicately handing the paper Franklin is oft quoted just across the dinner table to me. “Pay to the order of Hazelden, before signing the Declaration January, 1964.” The softness of his voice faded to near silence. of Independence, “We must, Terry T. His eyes welled with tears. “Hazelden made it possible.” indeed, all hang together, or He gave away the original cancelled check long ago. Now most assuredly we will all hang separately.” Fifty years long or he carries a copy recording the few hundred dollars he paid to just a few days from the beginning, together we addicts and Hazelden to help him overcome his alcoholism when he was alcoholics improve our chances to recover by hanging out in 25 years old. A small fee for a big shot of redemption that meetings, at coffee shops and holiday parties—and at sobriety became a wellspring, paying lifelong dividends beyond celebrations at treatment centers. anything he had considered. In Hazelden’s storied history, this commitment of “I didn’t show up with any commitment of ‘life without alcohol,’” connectedness has never been stronger. The merger with the recalls Terry. “The counselor who met me there, Al Douw, asked, Betty Ford Center unifies two organizations long dedicated to ‘Do you want to quit drinking?’ and, after pausing, I said, ‘Well, I transforming people affected by substance use disorders. Not want to want to.’ Al said, ‘good enough, come on in.’” just patients in need of treatment. But also children and families Recently, Terry and members of his family returned to Center affected by addiction. Students who want to become counselors City to share a unique moment in their journey with me and with master’s degrees. Medical professionals seeking insights several hundred patients who were treated to a celebration that about how addiction sickens their patients and recovery makes rarely occurs at Hazelden—or anywhere for that matter. Terry them better. Authors with personal and professional insights received his 50-year sobriety medallion. I gave it to him. turned into books to share with others. School administrators In a spontaneous instant, the audience rose to its feet in and community leaders dedicated to cutting-edge prevention unison, lifted by the sheer force of inspiration-driven hope. Even tools. Alumni who need an ever-present touchstone on their before he had begun to share his story, Terry’s half-century of journey, and donors who want their generosity to have a sobriety told the story of what is possible when anyone who bigger, lasting impact. This is the WE of the new Hazelden Betty cannot stop drinking or taking drugs finally does stop and starts Ford Foundation. that essential commitment required for a life in recovery. Sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly, thousands of us have “Willingness is the necessary magic sauce, a crack to let the walked into treatment, the family program, outpatient mental light in,” Terry told the women and men in the auditorium. “I health or an aftercare group convinced ours is a lonely sojourn, actually rationalized, before coming in, that my choices were only to find women and men on the same path. Not all of us either ‘I am crazy’ or ‘I am alcoholic’ and thought maybe I could stay the course like Terry T., without a stumble or slip. But as fix being alcoholic, and so I chose that.” And the audience my recovery mentor Paul once admonished me when the future laughed in agreement. They could relate. looked so impossible, “Remember that the best anyone has Addiction is a disease of isolation. The antidote is found in the ever done is the 24 hours ahead.” Terry’s story reminds us that, first word of the first step of those Twelve Steps that have helped strung together, 24 hours do add up. And when shared, the tally millions of people find the “fix” to what ails them: WE. Not is enough to lift up the collective spirit of people in an auditorium you, not her, not them, not me. But WE, the pronoun of unity, whose transformation was once measured in days, just like Terry.

