The Textbook Alcoholic

Introduction My 36+ years of working with individuals living with substance use and behavioral addictions are winding to a close. Many people have said to me that I need to write a memoir to tell of my journey into this most difficult of professions and why a person who has never used an illicit drug and had only a small amount of alcohol use would ever do this. Herein lies my story. This life is not something I chose; in fact, I went kicking and screaming and asking God, "Why?" and saying, "You want me to do what?" and "nope, not me." Fast forward 36 years, and I couldn't imagine doing anything differently in my life. Never in my mind would I have dreamed of being called "The Queen of Recovery" by our mayor. Never in my mind would I have dreamed of standing next to the Governor of Kentucky at our Capitol making a speech about the importance of addiction treatment and recovery. I have had a tremendous career and met some really courageous individuals. I have had awesome staff over in the six programs I have led, especially in winning National Best Practices for six years. My programs have not been fancy, mostly bare bones, but they have all had heart, and they cared. I have long said I can teach someone skills; I can't teach them heart. That's something you have to be born with. As graduate students, we had to choose a theory that best represented our approach to counseling. At the time, I was a follower of Rational Emotive Therapy, and I still see its many merits. I even had the honor of meeting its creator, Albert Ellis, many years ago. That was one intimidating and quirky little man! As I matured in my therapeutic career, I became much more Rogerian. I believe in the tenets of what Carl Rogers established as the foundations of person-centered therapy. I 'll speak more on this later. I also want to mention, as part of my career, the many student interns I have had and the over 50 individuals that I have supervised in their journey to licensure or certification in either substance use disorder or disordered gambling or both. These are the ones to carry on the torch, to live out my dreams, and continue the work of helping those needing to get into recovery. I am forever grateful for having the opportunity to move to Owensboro. It is here that I really began to blossom personally and professionally. I love this town and the people in it. I love being a part of making it better. I loved bringing home the designation "Recovery Ready Community" in 2024. Life has been really good to me, but I have seen and experienced a lot of suffering and pain in those I counsel on a daily basis. I am grateful to have been in this position. I truly believe in Luke 12:42-48: "to whom much is given, much is expected." I have been told all my life that I was given a good brain, and I was expected to use it to the best that I could.