Rhode Island Rally for Recovery

Rhode Island Rally for Recovery

RIR Unplugged Set ….

Richie Supa,Ricky Byrd, and Kasim Sulton 

Sponsored by Treatment Solutions 

The Rally for Recovery is an annual festival organized by people in long term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs. It is primarily a community building effort; we seek to strengthen the bonds between people in recovery. We are also engaged in building an attractive culture of recovery in Rhode Island, with the belief that everyone has a right to, and is capable of, recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol.

Our goals are to reduce the negative perceptions associated with addiction recovery. It has been our experience, based on our own recoveries, that this road is filled with obstacles that hinder reintegration into society. We feel it is important that people who have chosen the recovery path be able to obtain housing,employment, and other necessities without prejudice.

Our festival is focused on families and is a child-friendly event. We feel it is important that, as children of people in recovery grow older, they have fond memories of our drug and alcohol free festival. We hope this knowledge will deter them from experimenting with alcohol and other drugs in the future. Last year we had a vast array of activities for young people including crafts, face-painting, a reptile show, a rock climbing wall provided by the Rhode Island National Guard, an “orbitron,” a giant inflatable obstacle course, and a pink fire engine from Pink Heals.

The Rally for Recovery began in 2002 with a gathering of a few hundred people. Last year we had almost 5,000 people in long term recovery attend the rally. In 2012 we expect a crowd in excess of 7,000, and in 2013, because Providence was awarded the hub event for the national Recovery Month celebration, we expect over 10,000. We are also a co-sponsor of WaterFire and include a memorial luminaria procession at the end of each rally.

This year we seek to broaden our base of support by reaching out to the business community. We offer several contribution levels. Sponsoring our festival puts your company name in front of people who are likely to patronize your business. It also bolsters your business’s reputation, sending a clear message that you support the community building efforts of those who seek not to use alcohol and other drugs.

This Year’s Rally Performances

This year we’ll have musical entertainment by the 88th Army Band, BMor7, Rockers In Recovery Unplugged, and Music One.  Our speakers include basketball star and author Chris Herren, founder of Learn to Cope Joanne Peterson, Jim Silva and more.

Recovery Month Kickoff and Quilt Unveiling will take place on Thursday, August 31st at 10 am in front of the Women’s minimum security prison in Cranston.

On September 28th we will hold the first annual Aquidnick Island Recovery Celebration at Newport Hospital atrium.

Our contact information:

Mr. Ian Knowles
RICARES
200 Metro Center Blvd. Unit 10
Warwick, RI 02886

You may also contact Ian Knowles via telephone at  401-521-5759 extension 114, or via email, iknowles@dataofri.org.

Life After

Thanks for visiting Life After! The Partnership at Drugfree.org recently launched You Are Not Alone, a transformative new campaign calling on all those affected by addiction – individuals, families, communities and organizations – to come forward and help our kids in need. You Are Not Alone comes to life in a collection of stories, each one a message to families of the 11 million teens or young adults who are struggling withsubstance abuse. This public storytelling brings together the millions who have been directly impacted by addiction with those families who currently have a teen who needs help.

We encourage you to check out You Are Not Alone and share your story there. Join the movement and share your story to help let others know that they aren't alone when facing substance abuse.

The Different Types You Find in AA

Go to enough meetings and you’ll start to notice that many of the least appealing people you encounter can be divided into one of several different types. Behold our guide to eight of them.


It takes all kinds. Danny Jock

By JD Kaye

08/13/12
We are people who normally would not mix, says the Big Book. What it doesn’t add is that many of these people start to mesh together through a few common identifying characteristics. While, let’s be honest, all of us can do things at times that might make us resemble one of these types, many others have pulled up a more permanent seat at a particular table. So who do you recognize from your home group?