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 11 The Art of Reunion

Kilts, cows and a life of usefulness to Turning Point: Tiebout Reunion was a great challenge to me, and I have others are the sturdy threads in the tartan At 77, Eddie lives on a Michigan farm near always loved a grand challenge.” weave of Eddie M.’s life that connect him to Kalamazoo, where he raises prize Highland He’s never missed a reunion. what he values most: sobriety. cattle and practices Big Book wisdom every But it is not just any sobriety. As Eddie day to mark his personal transformation that Drinking Cultures emphasizes, his is a “contented sobriety,” began Nov. 10, 1993, in Hazelden’s Tiebout For a native Scotsman born in Kilmarnock, sobriety practiced in community with Unit. It’s a community so important to him the home of Johnnie Walker headquarters, other addicts and AA steps to keep him that he never misses a Tiebout reunion. “the question was never, ‘Will you drink?’ honest, open, willing and seeking humility. “Connecting at reunions every year at It was ‘How soon can you start?’ “ Eddie “Arrogance has always been one my big Hazelden is a center of my life now—and has recalls. He began drinking at pubs at age 16, problems,” he notes. “You could deflate been for 21 years,” Eddie says. then immigrated to the U.S. at age 21—and my ego today and it would be back up Attending his first reunion in March 1994, entered the military, which also had a robust and riding horseback tomorrow. It’s a he met 62 alums and staff. “From Thursday drinking culture. constant struggle.” to Sunday this Tiebout group worked me over Given that background, the change that The surest antidote to ego-bound living pretty well and the light finally went on: I had began at Hazelden is profound. Recalling it Eddie has found is usefulness. “The quality been white-knuckling sobriety for my first few threatens to leave Eddie at a loss for words— of my sobriety is directly proportional to my months not drinking—dry, but not sober. I only threatens. “To make a long story endless, usefulness to others,” he explains. “While was not really working the program. But by all I can say is it still eludes me a bit today to this notion is certainly not original to me, I that Sunday, I finally understood something understand what happened and how all the believe the more we all keep passing on the about recovery—and I wanted it,” Eddie says. goodness started,” Eddie says. “I’ve turned wisdom we pick up from others, the better He left feeling happy and optimistic about 180 degrees from the old Eddie. When I went off and happier we all are. That’s a great recovery, and told them all he would be back to Hazelden in 1993, I had no idea what I’d thing about attending Hazelden annual next year. It was met with the kind of ruthless gotten myself into. But my wife had died in reunions—it provides a way to share honesty recovery calls forth. Said one: ‘You 1989, my job seemed to be going all right but what works and carry the message, as know, Eddie, alcoholics are great at making my staff were carrying the load—it was time opposed to just helping me stay sober, promises. Those of us who are sober keep to change.” as it did originally.” them.’ Eddie got it—and accepted it. “That Envisioning change that involved not

12 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org ON THE COVER

The Art of Reunion Eddie M.

drinking alcohol was nearly impossible for earned the nickname “Crash” for having topic of conversation, that much was clear. him. By that time Eddie was drinking two crashed so many vehicles he prototyped What I didn’t realize is just how much I quarts of Johnnie Walker Red a day. Because as a transportation engineer. “We always needed help in my life.” he never missed work, he believed it wasn’t a managed to rebuild them,” he said. “The problem—despite evidence to the contrary. more successful I became, the more I Rebuilding, Clean and Sober “The DWIs, weekends in jail, poor decisions drank.” Somehow his wife and stepchildren Sixteen months after treatment, Eddie I made, none of it seemed to indicate that weathered it all. “Everyone around me was retired from the high-pressure executive life. quitting drinking would be good for me, which extremely tolerant of my disease—family, He now focuses on tending his farm and of course is crazy. Now I see that. But while employer, coworkers.” beloved cattle and sheep—and working his most of the stories of my drinking days are The change to sober life was sparked Twelve Step program at all times, colorful strictly hearsay, since I was a blackout drinker, by corporate human resource officers who and notable as the cow farmer in the kilt. I can say I was committed to it. Faithful. I just themselves were sober Twelve Step members. He chooses among four of the five family kept going, though I did notice that the more I Eddie was just one more drunk driving citation tartans—two formal, two for day, “although drank, the worse—and more expensive—the away from felony charges under Michigan sometimes I stray”—and considers farming lawyers got. That much got through to me. law, and his employers were concerned. in them at least a two-kilt job. “Since I use I was so unmanageable that when I tried As a corporate officer, Eddie could not have the kilt so much around cattle the smell is stopping drinking at lunch, I couldn’t imagine a felony conviction and hold his position as a easily absorbed by the wool. In fact, the wool how that would work, so I stopped eating lunch vice president. He was risking embarrassment will absorb any odor. I usually hang my kilt and picked up the pace at cocktail hour. That’s and a lifestyle slide the likes of which he’d out on a clothes line to allow it to freshen,” the kind of dishonesty that drove me and made never imagined. he explains. such a mess of things.” “I had no idea what a sober drunk was, At least once a week, Eddie drives 70 but these two human resource officers called miles for fellowship and an AA meeting with Corporate Intervention me in to meet. They suggested this Hazelden inmates at the local prison. He also carries the By age 57, Eddie was an accomplished place, and they were friendly, bright fellows AA message to the county jail weekly. To all, and successful engineer, a corporate and one said, ‘What do you have to lose?’ So he gives of his time and energy unstintingly vice president, a spiritual and physical I thought, ‘Why not?’ I needed their help in to talk of the deep peace and contentment wreck. He weighed 305 pounds and had the corporate headquarters where I was a sobriety brings him. Even when he’s on the

