Client
Interviews
Patient
Interviews - Scott, 41
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Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I am a sports writer
and write about horseracing. Horses
are my background. I lived over in England
growing up and over there you learn
to ride a horse practically before you
learn to ride a bicycle. I started doing
that because it comes naturally.
What was your family
history as it related to alcohol?
My father, if not
considered an alcoholic, would have
been considered someone who had a drinking
problem. My parents divorced when I
was young, and I went to a boarding
school in Scotland when I was 12. I
think my mother was trying to get me
out of the trauma of the divorce.
My dad loved wine
and also drank hard liquor. He taught
pathology at Cambridge. He was a brilliant
teacher. He would be very cheerful and
the life of the party, then he’d
do a switch — all of a sudden
his face would change as though he were
smelling rotting cheese, then he would
turn very nasty and belligerent. You
could very rarely see it coming, but
it was very much like "Good Dad,
Bad Dad." I was the middle of three
boys and I was the only one who’s
had a drinking problem.
How long had you
been drinking before meeting Rhonda?
I started when I
was about 15 or 16. English standards
were very lax—you could walk into
any pub and they would sell you alcohol,
and my father would give me beer or
wine when I’d go see him at lunch.
Unlike over here in the States, alcoholism
is not discussed at all in England .
Could you describe
the nature of your drinking?
In the course of
a day I would have four to six cans
of beer and maybe a mixed drink. Some
days I would have nothing. Even though
there was more than 20 years of drinking,
there was never a day when I was banging
my head against the wall if I couldn’t
get my hands on alcohol. There were
times when I would go on binges. I never
had blackouts, but I did very often
have hangovers the next day. I was aware
that eventually it was going to kill
me.
Have you tried any
other programs to stop drinking?
I had called AA,
and I have nothing but praise for AA,
but what turned me off was the 12-step
program. Maybe it has something to do
with growing up in Britain with all
the regimented activity. I just couldn’t
see myself doing that. They said you
couldn’t spend time with people
who were still drinking, and I just
wasn’t comfortable with that.
So I never really did the AA program.
What was so amazing about this program
is that they said don’t drink
for 24 hours before you come and see
Rhonda, then one visit with Rhonda and
that’s it.
How did you learn
about The Lenair Technique?
A friend of mine
had been a three-pack-a-day smoker and
Rhonda cured her of that. So she suggested,
"Why don’t you try this—it’s
a lot less stressful than AA, and it
certainly was.
Were you skeptical
about this type of treatment?
I was trying to
keep an open mind. I was very nervous
the day before—I was having heart
palpitations.
Why did you want
to stop?
Well, I didn’t
really, really, really want to stop
drinking, but I knew that if I didn’t
stop drinking I was going to kill myself
eventually. My liver was going to go
or I’d walk under a bus or something.
Plus, people were beginning to look
at me like, "Well, he’s not
a bad guy, but he’s a drunk."
It’s one thing you can’t
hide. Unless you drink just a very small
amount, people are going to know that
you’ve been drinking. It wasn’t
the major reason, but it was getting
to the point where it was hurting my
credibility.
What was your biggest
fear about stopping drinking?
I had no fear about
stopping drinking. Afterward, I heard
a doctor on the radio talking about
people who were heavy drinkers who had
alcohol withdrawal, and that it can
be quite nasty. But I didn’t know
that at the time.
Once you heard about
The Lenair Technique, how long did it
take you to make an appointment?
About two months.
Did you stop drinking
after your first treatment?
Yes. After the first
treatment, the desire to drink was gone,
and it’s never come back.
I can be around
people who are drinking, I can cook
with wine, or buy liquor for other people,
and it’s not a problem. I have
no desire to drink.
Did you have any
physical cravings?
Not for alcohol.
But I had an incredible craving for
sugar. I was never a candy-ice cream-
cookies type. But when the alcohol was
gone, there was a tremendous "
gimme gimme gimme—I’ve got
to have sugar." After my first
sugar binge, I’ve really cut way
back on both sugar and caffeine, and
now it’s no problem.
Did you have any
withdrawal symptoms?
None at all.
Could you describe
what happened in your first treatment?
I’ve never
been quite sure, but Rhonda explains
what she’s going to do before
she does it. She cradles the back of
your head in her hand while you’re
lying down. From what I understand,
she’s trying to reconnect the
way your psyche was before you started
the bad behavior. She’s sitting
behind you, so you can’t really
see what she’s doing. It’s
just a gentle touch on your head.
During your first
treatment you also received a medical
intuitive consultation? What type of
information was provided to you then?
Was it helpful?
She told me that
I was allergic to chicken, so I stopped
eating chicken three years ago. And
again, some of the stomach pains I’d
been having went away. A year after
I went to Rhonda, I went to visit a
friend of my father’s in England
for lunch. She made a chicken dish for
the main course, and I ate a little
of it because I was never sure if Rhonda’s
diagnosis was correct. But when I got
on the bicycle and was riding across
Cambridge, it just hit me as though
someone had punched me in the stomach.
How in-tune was
Rhonda with all aspects of your physical
and emotional being?
She could pick up
things that she wouldn’t have
been able to know even if she had access
to your medical records. She mentioned
old girlfriends I haven’t seen
in years, and names of racecourses in
England that the average person over
here would never have heard of. Without
even laying a finger on me, she could
tell that I had surgery on my left knee
and my right ankle.
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 went back and
she did the same sort of thing and said
I was doing just fine. I call Rhonda
and Barry each year on my anniversary
to say I’m still doing fine. I
took the herbs Rhonda prescribed for
a while afterward, but after about three
or four months it was too difficult
to get to the health food store from
where I was.
How long has it
been since your last treatment? Have
you had any cravings for alcohol?
It’s been
over 3 years. If you asked me five years
ago if I believed it could be this easy,
I would have just laughed. In 24 hours
to go from drinking a six-pack a night
to not wanting to drink at all—it’s
been incredible.
How has your life
and the lives of those close to you
changed since you’ve been through
this program?
I feel healthier.
I feel better. I think the only negative
thing is that people complain that I’m
a little more impatient. Because when
I was in a drinking haze I tended let
things go that people would say or do.
Among my peers, my family, and friends,
I have a lot more respect.
It’s literally
and figuratively the most painless experience
you can go through. There’s no
guilt. You feel good before, during,
and after.
