Client
Interviews
Patient
Interviews - Don, 44
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can you tell me a little about yourself?
I’m the department
manager of a large retail store.
What was your family
history as it related to alcohol?
My mother is a recovering
alcoholic, although I never looked at
her as an alcoholic. After all of the
children went away to college, she started
drinking very heavily in the evenings.
She stopped drinking on her own.
How long had you
been drinking before meeting Rhonda?
Thirty years. Started
drinking when I was 13. I didn’t
drink every day, but that’s when
I had my first drink.
Could you describe
the nature of your drinking?
I was an every day
drinker, each day I drank 1/5th of vodka
for 10 years. I managed to function,
but I felt pretty well drained. To use
a sports analogy, I got used to playing
with my ankles taped— which is
playing with a previous injury.
How did drinking
impact your life?
It’s been
22 years since I graduated from college.
The first 12 years I had the same job.
The last five years, I’ve had
five different jobs. So it affected
my career. I used to be a white-collar
employee in the financial world—a
banker. Then in 1997 my wife committed
suicide. I just kind of I laid down
and died for 6 months then quit my job.
I worked as consultant in financial
arena for about 6 months but just couldn’t
get myself together. Then in early 1998
I went through a 30-day in-house treatment.
That was my
fourth 30-day in-house
treatment program in 10 years. So I
knew I had a problem.
Did these programs
help you stop drinking? For how long?
I stayed sober for
60-90 days, and then I’d go back
to drinking again. I had really just
given up on the idea of getting sober
at all.
Have you tried any
other programs to stop drinking?
I tried AA. It works
for a lot of people, and maybe it would
work for me if I were a conformist.
But I don’t like being told what
to do, and I didn’t like going
to meetings every night. So I was just
resigned to the fact that I was not
going to be sober. I don’t think
that any alcoholic wants to stay a drunk
once he knows he’s got a problem.
He just doesn’t know how to get
out of a downward spiral.
Even when you’d
stopped drinking, did you still have
cravings for alcohol— physically
or emotionally?
Yes, every day.
It was awful.
Were you skeptical
about this type of treatment?
Yes. I thought it
would be hocus-pocus.
How did you learn
about The Lenair Technique?
My dad saw Rhonda
on TV one night late January or early
February of this year. My dad called
and asked it I’d consider it and
I said, "I’ll do anything."
So he picked up the phone and made the
appointment and I reviewed the web site.
Once you heard about
The Lenair Technique, how long did it
take you to make an appointment?
We acted immediately,
but it took 6 weeks to get in to see
her.
Why did you want
to stop?
I couldn’t
live with alcohol and couldn’t
live without it. Without being locked
into a treatment center, I couldn’t
go by a liquor store without going in.
The craving would overtake me.
My boss knew I had
a problem because I wouldn’t always
show up at work on time and he pinpointed
it and asked me if I had a problem and
I told him I did. I was very much a
closet drinker. I didn’t have
a social life and was very much of a
recluse. My insides were falling apart.
I would wake up every morning feeling
like I had the flu every day. Then about
six months before I quit drinking I
started waking up with the dry heaves.
I spent the time before I went to work
trying to stabilize myself. On days
that I didn’t have to go to work,
I’d start drinking early so I
felt better.
What was your biggest
fear about stopping drinking?
Boredom. What was
I going to do with myself?
Once you scheduled
your appointment, did you have any apprehension
or fears about going through with the
program?
No. Before I left
to see Rhonda, I took the time to see
a doctor for a physical. He was very
skeptical. He gave me a liver test.
I have a cast iron liver, because it
was fine.
What was your experience
at the first treatment?
March 21, 2000.
I’ve been sober for 60 days. I
sort of feel like an old man with an
aching body. But I’m mentally
clear. I feel great.
Could you describe
your first treatment?
When I went into
Rhonda’s treatment room, she knew
nothing about me other than my name
and that I had a problem with alcohol.
I sat down and she immediately started
reading me. You could just sense that
she could see right into me. We shook
hands and she held onto my hand for
a minute to feel my vibrations I guess.
She really didn’t
say what she did. Barry explained it
to me more than she did.
Rhonda and I talked
briefly about alcohol in that that was
the problem I wanted to have removed.
Then I laid down on the couch and she
put her hand on my forehead. She told
me things about myself that nobody would
know but me. She went from my toes to
the top of my head and picked out every
ache or pain…old football injuries,
car accident wound, arthritis, my middle
knuckle on my right hand, types of fillings
in my teeth, she read everything. She
picked up careers, timeframes.
When I walked out
of my session with her, I didn’t
know what happened, but I was much calmer.
