[LPPT]

A good friend of mine has a very successful recovery program.
Ann is a wonderful and compassionate person. She is a licensed professional counselor with multiple graduate degrees and has been in private practice for many years. She practices individual, couples and family counseling.

I know a lot of professionals, I also know a lot of professionals that talk about wanting to help people then set a fee structure that is beyond the reach of many they claim they want to help.

This is one of the things I love about Ann, her rates are very affordable especially if you don't have insurance coverage for counseling. She works with you to make the services affordable.

Ann's passion is addiction recovery. The program she uses to help people is extremely successful. The group program is affordable to everyone that is ready to change their lives.

So many people are dealing with loved ones with addictions, I have had many dear friends profess to me that they had a child or spouse addicted.

It is wonderful to be able to send them to Ann and to know they will not be turned away. It is even more important to be able to tell them how successful the program is.

I have made a few community service announcements when Ann has started new groups.
I ask her to sit down and write something that I could share on Paulding.com.

We have had many people with no place else to turn to share on the site what they are going through, it is wonderful to see the members respond with compassion, but they need more.

If you know of anyone that needs help please direct them to this post or print out the info.


From Ann:



Hope in Recovery


There is so much Hope for people who are seeking recovery. That is one of the reasons I choose to work in addictive disease. It is amazing to see people enter recovery, work their programs, and begin to live full and productive lives. This change is available to anyone who is willing to seek treatment and apply what they are learning. Usually, those in recovery experience a greater quality of life than they could ever have imagined.


“addict” or “alcoholic”


In our treatment program we avoid the use of the word addict or alcoholic. People, even those whose lives are wrecked by active addiction, are valuable! There is just so much more to a person than the disease - i.e, husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, friend, co-worker, and so on. We work to assist the individual in treatment in stripping away the negatives and focusing on the positives. When the negatives are diminished, what is underneath is remarkable! Clients are people in recovery or even people seeking recovery. It may seem silly to focus so much on words, but words matter and we strive to raise self-esteem, not lower it. (Of course a person who suffers from an addiction will always be a person who is addicted. This is not meant to negate that fact, but rather to work from a strength model in recovery.)


Addiction is a Family Disease


If you are the family member or friend of a person with an addiction, this is not news. If you have lived with or care about a person who is active in addiction, no one has to tell you what is involved; AND if you have never had the experience of living with or caring about a person in addiction, no one can tell you. Research indicates one person’s addiction affects 16 other people - some family, some co-workers, some other acquaintances. Those who are injured by people driving drunk and their families are impacted as well. There is hope and relief for people surrounding addiction as well as the person active in addiction. The MATRIX program that is done with Dallas Therapy Services serves families/friends as well.


12-Step and Celebrate Recovery Programs


Dallas Therapy Services supports and requires that participates find a group such as 12-Step Programs and/or Celebrate Recovery Programs to support efforts in treatment.(MATRIX Program).
Recovery is more about learning how to live sober than it is about how to stop using or drinking. The way to stop using or drinking is to STOP! STOP calling the drug dealer, STOP going to the liquor store - STOP! The work of recovery is done in learning how to live once an addicted person does stop. Treatment programs like MATRIX work hand in hand with 12 Step and Celebrate Recovery Programs.


Spirituality and Recovery


Someone asked if recovery is about spirituality and change. Absolutely! It has been my privilege to work with over 400 men and women who were seeking recovery; and I have never seen a single one get sober and stay sober if they did not make a spiritual change. In the program at Dallas Therapy Services, we consider Jesus Christ our Higher Power. Someone who has different beliefs would likely be more comfortable in another recovery effort. I believe that addiction is a powerful tool of Evil and that it takes a powerful response from God to overcome it. The program at Dallas Therapy Services is a clinical program that has the same content as residential treatment programs in that MATRIX teaches about the disease, about the family, and addresses past traumas that contribute to addiction, but just as in any treatment program, spirituality is a component.


Ann S. Pennebaker, NCC, LPC 404-488-7455


June 22-28, 2012 Individual meetings w/prospective Matrix group members
June 29, 2012 Prospective clients notified whether they are chosen for new group
July 2, 2012 New Matrix Group begins
July 7, 2012 First Annual Recovery picnic at Lake Ramona for all current and former MATRIX members, their families and friends, and friends of the program
June 25, 2012 Group for family/friends of people in addiction (active or in recovery)


EMAIL ANN PENNEBAKER

[NC-17]

crap. you lost me at Jesus.

and yes. this is definitely a service that i would have seriously considered utilizing.

[LPPT]

NC-17, on 13 June 2012 - 03:08 PM, said:

crap. you lost me at Jesus.

and yes. this is definitely a service that i would have seriously considered utilizing.

When it comes to marketing I have taken some serious grief over the years by suggesting people do not reference their religious beliefs in advertising.
I stand by that Ann is simply being honest about this component of the program.
I will tell you this, I have talked to Ann about a lot of things, she knows I am very private about my religion and she does not bring it up in our discussions.

It is a component of her group program, but in one on one counseling it would not be forced on anyone, she is very professional.