THE COURT CARDER

These are those folks who have gotten a nudge from the judge—that is, they’re required to attend AA because of an alcohol-related offense. Most easily recognizable by their late entrance and loud yawns coming from their back row seat, the Court Carder loves to watch the clock and skedaddle out the door as soon as they’ve gotten someone—anyone!—to autograph their slip of paper. This type is most common in LA, where DUIs are seen as an AA rite of passage. You will, in all likelihood, not find the Court Carder nibbling on a sugar cookie and fellowshipping at the back of the room post-meeting, telling another meeting attendee that he really related to his share. While encouraging these folks is never a bad idea, keep in mind that they may consider you just south of a Scientologist. So remember that it's attraction, not promotion. Unless he asks otherwise, a handshake and a meeting directory is the best starter kit you can offer.


THE DOUBLE WINNER

The fact of the matter is that a fat chunk of AA members could probably benefit from a few Alanon meetings, but the ones to avoid are those who seem to enjoy boasting about their various afflictions. When it’s just Alanon we’re talking about, this isn’t a problem: plenty of alcoholics grew up with addicted or at least dysfunctional parents who robbed them of the ability to put their needs first. But the Double Winner is always in danger of becoming a Triple, Quadruple or even Centuple Winner. Got issues with food, gambling, sex, money or hoarding? Well, Triple and higher winners have problems with everything and happily tout their membership of 12-step programs that you probably haven’t even imagined existed. These people tend to regale you, when they run into you at the grocery store with your in-laws, with stories about how working a fourth step in their sex addiction program helped them to surrender their hooker habit. Double, Triple and Quadruple Winners might do best to calm down and remember that recovery isn't a pyramid business scheme, and that they don't climb higher up the chain by working 24, 48, or 96 steps.

THE SEX ADDICT

While addiction to other 12-step programs is a concern, that doesn’t mean that the seriously sick aren’t lurking around AA. The infamous 13th-Stepper and sexual predator can come in male or female form and are most easily identifiable by their proximity to the newest and most attractive members of the program. We're not talking about your average AA-er, unwittingly acting out the usual grab bag of sexual dysfunctions with others, but those who repeatedly try to get those not yet on their feet onto their backs, oftentimes leaving them in psychological and emotional turmoil. Don't expect roses on your doorstep (or even a text message) after the Sex Addict is done with you. In fact, you might want to think about attending some new meetings so you don’t have to see this guy or gal saving seats for their next victim. Be forewarned that you might be a Sex Addict if others look at you with "Don't even think about it" disdain every time a doe-eyed newcomer walks in.

THE DRUNKALOGUER

If AA says that members share “what it was like, what happened, and what it's like now,” then Drunkaloguers are those who skip out on the “what it’s like now” part in order to regale rooms with tales of drug deals gone bad, police chases and gunshot wounds that sometimes sound dangerously close to Bullshit City. Or just those who, when asked to speak for 30 minutes, spend 27 rambling about their disastrous childhood and multiple karaoke contests while in tequila-induced blackouts, the next two on how their life went completely downhill, and the final minute on finding AA and giving up booze—and oops, now they’re out of time and oh, don't forget to work the steps. Problem is, if you stick around in AA long enough, the drunkalogues can start to get boring—and spending too much time on the old days can somehow twist memories of self-destruction into just some crazy times. The Drunkaloguer can have much crossover with the Sick Old-Timer; in other words, the reason they’re not sharing their recovery is that they don’t have any.

THE PINK CLOUDER

Sobriety can be challenging for many AAers, but for the Pink Clouders (otherwise known as the Tony the Tigers of the program), everything's grrrrrrrrrrreat! The euphoric condition is characteristic of early sobriety, when the mind and body are free of drugs and alcohol but the harshness of real life has yet to set in. Pink Clouds exist because, for some people, simply not getting drunk or high is a high in itself. Pink Clouders often don’t seem to realize that just putting the plug in the jug doesn’t mean their every last concern has flitted away—but why tell ‘em when they’ll find out soon enough anyway? The cause of inappropriate smiling and naturally dilated pupils, the ignorant bliss these people float around in is enough to make a struggling AA member want to turn a Pink Clouder into a Black-and-Blue Clouder. But have no fear, Sick Old-Timer, because when a Pink Clouder naturally descends from that dreamy state where sobriety suddenly feels like a brick rather than a feather, it can get pretty darn unpink. So enjoy it while you can, Pink Clouders (and hang in there long enough to work the steps).