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 13 road to sell cattle at livestock shows, he walks the walk he first learned at Hazelden and deepens each year with the help of his Tiebout brothers during reunions. On the way to a recent livestock show in Denver, Eddie got caught during the 1,200- mile drive in the snows that buried the Middle West and plains. At times he could go only 30 m.p.h. No worries. He got there, making friends along the way—including an Amish farmer who needed a yak delivered to Indiana on the return trip. Eddie M. was just the man for the job of yak delivery: another grand challenge. “It was quite a task getting into his place, and we had to wait while they plowed a path, but all went well.” It always seems to go well these days for Eddie M. Ever since the turning point of his first Tiebout reunion, the sun of sobriety is always out, and blessings abound. Despite the record snows and winds of this frigid winter, lambing began on his farm in February, and Eddie saw a sight he’d never seen before: a perfect delivery of a lamb, completely within the “fleece” or amniotic sac, until it was fully delivered. “That is quite rare to see,” Eddie says. “Usually the front feet and nose break the membrane prior “What I didn’t realize is just how to exit. When I was a wee boy some time ago I was told if I ever saw a foal in a fleece much I needed help in my life.” I would always be blessed. I never did see that, but I guess I have been blessed more than I deserve and that suits me just fine.”

2014 Alumni Reunions Strengthen, renew and enrich your recovery at the place where you began—Hazelden.

Lilly Alumni Reunion Promises Alumni Reunion Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 06/05/2014 Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 09/04/2014 Simmons/Lilly Primary Alumni Reunion Jellinek Alumni Reunion Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 06/19/2014 Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 09/18/2014 Dia Linn Alumni Reunion Silkworth Alumni Reunion Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 07/17/2014 Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 10/16/2014 Springbrook Alumni Reunion Florida Alumni Reunion Location: Newberg, OR | Upcoming Date: 07/19/2014 Location: Naples, FL | Upcoming Date: 10/17/2014 Cronin Alumni Reunion Location: Center City, MN | Upcoming Date: 08/14/2014

14 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org REGIONAL SPOTLIGHT

Sexual Identity & Recovery Springbrook LGBTQ Programming Creates Culture of Acceptance

