Bridge program gets John out of alcoholic abyss
John says his time at Canberra Recovery Services has been a "true turning point" in his life.
For services and donors, you are basically saving lives and helping put people’s lives back together, who are, underneath, very, very good human beings. You are putting families back together and you are providing some people with an alternative to gaol. The number of people I’ve seen saved from all the bad stuff that goes with doing time is amazing.
– John
Forty-seven-year-old John admits he drank his way through the majority of his adult life. He says he drank his way through university, four years in banking and then through a career as a self-employed mortgage broker.
He also drank through a number of long-term relationships.
Over the best part of 20 years, he managed to keep things under control, even enjoying small periods of sobriety, but seven years ago his addiction to alcohol caught up with him.
“I had four charges of ‘driving under the influence’ (DUI) and the last two were very close together,” he courageously shares.
“I basically accepted I was an alcoholic. I didn’t want to live, but I didn’t particularly want to die either. I was pretty much – as the saying goes – bankrupt; physically, emotionally and spiritually.”
John had heard about The Salvation Army's Recovery Services Centre in Canberra years earlier, while staying in the capital for intensive treatment for cancer of the mouth and ensuing complications.
He often wondered if the Salvos could help, so he finally made the bold step to enter the seven-month residential rehabilitation program at Canberra Recovery Services (CRS).
After completing the 12-step Bridge Program to recovery, he is now living in “half-way care” and can reflect on his journey, and the journey he has seen many others take.
“A service like CRS can absolutely change a life. I’m passionate about that – it is an amazing thing!” he says.
“I’ve seen so many people come through the centre. From individuals that due to their family upbringing and life circumstances haven’t been able to make a go of anything in life, to the those who have been extremely successful in their fields.
“I didn’t have any problems with my upbringing particularly. My dad was a civil engineer and we did transfer around a little bit, and when I was about 16 there was an issue (with a distant family member) and that did have a huge impact. But looking back I had a problem with the first drink I ever had and it became really quite excessive from very early in the piece.”
John says his time at CRS “gave me a safe and secure environment, plus some time to really go through things thoroughly and learn more about a different way of living. I think it was a true turning point.
“Alcohol is a dangerous and sometimes lethal drug and that addiction is a disease that doesn’t discriminate.
“I think the process of working, particularly step four of the program (a searching and fearless moral inventory) was very liberating for me to really have an honest look at myself and my part in things. The idea of accepting a higher power took some time, but I firmly believe in a higher power now.”
John, who recently enrolled in a 12-month course to study financial counselling, says: “I’m incredibly grateful to The Salvation Army, the Bridge Program, the tireless efforts of staff and the majors at CRS. It is just amazing what they do!”
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