I just knew that she knew who I was.
What outcome were
you looking for?
I wanted to live
a normal life, and be a productive member
of society. I wanted to feel that I
could trust myself. I wanted to be able
to function without alcohol and still
enjoy the world around me and start
to enjoy the beauty that’s out
there.
Did you stop drinking
after your first treatment?
Yes.
Did you have any
physical cravings?
No—they were
almost immediately removed.
I stopped drinking
two days before I went to see her because
they ask you to go without so you walk
into the treatment really craving alcohol.
Also, I wanted to drive across the country
sober. But before I left, I took a couple
of days off from work to juice myself
up pretty good. So Sunday when I drove
up to New England, I felt pretty rotten
but I already had a sense of relief
that I was going for help. While I was
pessimistic and not sure of what I was
getting into, I was also hoping I’d
win the lottery on the other end. Something
did happen. I don’t know what,
I can’t explain it.
I saw Rhonda on
Tuesday. It had been three days since
I had a drink and was feeling pretty
rotten. Withdrawal symptoms last three
to five days, so I had probably gone
through the worst of my withdrawal symptoms
before I went in to see her, but I was
still shaking.
Did you have any
withdrawal symptoms? If you did, how
did they compare to other
times you might
have stopped drinking?
After seeing Rhonda,
I didn’t have any withdrawal symptoms.
I did other times
I quit drinking—I
had cold sweats, couldn’t sleep,
and my muscles were all fighting with
each other. I quit smoking at the same
time I quit drinking. I did that on
my own and still crave cigarettes.
What was your experience
at the second and third treatments?
Did Rhonda need to reinforce the treatment
or did she move on to another aspect
of your life/health?
I had my first treatment
on Tuesday. Then on Wednesday I went
sightseeing. I had my second treatment
on Thursday—and Rhonda did another
hands-on treatment. We went more into
my concentrating on what I wanted the
outcome to be and what would happen
if I didn’t quit. I felt better
every day. On my third treatment on
Friday, there was more emphasis on what
to do if I felt like drinking. She gave
me a tape. I fortunately haven’t
had the need to use the emergency technique.
If you were involved
in a 12-step program before, do you
feel the need to continue with it?
No. I don’t
even think about drinking.
How did this compare
to other treatments? Was stopping drinking
easier through this process easy compared
to other things you’ve tried?
Much easier. They
aren’t even comparable. 30-day
treatment centers aren’t hard.
They bring you off the alcohol with
Librium, so they take the pain away
coming off, and you’re eating
food again and enjoying it. So being
inside a treatment center is easy. But
when I came home, I felt like the eyes
of the public were upon me. People would
ask where he’s been for a month.
Oh, he’s been in a treatment center.
It was always embarrassing.
For this situation,
I just went on a one-week vacation to
Massachusetts, as far as explaining
it to anyone.
Did Rhonda provide
you with helpful information beyond
stopping the cravings for alcohol?
I’ve taken
some vitamins that I can find easily.
I haven’t gotten around to the
dandelion greens. But I am eating better.
How has your life
and the lives of those close to you
changed since you’ve been through
this program?
Since I’ve
stopped drinking, I’ve straightened
out my financial situation and improved
my status at work. My performance is
notably better. I spend more time coaching
my staff, and I take more pride in my
department. Because I don’t feel
bad, I don’t ache. The relationship
with the woman I live with is much better.
I’m there. I’m here 24 hours
a day. When I was drinking, my mind
was elsewhere.
Would you recommend
The Lenair Technique to others who are
struggling with alcohol addiction? What
would you say to them to encourage them
to give up alcohol and try this program?
Yeah, I would. 10
years ago when I was introduced to the
fact that I had a problem, I don’t
know whether she would have helped me,
or that I would have given her the time
of day. But now I was desperate.
I’ve been
sober for 60 days and that’s not
a long time. I’ve done 60 days
before. But the difference was that
in AA, all we talked about was alcohol.
I kept telling myself I didn’t
want alcohol, but that’s all you
talk about for an hour. Now I don’t
think about it. I see alcohol when I
go out to a restaurant, and in one way
it seems familiar, but in another way
it’s foreign to my thought process.
Rhonda’s rearranged
my electrical currents. She warned me
to stay away from the back of a refrigerator—they
have a very high electrical output field.
And to not eat a lot of microwaved food
because it’s prepared with a lot
of electronic energy.
I can’t explain
it. I know there are things about me
that are different, and that I just
don’t crave alcoholic. My doctor
is amazed. He said, "You’re
a totally different person."
All I can say is
that Rhonda must be some kind of an
angel.