The Matrix is a program designed for recovery.

[lowrider]

Thank you Laurie for the information.

Drug addiction is rampant in this county.

[MsHarvey]

Ann is a wonderful and precious woman. She is so very caring and compassionate.

[dumbestgirlintheworld]

Is Ann a commerce member?

"The way to stop using or drinking is to STOP! STOP calling the drug dealer, STOP going to the liquor store - STOP! "

I'm totally calling my junkie childhood friend and telling her to stop injecting herself. Just STOP.

[PUBBY]

dumbestgirlintheworld, on 14 June 2012 - 11:23 AM, said:

Is Ann a commerce member?

"The way to stop using or drinking is to STOP! STOP calling the drug dealer, STOP going to the liquor store - STOP! "

I'm totally calling my junkie childhood friend and telling her to stop injecting herself. Just STOP.

I'm afraid that would be like me telling you and everyone else to "Just say No" to having sex.

People are driven, compelled to destructive behaviors by the oddest and sometimes least obvious things. To suggest that "Just Say No" is all that is needed is to oversimplify to the point of failure. Just say no doesn't work.

pubby

[A Gipper Girl]

PUBBY, on 20 June 2012 - 12:59 PM, said:

I'm afraid that would be like me telling you and everyone else to "Just say No" to having sex.

People are driven, compelled to destructive behaviors by the oddest and sometimes least obvious things. To suggest that "Just Say No" is all that is needed is to oversimplify to the point of failure. Just say no doesn't work.

pubby

Very VERY true, Pubby.

An addict, an alcoholic...whatever the "poison" of choice will always battle that addiction. They may never touch it again but it will always be part of their daily life. It would be like running and counting every crack in the pavement you pass as a victory as you are sweating, hurting and your body feels like it cant take another step but you do anyway-everyday. Each crack in that pavement is a day for an addict.

To someone who has never been an addict or has had to deal with one, they simply cannot understand it or grasp this concept. On the surface it seems pretty simple- just stop. If it were simple at all, most addicts WOULD just stop. They hate their addiction and even more so, hate themselves.

A little compassion can go a very long way especially to people who are as low as they can get in life yet still breathing. Not to mention the people in their lives that are wrenched in pain, fear, regret, grief and worry about their loved one.

[LPPT]

Thanks, Gipper,
I am working with Ann to get the message out in the community about her program and counseling services.
Addicts are people in pain, pain they have no tools to deal with other than drugs.

Many people men and women were sexually abused or mentally abused by parents with undiagnosed mental problems themselves.

Their families are in pain, our foster child system is overflowing with kids that have lost parents due to drugs and mental illness.
It doesn't have to be this way, sometimes people go through recovery multiple times before they can get it under control.

Calling and scheduling an evaluation does not obligate you to the program.

As Auntiel said, Ann is wonderful, warm, compassionate and very easy to talk to.

I had a parent who's parent suffered from alcoholism, life would have been so different had my parent sought help early. The if's will eat you alive, but if just one person can be helped, if the pain can be stopped it makes a huge difference in so many lives.

It is simply a heartbreaking waste when there is help out there. Nobody can force someone to stop using, they have to want it, and that is what Ann does best is to help people want it.


My heart aches for everyone that suffers because of addiction.

[ButterflyLion]

LPPT, on 13 June 2012 - 03:26 PM, said:

When it comes to marketing I have taken some serious grief over the years by suggesting people do not reference their religious beliefs in advertising.
I stand by that Ann is simply being honest about this component of the program.
I will tell you this, I have talked to Ann about a lot of things, she knows I am very private about my religion and she does not bring it up in our discussions.

It is a component of her group program, but in one on one counseling it would not be forced on anyone, she is very professional.

The Matrix is a program designed for recovery.

Do you have any info on the The Matrix program? How is it different? (I am close to a couple of people that abuse alcohol or drugs.) Is it a national program? I ask because one lives out of state. What are some of the ways that the program gets positive results? For example what does the client learn to do when stressed rather than turn to alcohol and/or drugs?

[NC-17]

PUBBY, on 20 June 2012 - 12:59 PM, said:

I'm afraid that would be like me telling you and everyone else to "Just say No" to having sex.

People are driven, compelled to destructive behaviors by the oddest and sometimes least obvious things. To suggest that "Just Say No" is all that is needed is to oversimplify to the point of failure. Just say no doesn't work.

pubby

and yet, it's the exact advice given by the non commerce member being advertised above.

makes me no nevermind, but does seem quite contradictory, on a few levels.

[LPPT]

NC-17, on 29 June 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

and yet, it's the exact advice given by the non commerce member being advertised above.

makes me no nevermind, but does seem quite contradictory, on a few levels.

Actually they are a CM feel free to check the directory.

