The Power of Step 12

STEP 12 “We tried to carry this message to other alcoholics.” It still amazes me how this line from Step 12 carries so much power! We learn on pg. 89 of the Big Book, “that nothing will so much insure immunity from drinking as intensive work with other alcoholics.” With long term sobriety being the goal for myself, I follow these instructions only to find that the real freedom is when I get to carry the message of hope to another alcoholic or drug addict. The key to my freedom today is being able to carry the message of recovery into hospitals […]

Why Choose a Long Term Rehab?

One of our specialties at BRC Recovery is dealing with chronic relapsers, people who have attempted sobriety numerous times with several stints in rehab, but have been unsuccessful long-term. One of the major concerns and questions that anyone has after going through so many treatment centers, especially the loved ones and friends of the addict, is whether long-term rehabs are really worth it. Long-term rehab centers are usually seen as the last hope for people who want, hope, desire, and need sobriety. They are an intensive option which is well tailored to those who have significant drug or alcohol issues, […]

Life is a Privilege

Three years ago Three years ago, as I sat alone paralyzed by fear on yet another seedy motel bathroom floor, I was wondering why I had to experience a level of inexplicable internal pain for what seemed like so many years. The only explanation my besotted mind could believe was this suffering would one day be useful to someone else. I had heard for years that the solution to my self-centered condition was to “help someone else” or, “do something selfless for once in your life”. These notions seemed less than improbable to fill that seemingly insatiable hole within, that’s […]

A Parent’s Perspective: Finding Serenity

Your phone rings, you see your caller ID, and your stomach churns. You hear sirens and your blood runs cold. You wonder if your son or daughter, your loved one, is in trouble. Will you have to bail him out? Will you have to visit her in the hospital? Or worse? Or it might be other concerns, such as requests for money, help with childcare, or letting him move back in to your home. These questions, fears, and situations are often daily experiences for family members and friends of addicts. Those who love addicts may constantly live in “fight or […]

Better Than Gold

BRC Recovery My name is Mike Kerr, and I’m the Men’s Segue Supervisor for the BRC Recovery team. Over the past 4 ½ years my recovery has taken on new shapes and has brought me down some pretty adventurous paths. Although, I have to say, that regaining my life has been a huge blessing in itself, the gifts and rewards have been tenfold. But, these did not come from simply sitting back and watching life in recovery happen. I learned early on, and more so as I grew, that God has enabled me to once again make choices. Choices that […]

BRC Recovery Appears in Recovery Campus Magazine

Over the years at BRC Recovery My organic “introduction” to the field of treatment began in 2002, and I began working in this industry full time in 2009. Over the years at BRC Recovery I have seen the median age of our census go from individuals in their mid to late 30s to most recently individuals between the ages of 22-24. Truly, as the epidemic of addiction sweeps this nation, our clientele becomes younger and more clinically complicated. In short, our millennials are suffering and dying, and it is our responsibility to take note and for our milieu to evolve. […]

Spiritual Sandpaper

Opportunity To Do Some Service Work My name is Ricka Messerve, I am the Women’s Segue Supervisor. I have been sober for over six years and a loyal employee for BRC for nearly five years. I was recently given an opportunity to do some service work within my own family. At the request of my elderly Mother she asked if I could come to her house and assist her after she had knee replacement surgery. Naturally I accepted the challenge. This also has an added blessing… You see, when I was active in my addiction I gave birth to a […]

The Joy of Sponsorship

BRC Recovery I was told that the key to happiness in sobriety was helping others. The way I understood that statement was this: As soon as I discharged from BRC Recovery I was going to get at least 8 men to sponsor and all of them were going to remain sober because of me. I could not have been more wrong! I was sober for more than a year before another man asked me to take him through the 12 steps. At first I despaired over the fact that no one was approaching me to get some of what I […]