Addressing gender and sexuality issues has always major influences in shaping his approach. “Traditional been part of modern chemical dependency treatment. treatment is gender binary. It’s kind of a radical notion to Now, at Hazelden Springbrook in Newberg, Ore., probing have men and women intermix in a traditional treatment gender and sexual identity take on renewed relevance in model, yet it’s vital for LGBTQ people in treatment. a new model that is yielding promising outcomes while Patients need this to establish the sense of safety that attracting national attention. healing trauma is contingent upon. When we create To meet the growing need of peers who identify in non- opportunities to be together in mixed groups, we find it traditional gender categories, Springbrook has developed adds depth to recovery: people get something beyond some of the most advanced, socially sensitive and focused acceptance. During my own training, I saw that much of programming anywhere with its “LGBTQ-Integrative” what happens at PRIDE is community, so we’ve created (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) treatment opportunities to support its organic development at model. Data from Springbrook’s programming is part of Springbrook. When there’s genuine community it makes an academic study now under review for publishing, and our work easy.” will be included in a research update by Hazelden’s Butler In addition to attending gender-integrated group Center for Research later this year. meetings and therapy sessions, Springbrook’s LGBTQ recovery program participants go off campus together to Treat the Person, Not the Label attend meetings at Portland’s Gay and Lesbian center; “We’re trying to change the experience of heterosexual- take part in regular movie nights; and engage in LGBTQ treatment culture for LGBTQ people,” explains Buster community-specific service opportunities. Ross, MA, CADCII, CSC, LPC-I, Hazelden Springbrook’s LGBTQ program director. “While many of the trauma The Need for LGBTQ Programming issues we are addressing in treatment are the same as A tailored LGBTQ recovery approach is needed not they are for our heterosexual and cisgender clients, we only because research suggests that non-heterosexual most often are working with existential issues stemming people may be more prone to developing drug and from family system and cultural rejection. To address alcohol problems than heterosexual people, but that they internalized negative attitudes about self related to have higher rates of previous detoxification and inpatient sexuality and gender identity, we have to create and treatment episodes, trauma, and additional mental health continually foster a community of love and healing.” diagnoses. Ross suggests the higher prevalence may Ross emphasizes that an environment in which be attributed to broader cultural issues and stressors for non-LGBTQ and LGBTQ people embrace each other as LGBTQ people than individual pathology. they are is tremendously valuable to both groups. “When “The data we’re pulling leads me to believe that minority we encounter clients with strongly held negative attitudes stress may be the primary driver of the unique issues we about LGBTQ people, it is often related to unresolved have been identifying. When you have a family system feelings and experiences, things they often want help in that rejects you, you have more stress. When you live with understanding. But it is important to be clear that our only the fear of being ‘found out’, witnessing threats, violence, expectation is that all of our clients be able to treat one rejection, and abandonment, you have more stress. Shame another with respect in the milieu.” and addiction further compound that stress.” In just a little over three years, Springbrook has moved Ross looks beyond genetics to developmental from having no specialized services for LGBTQ clients to psychology and attachment theory for explanatory power. having a robust program, notes Ross. “Many people with addiction struggle to connect with others,” he says. “The ability to experience a broader Beyond the Binary range of intimacy becomes possible as shame is reduced. Ross credits training from The PRIDE Institute’s Community can do that.” inpatient and outpatient all-LGBTQ treatment programs Early results of this model are encouraging, generating and his independent study of Sexual Health at Hazelden invitations to share this approach around the country. Graduate School of Addiction Studies in Center City as

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 15 Bright Lights Tommy R. BORN: New York City, 46 years ago

SOBRIETY DAY: June 21, 1991, following treatment in 1989 at Hazelden Pioneer House in Plymouth, Minn.

LIVES IN: Venice, California, where he is founder of the holistic recovery movement known as Recovery 2.0, which consists of online resources for recovery including two acclaimed on-line conferences each year.

TURNING POINT: In 2003, I met my yoga teacher. I knew at once I was in the presence of something sacred and immensely powerful, and I’ve experienced a true recovery within recovery by discovering the powerful effects of my yoga and meditation practice.

STAYS CONNECTED TO RECOVERY BY: The core elements of connection for me are 1. sponsoring others, 2. recovery wisdom experiences that arise from interactions while leading workshops and retreats, 3. The Path of Yoga, 4. Healing my relationship with food. I lived my childhood as one sugar event to the next. I was building weakness into my system and it primed me for other addictions.

SIMPLE PLEASURE: Eating foods right out of my garden. There’s so much joy in food, organic fruits and vegetables, whole grains, really clean food. Gardening is one of the most centering activities I do.