[momof 3]

Does she have any programs for families of addicts? My MIL has once again started eating pain pills like smarties. We have been noticing odd behavior in the last month or so and tried and tried to pass it off as anything else but drugs. Well, she proved us wrong 2 days ago when she called and left a crazy, high pitched message on my phone. She called again in 10 minutes demanding to know why Hubby and I were at her house and not speaking to her and why we had left the children unattended at the pool, why my 3 year ole grandson was running in and out if her house with no supervision and on and on and on. All of this while she was DRIVING around Powder Springs. When she finally arrived at the emergency room at my urging, they admitted her, did lots of tests and came to the conclusion it was caused by the opiates and tramadol that we had just found in her house with her other meds.

Normally we fly to the hospital and save the day. Not this time, Hubby turned off the phone and even though she came home yesterday, he won't call her or answer her calls.

It's so disappointing and angering, because we let our guard down once again and began enjoying her company and having conversations with her and have been active in her life since she got out of rehab last June, the 3rd time in 3 years. We had a meeting with her dr's last July and they made it clear to her that there were consequences for her behavior and at some point we were no longer obligated to her if she kept this up. This is seriously to 30th or more episode like this, not including the 10 years of living with 'regular' abnormal drug induced acts and 11 years of alcoholism. 21 years is too long to deal with this and I'm convinced that she is responsible for the ulcer that feels like it is killing me. It's so upsetting, she could kill someone while driving while hallucinating, including herself.

I sincerely apologize for this rant, but needed to give Hubbys ears a much needed break!

[LPPT]

momof 3, on 30 June 2012 - 12:34 AM, said:

Does she have any programs for families of addicts? My MIL has once again started eating pain pills like smarties. We have been noticing odd behavior in the last month or so and tried and tried to pass it off as anything else but drugs. Well, she proved us wrong 2 days ago when she called and left a crazy, high pitched message on my phone. She called again in 10 minutes demanding to know why Hubby and I were at her house and not speaking to her and why we had left the children unattended at the pool, why my 3 year ole grandson was running in and out if her house with no supervision and on and on and on. All of this while she was DRIVING around Powder Springs. When she finally arrived at the emergency room at my urging, they admitted her, did lots of tests and came to the conclusion it was caused by the opiates and tramadol that we had just found in her house with her other meds.

Normally we fly to the hospital and save the day. Not this time, Hubby turned off the phone and even though she came home yesterday, he won't call her or answer her calls.

It's so disappointing and angering, because we let our guard down once again and began enjoying her company and having conversations with her and have been active in her life since she got out of rehab last June, the 3rd time in 3 years. We had a meeting with her dr's last July and they made it clear to her that there were consequences for her behavior and at some point we were no longer obligated to her if she kept this up. This is seriously to 30th or more episode like this, not including the 10 years of living with 'regular' abnormal drug induced acts and 11 years of alcoholism. 21 years is too long to deal with this and I'm convinced that she is responsible for the ulcer that feels like it is killing me. It's so upsetting, she could kill someone while driving while hallucinating, including herself.

I sincerely apologize for this rant, but needed to give Hubbys ears a much needed break!

I understand your rant, addiction is a family disease because of how it affects everyone in the family. She does treat families, she will not only listen, but help you with coping skills so her addiction does not destroy the other family members.
She is starting a new group session next week, hopefully you can talk your mother-in-law into making an appointment the beginning of the week for evaluation.
If she won't go you should call Ann and make an appointment to talk to her.

I can tell you nothing feels better than to have someone validate your feelings, you will almost never get this from family or even friends,because they are emotionally invested in you.

I am currently reading a book Ann wrote about a recovering addict and his family, when the son started pouring out all his feelings and hurt from living with his dads addiction, I started crying to. Ann understands the hurt and the anger people that live with addicts deal with.

[momof 3]

LPPT, on 30 June 2012 - 06:52 AM, said:

I understand your rant, addiction is a family disease because of how it affects everyone in the family. She does treat families, she will not only listen, but help you with coping skills so her addiction does not destroy the other family members.
She is starting a new group session next week, hopefully you can talk your mother-in-law into making an appointment the beginning of the week for evaluation.
If she won't go you should call Ann and make an appointment to talk to her.

I can tell you nothing feels better than to have someone validate your feelings, you will almost never get this from family or even friends,because they are emotionally invested in you.

I am currently reading a book Ann wrote about a recovering addict and his family, when the son started pouring out all his feelings and hurt from living with his dads addiction, I started crying to. Ann understands the hurt and the anger people that live with addicts deal with.

My MIL WILL NEVER call her, because once again, there isn't a problem. Even though there are 90 pills, pills that shouldn't have been in her possession, that absolutely cannot be accounted for. Pills that caused this same thing last year at this time when she attacked me in her garage while I was trying to get her to Ridgeview.

When I play these situations over and over in my head that we've had with her, I really can't believe that this is our life. It's like a really bad TV show that I can't make go away with the clicker.

I will say however, better her in this situation than one of my kids and knock wood, we've never had that problem with either of our girls. Maybe there is some kind of weird bright side to this mess.

I will call Ann on Monday because I can't do this anymore. Thank you for posting this info!!!!!

[ButterflyLion]

I hadn't seen this mentioned lately so I thought I would ask if it's still an option for someone looking for this type program?