Betty Ford Charging $700 per day

The following fees are from the Betty Ford Clinic website:


Program
Length of Stay
Program Cost




Children’s Program (ages 7-12)
4 days (Thu-Sun)
No child turned away for lack of funds. Scholarships available.
Family Program (13 and older)
5 days (Mon-Fri)
$600
Outpatient1 (18 and over)
8 weeks
$4,400
Inpatient1/ Residential1(18 and over)
30 days3
$21,000
90 days
$33,000
Clinical Diagnostic Evaluation
3-day outpatient evaluation & recommendation
$2,750
Licensed Professionals1(with no licensing issues)
30 days3
$21,000
Licensed Professionals1
90 days
$33,000
Training
Various professional education programs



As you can see Betty Ford charges $700 per day for inpatient. This is a far cry from the free 12 step work of Bill W. and Dr. Bob.I only know one acquaintance that went through Betty Ford. From her autobiography I can tell you she wasn’t really taught what she needed to know at her stay there.It seems like someone is making a lot of money off the misery of others.Since the Betty Ford clinic is a 501C3 entity that solicites donations from the public, I have sent them an e-mail seeing if a financial statement is available. What on earth could they be spending $700 a day for 30 days for alcohol/addiction treatment on ?

Genes study may unlock cause of alcoholism

http://alcoholism.about.com/od/cure/a/blvcu050304.htm

They are desperate to prove that alcoholism has a genetic basis. They dont want people to believe that alcoholism could be the result of sin or its consequences.

Now, is this really worthy of a press release? OK, so they say it might unlock the cause of alcoholism but then it might not unlock the cause mightnt it. What you are seeing is an agenda being advanced. And in all likelihood your tax dollars are paying for it.


BTW, this article is proof that a genetic basis of alcoholism has not been discovered. If it had been, then why are they still looking for it.

Does Drug Court Work?

According to the US General Accounting Office in 2002, the data on drug courts collected by the Justice Department is inadequate for evaluating drug court effectiveness

http://www.drugwarfacts.org/drugcour.htm


It seems nobody really knows. I dont have any personal experience with drug court other than watching others in it as it didnt exist when I was using drug. When I lived in Grants Pass the Drug Court there sent their clients to Narcotics Anonymous as part of the program. Drug court is coercive and does testing similar to parole with testing.

Its the relatively new thing in the treatment field and its growing throughout the country. The drug court I observed was hooked up with a treatment facility. The treatment facility counselors definetely did not understand addiction and really did not know how to help people.
I suspect in years to come they will find that a lot of the clients return to drugs.

How can you solve a problem when you dont understand it nor know what to do about it?

Alcholism is a character disorder

I thought I would put up a link to an article I found in the Seattle Newspaper. Here is a guy that has some of his common sense left and isnt buying into all the disease nonsense. I have sent a response to this article and the one that it references.I'll post it here if they dont publish it. If they do, I'll put up a link.



http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/215596_firstperson14.html


Alcoholism is a character disorder
Seattle Post Intelligencer

Celebrity Drug Users

Here is a partial list of celebrities who have used drugs in the past or did so during their lives (Some are dead as a result of drug use). The question is: what is it about the Entertainment industry that seems to cause this to proliferate?


Tim Allen, Drew Barrymore, John Belushi, John Bonham, William S. Burroughs, David Bowie, Vico C Puerto Rican, Gia Marie Carangi,Mama Cass, Ray Charles, Tommy Chong, Eric Clapton, Montgomery Clift, George Clinton, Kurt Cobain, Jackie Curtis, Tony Curtis, Dorothy Dandridge, Miles Davis, Andy Dick, Walt Disney, Pete Doherty, Robert Downey Jr., Brian Epstein, Robert Evans, Chris Farley, Perry Farrell, Federico Fellini, Liam Gallagher, Judy Garland, Bobby Gillespie, Ruben Gomez, Richard Harris, George Harrison, Jimi Hendrix, Dennis Hopper,Etta James, Mick Jones, Steve Jones, Janis Joplin, Hector Lavoe, John Lennon, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Courtney Love, Bela Lugosi, La Lupe, Marilyn Manson, Cheech Marin, Paul McCartney, Liza Minelli, Keith Moon, Jim Morrison, Kate Moss, Nick Nolte, Jack Osbourne, Juan Osorio, Jimmy Page, Robert Pastorelli, John Phillips, Michelle Phillips, River Phoenix, Elvis Presley,Iggy Pop,Richard Pryor, Dee Dee Ramone, Lou Reed, Keith Richards, Mickey Rooney, Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder, Savannah, Martin Scorsese, Tom Sizemore, Aaron Sorkin, Layne Staley, Ringo Starr, Elizabeth Taylor, Pete Townsend, Sid Vicious, Scott Welland, Tennesse Williams, Montel Williams

Sneaky Resentment

Well, your humble correspondent has not been so humble lately.Heres the story.

Some resentments are fairly obvious: somebody assualts you, breaks into your house or whatever and you resent them. Others however are more sneaky, they sneak up on you that you hardly notice your getting resentful as they form and then bam-you are.


I just went through this. Its a long story really. My former landlord evicted the person that was working on a car I was restoring. The eviction was deserved. However, it left me holding the bag. The landlord had made an agreement with me about this problem person but then went back on it without discussing it with me. Probably cost me $15,000. I do think he should have discussed it with me but he didnt. Also he was pretty ungracious about the way he went about it.