GUILTY PLEASURE: In the realm of food, of course: Hmm….a cup of really good black tea with steamed milk, and just the right amount of honey. Or one really well-made chocolate chip cookie. Not enough to trigger a slip, just a joy.

MAIN MESSAGE: One of them is: if you really want to go toe to toe with addiction you have to consider your relationship with food. Another is: start a yoga practice right away.

BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED: Cultivate simplicity—seek it and support it in others.

GO-TO SERENITY WORD OR PRACTICE: Sat Nam. It means “Truth is my identity.”

16 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org BRIGHT LIGHTS

Stan R.

Matina M.

BORN: St. Paul, Minn., July 28, 1940 BORN: Evanston, Ill., June 2, 1976

SOBRIETY DAY: Feb. 21, 1965, at Hazelden Center City LIVES IN: Chicago, Ill.

LIVES IN: Roseville, Minn. TURNING POINT: I received incredible support, guidance and strength from the Family Program as well as the Connection program. TURNING POINT: For the first three years of my marriage, I was The counselors used a perfect balance of wisdom, humor and drinking to the point of blackout. I either had to do something or I’d warmth in both the group and individual sessions. They knew when die. I had a Twelve Step intervention. My in-laws paid for my sobriety. I was down, and they lifted my spirits with their smiles and fantastic I’m just so grateful to them. humor. When I felt despair or helplessness, they built me up and helped me to acknowledge my own strength. STAYS CONNECTED TO RECOVERY BY: Daily readings. “Twenty-four Hours a Day” is a favorite. STAYS CONNECTED TO RECOVERY BY: Giving back, helping others and attending a weekly Twelve Step meeting. SIMPLE PLEASURE: Just being with my grandkids, playing and reading with them. We babysit them every week. SIMPLE PLEASURE: Playing at the beach with my two young boys.

GUILTY PLEASURE: I don’t feel guilty because I’m very deliberate GUILTY PLEASURE: I indulge in ice cream. I love the process of about when I choose to have one, but I do like to have a cigar making and then slowly enjoying the perfect sundae. on occasion. MAIN MESSAGE: I want to give back so the next person can MAIN MESSAGE: AA meetings and friendships have so much to discover the tools to care for themselves and to ensure that quality offer. I just don’t know what I’d do without AA. It’s the “we” of AA. support is always available for those seeking help.

BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED: I’ll never forget it: I was BEST ADVICE YOU EVER RECEIVED: Slow down, live one day at a driving up to Hazelden with the man who was part of the Twelve Step time, and to T.H.I.N.K. (is what I am about to say or do Thoughtful, call the week before. When we got there he said: “You see, Stan, Helpful, Intelligent, Necessary, and Kind?) there’s no fence around here. You’re here because you wanted to come here. Just remember: ‘Live one day at a time and go to AA GO-TO SERENITY WORD OR PRACTICE: “T.H.I.N.K.” meetings and you’ll be OK.’ I still go to three meetings a week.” WHEN I DIE…I would like it to be known that I lived one day at a GO-TO SERENITY WORD OR PRACTICE: I say a prayer I made up time in peace, finding joy and happiness in the little things, always in connection with the Third Step. In it, I ask God to accept me for grateful for all the good in my life, and that I did what I could to help that day, and to give me the direction to follow his will. It changes a others see the beauty of the day. little day to day, depending on what’s on my mind.

Help celebrate Stan’s 50th sobriety anniversary and those in need of patient aid by making your gift to the Stan Rydell patient aid fund at hazelden.thankyou4caring.org/donation-pages/stan-rydell-patient-aid-fund

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 17 Treatment works! And living the recovery lifestyle is not only possible, it’s fun! Hazelden alum Mark H. puts it this Recovery Rocks! way: “Music and the celebration around it was always a part of my using life, and it’s hard to find sober music Second Annual HazelFest Outdoor venues. So I really appreciate HazelFest. It allows the fun and celebration to continue in my life in a healthy way!” Music Festival Celebrates Recovery Hazelden’s vibrant, joyful, outdoor music festival is family-friendly and welcoming to all. Its goal is to celebrate recovery in all means possible—from music and dance, to delectable foods including international cuisine, to petting zoo sessions to recovery-education resources, Twelve Step meetings and recovery speakers. The event is clean and sober, goes rain or shine and will be held on Saturday, Aug. 2, at the Center City campus, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance, $30 at the door and children 12 and under free. Tickets may be purchased in advance at hazelden.org/hazelfest.