THE SICK OLD-TIMER

When sympathy's what you're after, for God's sake don't call the Sick Old-Timer——because if water boarding was allowed in meetings, this guy or gal would be the one administering it. This type-A military breed gives advice in the form of Big Book page and paragraph numbers without any further explanation, and will cut you off in a second if he catches you cross-talking, going over your time limit or violating any other specific group rules. Known to greet newcomers with recommendations that they take the cotton out of their ears and stuff it in their mouths—while thinking nothing of updating Facebook posts while sitting in meetings—the Sick Old-Timer is very much who you don’t want to be. Find yourself constantly judging everyone around you, even though their lives appear to be moving forward while yours remains stuck in one place? You may well be one of these yourself. Of course, since one of the primary characteristics is a lack of self-awareness, you’re probably going to be the last to realize it. If you worry you’re in danger, shake things up, find some new AA pals, get a new sponsor, try tackling those steps and for God’s sake, stay away from the newcomers.

THE SLOGANEER



If you're in need of generic responses for complicated problems in the form ofdepersonalized clichés, call a Sloganeer! For better or worse, this type is here to remind you, like a mockingbird with a myriad of overwrought AA slogans, that it's all been said and done. Not all Sloganeers are bad—while being told that you should have an “attitude of gratitude” by a snaggle-toothed homeless-looking row-mate may make you want to throw a punch, it can also be exactly what you need to hear. Just beware of those whose entire vocabulary seems to be culled from the Unwritten Encyclopedia of Sober Banalities ("Keep it Simple, Stupid!"). Hardcore sloganeers sport different keychain attachments for every day of the week, each featuring a hopeful inspirational quote, and have been known to speak for hours without uttering a single adage-free sentence—which let's face it, can come off as a little robotic and cultish to newcomers. Meeting makers may make it but that doesn’t mean we all need to hear that every second..
Hardcore sloganeers sport different keychain attachments for every day of the week, each featuring a hopeful inspirational quot 

THE RELAPSE ADDICT

While the Sloganeer would say, "You're either moving towards a drink or away from one" the Relapse Addict appears to do both. Also known as the Shame Junkie, this person stays completely immersed in the drama of constant falls from grace and subsequent treks towards redemption. Each return to the program is followed at some point thereafter by a petering out. In short, once the pink cloud's gone, it's sayonara to the program for these temporary teetotalers who are always caught in the middle—either reading the Big Book or setting a drink on one. It can be an excruciating place to be but when a Relapse Addict gets real, their story can be the most helpful to others. After all, some get sober after their first meeting, some after their 13th trip to rehab. It takes what it takes, and Relapse Addicts would surely like to not be Relapse Addicts. So take the cotton from your ears and shove it in your mouth, Sick Old-Timer!

THE FELLOWSHIPPER

Being in recovery might mean no more throwing up and getting concerned looks from your liquor store cashier 10 times a day. But what the hell are you supposed to do with all your new free time? Plenty choose to become Fellowshippers, in which they transfer their previous obsessions of hanging out in dimly lit bars and crack dens to spending free time with other alcoholics outside of meetings. Fellowshippers are the social butterflies of the program and can usually be found at both "the meeting before the meeting" (translation: coffee) and "the meeting after the meeting" (translation: more coffee). But really, it's about more than the joe, and the only Fellowshippers to be wary of are the Getting-Sicker-By-The-Minute ones, who use their relatively high profiles in AA to avoid doing any work on themselves (see also: Sick Old-Timer above). Or Fellowshipping Extremists, who can border on annoying when they turn every life activity into a SOBER EVENT. Want to go bowling? For a Fellowshipping Extremist, it's "Sober Bowling!" Need to go grocery shopping and pick up your dry cleaning? Take a hardcore Fellowshipper along and it's "Sober Errands!”

JD Kaye is the pseudonym for a sober alcoholic who lives in the South.