I was left with a car and a motor home in total states of disrepair. Worse, the landlord evicted the tenant and then charged me rent on vehicles I couldnt move. Every time I sent him a rental payment I did so relunctunctly and there was a kind of subtle resentment about it that was hardly conscious.

The worst thing is that when he evicted the tenant he gave him 30 days notice. I was out of state and couldnt do anything. He knew the man was a thief and even heard him working on one of the vehicle. He didnt investigate or do anything even though I had sent letters saying the mechanic was not authorized to remove any parts. Well during the 30 day eviction period the mechanic stole about $2000 worth of additional parts.

The strange thing was I more angry at the landlord than the jerk who stole the parts. Over the last 5-6 months this has sort of subtly preyed on my mind in my thoughts. I do think the landlord should have given the thief 3 days notice and not a 30 day opportunity to steal me blind. And the more I thought about it a subtle resentment started to form; it sneaked up on me.


Well, I had a conversatio the other day and blew up at the landlord. I actually felt better after I did. However, I couldnt deny that I had become resentful. And I am one person who knows how dangerous resentments are.

I did call the landlord up and apologize for the resentment. I said it wasnt right no matter how selfish or ungracious he had been.


So you can see I have sinned. The sad truth is there seem to be a sort of very subtle pleasure in resentment. I have admitted I am wrong and I have asked the Lord to forgive me. I realize my salvation depends on being patient and long suffering.

Prayer does seem to help in this things.



"In your patience possess ye your souls" -New Testament

Ashley Smith

Of all the posts I have put on this site they all have to do with "Recovery". This one doesnt but I felt moved to post it anyhow.

The suspect in four Atlanta killings told the woman he held hostage for about seven hours that he thought she was an "angel sent from God," she said Sunday

************************************************************************************************************************************

I dont know about being an Angel but I was impressed with this lady. She handled the temptation of being a hostage without hate, and then handled the temptaion of 'praise' of the news media trying to make her a heroine. She read a very nice humble statement saying she wasnt a hero but the real heroes were the slain officers. Nice lady with a good spirit.

And all of us need to find the Grace to deal with the twin tempations of cruelty and praise.God is the one who has the right to Judge and recieve praise. Not us.

Tapes on Alcoholism and Addiction

Every day a handful of people visit this site. Where they come from I dont know. However, I assume they have an interest in the subject of Recovery or else why would they be here. If you will notice there is nothing for sale on this site. I dont want anything from you. On occaison I recommend stuff I feel is helpful. The B.O.N.D. website can be helpful. I have also provided a link to Dick B. website because I think his research on early AA can be helpful. I also want to recommend 2 tapes on the subject of addiction that are worth listening too.

1)Addiction to Drugs,Sex, and Alcohol

2) Alcoholism and Drug Addiction


These tapes are available at www.fhu.com

An AA Appraisal by an Appreciative Insider:

The following link is to the article of the same name by Dick B. I think he has done a good job assessing AA strong points and it weak points. And he writes well. There is also a link to his website on my blog. Anybody who is steeped in AA and wants to know more about its religious roots would be well-advised to check out some of his materials.


http://www.alchemyproject.net/Articles/apraisal.htm

Thoughts on AA

In case you wondered here are my thoughts on AA:

I think most of the principles in AA are good. I actually like the Big Book (3rd edition) and like the 1st edition even more.The new 4th editon is quite a downgrade from the original 1st editon. I dont however think AA is an organization full of spiritually enlightened beings. I think when you walk into a room of Alcoholics Anonymous you are walking into a room full of very sick (evil) people.

As you can tell by my recent posts regarding AA and homosexuality, I think it has become a somewhat liberal organization over the last 25 years. It has become accepting of things that most truly religious and spiritual people find an anthema to authentic spirituality. Worse, this is in violation of its own traditons, and AA has little ,if any, ability to look at itself and be reformed. It probably wont be.

Although most of the ideas in the older literature are good. Some are not. This whole idea of the disease concept is a false teaching and harmful to the alcoholic. Dr. Bob had the following to say about this:
"Doc dwelt on the idea that this was an illness, but Doc was pretty frank with me.He found that I had enough faith in the Almighty to be fairly frank. He pointed out to me that probably it was more of a MORAL OR SPIRITUAL ILLNESS than it was a physical one."

That I can buy, but not all this nonsense about a disease and genetics that people want you to believe without convincing proof. In my opinion its a smokescreen and false belief for people unwilling to face up to the truth that there is something really wrong with them, not their body.
BTW, I dont think Dr. Bob would be very welcome in many AA meetings today. Certainly the things he said would not be very welcome.

So yes AA has some value in my opinion. If it can help you find sobriety and start you on the spiritual path, God Bless you. In particular , the teaching about resentment and anger found in the fourth step is magnificent. If you can grasp that and apply it to your life, then I think you will be on your way to a Godly and blessed life.You could also get this self-same teaching out of the New Testament.

However, if you make AA your whole life and attend 7 meeting a day and get you r whole identity out of AA, then I dont think thats a good thing.I know there are some truly searching people who get their start in AA and grow beyond it. I think they are pretty rare however.
So there are my thoughts in summary. I dont expect this to be popular or well received by AA'S To a large degree, I dont think Truth is much welcome in AA today.