Bands, Families & Food Trucks Now in its second year, HazelFest features entertainment by performers who have strong ties to Hazelden and the recovery community. They use music, story, embodied movement and mindfulness to renew commitment, create friendships and explore deeper ways of living—clean, sober, free and full of meaning. This year’s acts include Communist Daughter, Davina and the Vagabonds, Trapper Schoepp and headlining band The Jayhawks.

18 VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org August 2, 2014 HazelFest 2014 Line Up: • Davina and the Vagabonds • Communist Daughter • Trapper Schoepp NOW ANNOUNCING HEADLINING BAND: The Jayhawks

The event attracts more than 40 recovery-focused exhibitors selling items such as recovery jewelry, artwork, and services for attendees. As a family-friendly event, HazelFest offers children’s activities such as face painting, a petting zoo (though not 2014 just for kids—this may be your chance to get in touch with your inner llama), games and artwork. There will also be 10 unique food trucks carrying an assortment of Upcoming Events: international menu items to satisfy even the most discriminating nosh standards. Hazelden Chicago Awards Benefit Held at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel in Chicago Details and Decorum Location: Chicago, IL To maximize the chances that the most people have the most and safest fun, Upcoming Date: 05/20/2014 please meet these expectations: • Each person brings only one lawn chair or beach blanket. Women in Recovery • Leave pets at home—unless certified as a service or therapy animal with valid Hear the stories of AA’s pioneering women, documentation on hand. Pets are not permitted onsite, or in the parking lot. reconnect with yourself and your light, and discuss • Agree to have your bags and backpacks checked as you enter the gates. issues that emerge for women finding a new life: • Don’t bring coolers, cans, bottles or outside food through the gates. body image, boundaries, self-care, intimacy. • Don’t use a chaise or tanning lounger or playpen; instead, use a camp Location: Center City, MN chair or stroller. Upcoming Date: 05/30/2014 • Don’t record in video or sound any of the day’s events; it invites bad juju because it violates artists’ intellectual property rights. Recovery Cup Golf and Tennis Tournament • Don’t bring skateboards, bicycles or beach games; these invite bad fractures. Join us in playing 18 holes or a round of tennis • Accept that no refunds, exchanges or rain checks are given after at one of the highest-ranked courses in the June 1, 2014. United States! Location: Dellwood, MN Upcoming Date: 06/23/2014

Springbrook Ice Cream Social Please join us for a light-hearted evening of fellowship, food, and fun. Location: Newberg, OR Upcoming Date: 07/18/2014

Coastal Recovery Retreat Weekend Hazelden Alumni Relations invites you to a recovery retreat weekend on the beautiful Oregon coast. Join us for a weekend of fellowship, fun and spiritual renewal. Location: Newport, OR Upcoming Date: 09/19/2014

VOICE SPRING 2014 hazelden.org 19 Celebrating Milestones …sharing our joys and sorrows