Philly Feels Pain of Recovery House Cuts

Residents and staff at a recovery house in
Philly Photo via  Courtesy of the FIX


Pennsylvania’s Republican Governor Tom Corbettdropped the social programming equivalent of a nuclear bomb on the addiction recovery community in Philadelphia earlier this month, when he eliminated the welfare funding that pays for the vast majority of recovery housing in the city. General Assistance—a small monthly welfare cash payment of $205 for temporarily disabled single adults with no dependents—has for decades provided some relief to Pennsylvania's poorest of the poor. Philadelphia’s recovery houses—sober living spaces for homeless addicts coming off the streets—have long used GA payments coupled with food stamps (now called SNAP) to provide room and board for people whose only alternatives are homeless shelters and abandoned buildings. As The Fix reported, Philly recovery houses aren’t exactly posh, and their strict enforcement of abstinence and heavy 12-step regimens might rankle with some. But they provide a crucial service of last resort to many desperate people who would otherwise be out on the street. Except that now they are out on the street. Because with the elimination of General Assistance, this vast network of roughly 400 sober houses just blinked out of existence.

Social workers, legal aid attorneys and city human service agency staff have been meeting frantically for months in anticipation of this day, pregaming the possible outcomes of a massive hemorrhage of unstable, newly-recovering addicts back onto the streets. Does this blow up the city’s homeless shelter system? Does it spike crime during an already violent and chaotic summer? Maybe that's why the Philly Police Department has begun sweeps through Kensington—the neighborhood with the city's highest concentration of IV drug users—arresting addicts en masse? It's hard not to wonder cynically if this transfer of poor addicts from recovery house cots to jail cell bunks is really something Corbett is doing by accident.

Killing GA was at least unproductive, if not inhumane. It saves very little money in the short term, and will have huge mid-term costs: once spat out of recovery housing, addicts in early recovery will utilize far more expensive resources like homeless shelters, emergency rooms, hospital beds, detox beds and psych units, as well as prisons. Right now the situation is in flux, and it's unclear just how bad the outcome will be. But Philly's addiction professionals, who now have nowhere to send their clients who are coming out of detox, fear the worst.

For our Recovery friends in New York New York

My name is Jeremie (bacpac) and I am part of Puttin Sober, a group of bikers in recovery (it is an AA group)...I am hosting this SUPER kewel SOBER RAVE! This Friday @ The Solution...4201 N. Longview (east of 12th st., n of Indian School): The Solution (Transitional Living, like yours) becomes a DANCE space this FRIDAY nite 9-12; courtyard outside, its own parking, and A WHOLE GANG of RESIDENTS who are excited about this RAVE! The idea of a SOBERRAVE is to bring it to young people who are not finding safe places in sobriety to go have fun. I hope you will look at this flier and if you can print it and post it, or just let your community know about it, I'd really be grateful. If I can drop off fliers, please give me a ...Here's the link to the color flier! C'mon let's get our youth in recovery out to a SOBER RAVE!!! thanks! jeremie bacpac.

RAVEw music2012.jpg

Research Shows Benefits of Combining Treatments for PTSD and Substance Abuse

By Join Together Staff | August 16, 2012 | 1 Comment | Filed in Alcohol, Drugs,Mental Health, Military, Research & Treatment


A new study shows people who are treated for both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse have improved PTSD symptoms, without an increase in severity of substance dependence.

The researchers say the results counter the common belief that treating PTSD might worsen substance abuse, by bringing up negative memories, CNN reports.

The study used prolonged exposure therapy, which is considered to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD, the article notes. Patients work with therapists to return to their traumatic event. They describe it in the present tense, allowing them to relive the trauma. As this process is repeated, the brain reacts less severely to the trauma over time. This makes the memory appear less traumatic.

In the study, 103 participants with both PTSD and substance abuse were randomly assigned to receive either prolonged exposure therapy plus substance abuse treatment, or to receive only treatment for substance abuse. After nine months, both groups had reduced PTSD symptoms. Participants who received combined treatment did not show an increase in substance abuse severity.

The findings appear in the Journal of the American Medical Association.