DAVID K. SUSIE S. LAUREL B. I went from a successful career with 10 So many wonderful things have happened I am a Hazelden alumna. I marked my two- years of sobriety to a relapse that lasted 10 since I left Dia Linn in 2000. About a year year milestone of sobriety on Jan 21, 2014. years. The relapse spiraled down to DUIs, after I returned home from treatment, I I was in treatment on the Simmons and loss of my license for five years, jail for one entered nursing school. A few years later I Lilly units, and moved on to sober living in year, and permanent disability as my dual graduated with my BSN, and was #1 in my April of 2012 at the Holly House and Come diagnosis left me unemployable. After eight class. I passed Boards and got a full-time Straight Home, Inc. I am happy to report years on SSD I began to stabilize after being RN job in the Emergency Department of that I am thriving in recovery. Thank you hospitalized 31 times. With the right med a large regional hospital, where I remain Hazelden, for giving me my life back! combo, complete abstinence of all alcohol employed today, eight years later. During and other drugs, meetings, sponsorship, these years my husband’s business SCOTT B. steps, home group, therapists and skyrocketed, our son graduated from high Some milestones since I left Hazelden. psychiatrist, I now have been sober again school, college, and medical school. He • I’ve maintained sobriety. for 10 years, at the top of my career, and was married about 6 months ago and I • I have been gainfully employed in my happy with six children. My recovery has remember and cherished every moment field since July of 2011. brought me more and more life success. of his wedding. Our daughter found her Don’t let anyone write you off, we don’t way into the rooms at 26, and she recently • July of 2012, I met my current wife shoot our wounded. celebrated a year of glorious sobriety. online (she is from northern China). My children and I have a wonderful • Oct of 2012, traveled to China, to ROB S. relationship that I could never have meet her in person. It was an amazing I wrote a book dealing with Twelve Steps and imagined before July 25, 2000, when I experience. I am now working on a new book. I wouldn’t walked into Hazelden. have done that if I was too busy drinking! • June of 2013 moved to Norfolk VA, after In order to tell this story I had to use the living in MN my whole life. GARY C. pronoun “I,” but my thanks, praise, and all On Oct. 23 2013 I made it to three years the credit goes to the one without whom • Sept of 2013, travel to Shaanxi, China to clean and sober! none of this would have happened!!!!!! marry the girl of my dreams. My heartfelt thanks goes to Hazelden for Turns out the Promises do come true. I’ve ELIZABETH W. the lifesaving treatment I received. tried to keep the same mindset I had when I have received so much in my recovery I left Jellinek. The stress management and I had everything removed in my life to ANTHONY A. techniques I learned while at Jellinek have get this simple program! Three years ago I was at Hazelden proven to be very helpful. Also trying to Oregon. Since then I have returned follow the steps in day-to-day living has MELANIE R. to my weight of 185, 50 pounds less been key to keeping me honest and open I was an inpatient in August of 1997—and than I weighed when I left. My personal with myself and others. have been clean and sober since then! milestone is I ran the Chicago Marathon this past year in 5 hours and 13 minutes. Share what milestones you are Three years ago I was in a very bad state celebrating! Send us an email at of mind and physical wellbeing. I worked [email protected] very hard on my program, my mind, and physical goals. I can honestly say without Hazelden I may have not survived.

hazelden.org 800-257-7800 We invite you to call us with questions. We are available 24 hours a day. Hazelden locations Beaverton, Oregon Boston, Massachusetts The Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation helps people reclaim their lives from the disease of addiction. It Center City, MiNNEsota is the nation’s largest nonprofit treatment provider, with a legacy that began in 1949 and includes the Chaska, Minnesota 1982 founding of the Betty Ford Center. With 15 sites in California, Minnesota, Oregon, Illinois, New Chicago, Illinois York, Florida, Massachusetts, Colorado and Texas, the foundation offers recovery solutions nationwide Dallas, Texas Denver, Colorado and across the entire continuum of care for youth and adults. It includes the largest recovery publishing MAPLE GROVE, MINNESOTA house in the country, a fully accredited graduate school of addiction studies, an addiction research Naples, FLorida center, an education arm for medical professionals and a unique children’s program, and is the nation’s New York, New York leader in advocacy and policy for treatment and recovery. Learn more at hazeldenbettyford.org. Plymouth, MiNNEsota Rancho Mirage, California © 2014 Hazelden Foundation SPRINGBROOK, Oregon Hazelden and the Hazelden logo are registered trademarks of the Hazelden Foundation. St. Paul, MiNNEsota (05/14)